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Allstate and Your Email
Dec. 1st, 2023 11:23 amI’m not here to tell you who you should or should not be doing business with. Sometimes, we don’t have a choice, for any number of reasons. And also, let me tell you about my experience trying to get someone else’s email for their Allstate insurance to STOP coming to me.
Today in email I shouldn’t be receiving started yesterday, when Allstate sent me email. I’m like, oh goddess, here we go again. I try really hard with financial and government stuff, because I feel like it’s important that I not keep getting email with those kinds of disclaimers on them. Also, I’m trying to get the gmail account fully cleaned up and make sure no one is using my email on an account at some company in case _I_ want to use my gmail with that company in the future. It’s a losing battle. Whatever.
I called the phone number, because the email I got is a no-reply, and I don’t have an account and while I will _happily_ take over a quora account or whatever, I don’t want to do that with things where there is credit card or other information attached (altho there was that Shein account). I talked to three different humans and none of them could figure out how I was getting that email. *sigh*
Today, more email, but this time, I had a policy ending in number. I also had an agent name! And an agent phone number. Agent phone number bounced me through a phone tree but I got a person and while Allstate folks struggle with the idea that they are talking to a non-customer who is getting customer email — we’ll get back to that! — this one was able to make use of the policy ending in information. She still wanted my physical address to confirm I was? wasn’t? the customer, but then realized she just needed to get me off the phone so she could call the real customer and get her real email address. Which is all I fucking wanted to have happen anyway.
First, Allstate really thinks that if they are sending you email, you are their customer. The first person yesterday listed off places like Sam’s Club and so forth as a place I might have become an Allstate customer. I’m always a little shocked when I get email from someone incorrectly and then they try to convince me that I do in fact know them. _It does not typically happen._ I have a multi-year pen-pal thing going with a nice lady in England who has a customer who keeps giving her my email address. It’s a lovely conversation. She never suggests that I am her customer, and we’re partway along the path to meeting up some day and having a cuppa.
But there have been a couple individuals over the years, one a teacher, notably — “You’re in my class!” “I most certainly am not, because I am a middle aged woman living in Massachusetts.” “Oh.” Yeah, oh. I _think_ this is the first _company_ to insist that I’m somehow their customer _and don’t know it_.
So if you are thinking of doing business with Allstate, think long and hard about whether you want to be doing business with a company that so routinely does business with people who don’t know they are doing business with Allstate, that it is incomprehensible to Allstate that they might have incorrect contact information associated with a customer account.
And if you have no alternative to doing business with Allstate, I feel for you. I truly do.
ETA:
I just got a “your email address was updated” email from Allstate. It gives me the address it was updated to as well.
Maybe I really should start a walkitout club. I claim there is a walkitout (Firstname) club, and all walkitouts are automatically members and they are all fabulous people. (This is a great way to make friends with random strangers who have your name.) But there are enough Firstname Lastname who share my name, that I could have a whole international sisterhood thing going on. Hmmm.
ETA:
Developments!
As I was cleaning up email from earlier in the week, I tackled the mysterious Texas Windstorm Insurance Association account setup and payment, and it turns out that’s the same as the Allstate. So the other walkitout lives somewhere in Texas, presumably.
ETAYA:
Isotonik Studios, whatever that is, let me just roundtrip the password and reset it. I still can’t figure out what that is, but at least I won’t be getting more email from them.
Marco Polo, a video chat company / app ? legit does true verification before attaching an email to an account. Good for them!
Today in email I shouldn’t be receiving started yesterday, when Allstate sent me email. I’m like, oh goddess, here we go again. I try really hard with financial and government stuff, because I feel like it’s important that I not keep getting email with those kinds of disclaimers on them. Also, I’m trying to get the gmail account fully cleaned up and make sure no one is using my email on an account at some company in case _I_ want to use my gmail with that company in the future. It’s a losing battle. Whatever.
I called the phone number, because the email I got is a no-reply, and I don’t have an account and while I will _happily_ take over a quora account or whatever, I don’t want to do that with things where there is credit card or other information attached (altho there was that Shein account). I talked to three different humans and none of them could figure out how I was getting that email. *sigh*
Today, more email, but this time, I had a policy ending in number. I also had an agent name! And an agent phone number. Agent phone number bounced me through a phone tree but I got a person and while Allstate folks struggle with the idea that they are talking to a non-customer who is getting customer email — we’ll get back to that! — this one was able to make use of the policy ending in information. She still wanted my physical address to confirm I was? wasn’t? the customer, but then realized she just needed to get me off the phone so she could call the real customer and get her real email address. Which is all I fucking wanted to have happen anyway.
First, Allstate really thinks that if they are sending you email, you are their customer. The first person yesterday listed off places like Sam’s Club and so forth as a place I might have become an Allstate customer. I’m always a little shocked when I get email from someone incorrectly and then they try to convince me that I do in fact know them. _It does not typically happen._ I have a multi-year pen-pal thing going with a nice lady in England who has a customer who keeps giving her my email address. It’s a lovely conversation. She never suggests that I am her customer, and we’re partway along the path to meeting up some day and having a cuppa.
But there have been a couple individuals over the years, one a teacher, notably — “You’re in my class!” “I most certainly am not, because I am a middle aged woman living in Massachusetts.” “Oh.” Yeah, oh. I _think_ this is the first _company_ to insist that I’m somehow their customer _and don’t know it_.
So if you are thinking of doing business with Allstate, think long and hard about whether you want to be doing business with a company that so routinely does business with people who don’t know they are doing business with Allstate, that it is incomprehensible to Allstate that they might have incorrect contact information associated with a customer account.
And if you have no alternative to doing business with Allstate, I feel for you. I truly do.
ETA:
I just got a “your email address was updated” email from Allstate. It gives me the address it was updated to as well.
Maybe I really should start a walkitout club. I claim there is a walkitout (Firstname) club, and all walkitouts are automatically members and they are all fabulous people. (This is a great way to make friends with random strangers who have your name.) But there are enough Firstname Lastname who share my name, that I could have a whole international sisterhood thing going on. Hmmm.
ETA:
Developments!
As I was cleaning up email from earlier in the week, I tackled the mysterious Texas Windstorm Insurance Association account setup and payment, and it turns out that’s the same as the Allstate. So the other walkitout lives somewhere in Texas, presumably.
ETAYA:
Isotonik Studios, whatever that is, let me just roundtrip the password and reset it. I still can’t figure out what that is, but at least I won’t be getting more email from them.
Marco Polo, a video chat company / app ? legit does true verification before attaching an email to an account. Good for them!