A lot of readers were miffed to learn in one of my recent columns that most car insurers have yet to fully comply with a state regulation requiring that people's driving records, rather than their ZIP Codes, be the primary factor in setting rates.
West L.A. resident Liz Brown was so incensed that she wrote to the chairman of her insurer, Mercury Insurance Co., to complain about the $1,256 she's charged annually for her 1997 Honda Del Sol.
And you know what? He called her back.
"I have to admit, I was blown away that he took the time to call me," Brown, 53, said. "I wasn't really happy with what he had to say, but what great customer service!"
I'm not exactly known for handing out milk and cookies to corporate leaders. But it's worth taking a moment to acknowledge a local executive who gets it right -- and to ask why more execs don't understand the importance of showing customers a little respect.
Mercury's chairman is George Joseph, who founded the Los Angeles company in 1962. He served as chief executive until early last year.
Joseph, 86, began his career as an insurance actuary earning $225 a month and later sold policies to consumers. He now has a net worth of $1.2 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
We met in Joseph's modest red-carpeted office off Wilshire Boulevard near Hancock Park. He moved a bit slowly, which wasn't surprising for a man of his years, but spoke with confidence and precision, easily calling up facts and figures from memory.
Joseph and I didn't agree when it came to using ZIP Codes for insurance rates -- he's for and I'm against -- but we'll get to that in a moment. What we did agree on was the importance of customer service, which has become a lost art in corporate America.
"You used to be able to pick up a phone and talk to people," Joseph said. "That doesn't happen anymore. Now there's e-mail and automated switchboards.
"People want to talk to people," he said. "They want to talk to people who are knowledgeable and who can answer questions."
Mercury, California's third-largest vehicle insurer in terms of market share, has about 1 million policyholders and 5,000 agents nationwide. But Joseph said any letter addressed to him personally or to the chairman of the company will find its way to his desk.
He said he typically receives eight or nine such letters from customers each month, mostly involving problems settling a claim.
