Monica will respond to this in typical fashion, like she does EVERY negative review. By pointing out that they have some good reviews. Cool. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Bottom line is a company with as many negative reviews as this one deserves no one's business, regardless of how many fake good reviews they have. Just read the negatives. Focus on those. And ask yourself if experiencing anything you read is worth paying for. Email me, and I'll tell you even more about my experience.
I invite everyone to take a look at their BBB profile. Ignore the good reviews. Read the complains and negative reviews and you will see exactly what you will be in for. I wish I had done this before I dished out $275 to these incompetent scam artists.
You WILL have to constantly call them.
You WILL have to constantly remind the where in the process you are.
You WILL have to wait... days, even weeks, for something they promise you same day or within 24-48 hours.
Monica will tell you that it is a long drawn out process because the insurance companies like to drag it out. LIE - The insurance adjuster handling my claim generally gets back to me within a day or two. The people at AutoLoss have taken 2-3 weeks to respond at times.
Their reports will be FULL of typos, errors, and things they just make up. Seriously. One guy sent me a report to forward and there was a whole paragraph where he made up a scenario that never occurred.
They play games with you. Let me break down the last weeks worth of interactions I've had with them.
Wednesday - Call Autoloss to explain to them that the insurance adjuster isn't accepting their "similar vehicles" part of the claim because the vehicles they found are not from the same state (You would think Autoloss would know how to do this by now) - Autoloss tells me if I go home and find similar vehicles in my state (Which is what I'm paying THEM to do) and email them, I will get an amended demand letter that day. I do this. Then I wait. Then I call shortly before they close and I'm told I'll get the letter in 24-48 hours (Great, glad I rushed home from work to do their work for them, for nothing).
Thursday - 24 hours later - Nothing.
Friday - 48 hours later - Nothing.
Monday - 72 hours later - no calls, no emails.
Tuesday - I call near the end of the day after not hearing from them. I was told my advisor was busy but he would make sure to get the letter out to me today. I don't get the letter. I call and leave a voicemail after they close.
Wednesday - I get an email from Monica saying, and I quote, "[...] If you have not received the demand letter you will get that today or a response as to what is holding up the letter." - Great. Except I didn't receive a letter, or an explanation this day.
Thursday - I wake up to an email apologizing and explaining the problem - except the "hold up" was exactly what they were supposed to do all along, he just made it sound like he came up with the idea last minute. Even though we discussed this already. Last Wednesday.
Friday - After telling them I'm sick of being jerked around and that I want a refund, they finally send me the demand letter. They addressed it to the wrong person, they numbered their example vehicles 1, 2, 3, 4, and 3. I asked them to fix this before they send it out. They told me it would be 24-48 hours before they fix it, then they would send it to me for approval, and then they would fax it. They also claimed they didn't make mistakes, it was just that I wanted things changed.
That last week is what led me to writing all of this out. The entire process with them has been a nightmare, and this is only one little snippet of it. Please, for the love of god, do not support this company. If you have any questions, message me, I'll help you for free. I already know exactly what they know. All they do is copy and paste your information inside of a prewritten, canned letter that they crank out to everyone. They put no effort into their work. Honestly, if you don't believe me, look at their BBB profile, look at the negative reviews. Getting them to do their job is like pulling teeth. Everyone says the same thing. Just do your research if your considering them. Message me. Message anyone who wrote a review. Do not get sucked into this like I did.
https://www.bbb.org/oregon/business-reviews/auto-appraiser/autoloss-com-in-happy-valley-or-*******/reviews-and-complaints?section=reviews&reviewtype=negative
To be fair, Autoloss did a lot of work on my behalf. They came up with a professional and accurate statement of loss. They responded to all of my e-mails quickly. They sent all of the paperwork to State Farm on my behalf. They answered all of my questions within a day or two. They were able to get my co-worker a $9,000 settlement from her insurance company on her crash. They did everything they said they would do and were great to work with... until they weren't.
Unfortunately, State Farm refused to play ball and neither of us were able to get State Farm to agree to give a settlement. Which is OK. We knew that might happen. And, Autoloss promises a refund you can't recoup from the insurance company. That's why I went with them in the first place. They keep the $250 if I get a settlement - I get it back if I meet all their requirements and can't get a settlement from insurance. Sounds like an amazing deal... except I can't give them to refund me!
On 12/5/16, I got an e-mail from support saying "I have pulled your file for a formal refund review. Thanks for sending this, Tyler. I will have an updated for you in 24-48 hours.
Erik Lea
Support Team Manager
Autoloss.com"
I never heard back from them after that. So on 12/22/16 I e-mailed back. He said "I will be sure to ask my boss for an update on your file. I submitted my formal review to her for approval."
Still no response after that. So, I e-mailed Monica, the owner. She said I didn't get the refund approval because I didn't meet the requirements to get one. The requirements are: send an e-mail asking for one (I did...), confirm my address (they have had that the whole time) and tell them how much I paid them (How do they not have that info?) Obvious diversion tactics. She said the refund requirements are available on her web site so I should have known. Why would I go to their web site when their employee told me he was working on it for me?
Regardless, I met their requirements and got an e-mail from Monica on January 5th saying I'd have the refund in 30 to 90 days.
Counting today, it's now been 106 days and no check. I e-mailed Monica April 11th and she said the check had been mailed. They're based in Portland. I live in Portland. If the check had truly been mailed, I'd have it by now. Traffic is really bad in Portland, but it should be here by now.
This company is awesome to work with... until you ask for a refund. Then, good luck!
There is no Steven Hagel, Attorney at Law in Houston or Texas for that matter.