“Last year I started my motorcycle insurance with you all was good until I tried to change my address with you. I was then told that my address wasn't on your system so you wouldn't be able to insure me. My new address was a newish build and was just over a year old. The chap on the phone wasn't the most polite so I HAD TO GO TO ANOTHER INSURER even though I didn't want to. Needless to say that I will not be returning to you and when I am asked about bike insurance from my friends I always tell them about my experience with this company.”
“I have been riding bikes for 31 years.
In that time i've used many different insurance companies, and often like to shop around for the best deals.
I decided to use bike insurer and selected Direct Choice as they were about 20GBP cheaper than my current renewal offer.
While going through the additional addon options I thought to take out the AA membership option as it was only 29.99gbp.
EVerything appeared to be ok.
I received emailed insurance docs from direct choice, and a couple of weeks later I received the AA membership docs too.
About a fornight later I was prepping to take my Ducati for a nice long run and decided to dig out the new AA membership card I had received.
Only then did I notice that the membership I had taken out was vehicle specific, not member specific which is what I thought I'd purchased.
I called the AA and they were very friendly and helpful, saying they they undetstood I had made an error as I own a car too and would not find the bike specifc cover particularily useful. They said they would be happy to cancel the membership as they have a 6 week cancellation period.
However on checking their system the nice AA person said that as it had been bought as an addition to my insurance policy, I would need to contact Direct Choice first to get them to amend the system from their end.
So I called Direct choice, explained the situation AND THAT THE AA WERE HAPPY TO REFUND MY MONEY but that it had to be organised through DirectChoice as the payment had been made in one go.
The girl I spoke to said this was not possible as they had a 14 refund policy.
I explained that the refund would be from the AA NOT from them and that AA simply required their data amended so they could proceed.
The woman said she would call the AA to check it out.
So I was put on hold for 20 minutes.
When she returned I asked, is it now all ok? did the AA say it was fine to proceed?
She told me she had NOT called the AA, but just asked her manager who had told her not to bother because they have a 14 day refund policy.
So why was I on hold for 20 minutes I asked? why can you not amend the data on your system so that the AA can refund the money, which they are happy to do?
The girl was rude to me and totally uninterested in my situation.
I then spoke to another woman there and she was even more rude and suggested that they could remove the AA addon from my policy.
Whould I get it refunded then I asked? No she said because it was outside the 14 day refund period.
So it went on.
I finally gave up and called the AA.
They were so nice and so helpful, but because DIrect Choice refused to amend their system, the AA were unable to give me a refund.
So basically like many things in life you get what you pay for.
I saved 20 pounds on my insurance, but would rather have paid 50 pounds more to be treated with some sort of decency by the customer services staff.
So DON'T but insurance from DIrect Choice.
I have told everyone I know about their rude staff and ineffective customer services.
Including postings on public motorcycle forums.
Hopefully this will cost Direct Choice many customers and a lot more than 29.99
The AA would have been refunding the 29.99 NOT Direct Choice. So DC were simply being beligerent.
I hope these comments are published publicly and they they are also sent to Direct Choice.”
“we were a returning customer and I called as received a cheaper quote but your team were not interested in trying to retain my business so we insured elsewhere”
“I cancelled my payments shortly after setting it up with you because I did,nt get the bike in the end. Thought I would have got some money back! No one has been in touch with me!”
