I bought a new i10 Magna 1.2 from Samara Hyundai, Lajpat nagar, on 28 Feb 2010. The Samara people got it insured through Bajaj Allianz. Since the tie-ups between the dealer and the insurance companies are strong, the dealers usually entice the customer by offering first years FREE insurance. I got it as well.

Policy #: OG-10-1101-1801-00029224
Dealer: Samara Hyundai, Lajpat Nagar
Vehicle Owner's Name: Sumit Bhatnagar

The insurance will lapse on 27th Feb, 2011 and hence I was on a look out for a renewal from Bajaj Allianz or any other insurance company if the deal offered was good. The story started unfolding in December 2010, when I suddenly started getting calls from other insurance companies like Relliance, Tata Aig, ICICI Lombard, etc, asking me to get the insurance renewed through them. They offered healthy freebies and almost kept calling every other day. What kept me away from them was that they were qouting a higher premium and and a lower vehicle price. They also suggested that if I finalize the deal with them, I would get higher discounts and even offered the option of paying through the Post Dated Cheque.

Since I did not want to take the pain of changing the insurace provider and with an expectation of getting better offers from Bajaj Allianz I called the customer and was told that my final premium amount will be Rs. 6571/-, which included all the discounts and bonuses. I also got a confirmation that it would not matter if I renew your policy today or in the last month of the policy expiry, the premium amount (Rs. 6571/-) would remain the same. With this assurance in my pocket I kept on rubbishing the calls from other vendors.

Meanwhile, I received a hard copy mailer document from Hyundai, extending an invitation to renew my policy with Baja Allianz and clearly highlighting the premium amount as Rs.6571/-, as was clarified by the customer care earlier in December 2010. The letter further solidified my beleif in the offer in hand.

Now when I called the Baja Allianz customer care on 4th Feb 2011 to get the final details before renewing my policy online, a call back was arranged and I was shocked to hear that I was being asked to pay something like Rs. 8500/-. When I told the person that this is what I had been confirmed earlier and I have received a hard copy note from the company clearly stating the renewal amount to be Rs. 6571/-, he suggested that he would call me back with clarification on the same. He never called.

Since, the expiry date was closing in, not waiting for call back from Baja Allianz, I spoke to the customer care executive on 8th Feb 2011. This one went to the roof, I was now told to pay Rs. 11,100/-. When I told them about the letter that was issued to me I was told that I would have to carry this letter to some branch in Moti Nagar, West Delhi if I wanted to avail the policy with the said amount. Otherwise, you would have to pay what ever amount the system shows.

I am living in South Delhi, and work in Noida. It is impossible to travel from Noida to West Delhi, in the office hours just to show them the letter and get the insurance renewed at the original price. Why should I take so much pain of carrying the letter to the branch? What is the purpose of websites and online payment schemes then? Are these only to make a fool of the customer? Push the customer to a corner and then when he does not have any where to go, take advantage of him by charging higher amounts.

The website it self if faulty. Initially I tried renewing the policy online, but the renewal page had technical issues in it. I am unable to enter my vehicle's registration number. When I do so, I am prompted to check and correct the entered number. Worse thing is that the web page had few controls that the customer care people are not aware of and are still referring to the controls that might have been there on the old page.

Suggestion: I am software programmer. Outsource me your website's maintenance, I ll make sure that it works as it should.

Pointer to RECTIFY the Issue: The page has serious issues with the Javascript that validates the fields. The Javascript expects and validates 5 input boxes for the registration number, where as the page only shows 4.