Sunday, August 11, 2013

CocoLife Insurance

I just finished watching the news regarding Insurance scams here in the Philippines and it really took me back to the time when I was almost scammed out of my money as well.

The Insurance was called CocoLife. Beware of this company.

I have little to no experience at all when it comes to insurance companies. My parents would just simply warn me not to entertain any person offering insurance. Bottom line: most of them are scams. Never knew why before but I had to find out the hard way. Oh, they weren't able to take anything from me but they did took two and a half hours of my time.

First thing you should know: they are experts at what they do. They will tell you anything to convince you. While some of their policies may look real to you, they are made for the company's own benefit, never yours. They are trained how to handle objections from different types of people; from students to simple orderlies, they know how to talk to you.

How do you handle this? Think beyond what they're saying. For every benefit they claim you will receive, there is a 'string attached' to it. Never believe what they say especially when they tell you that there's no disadvantage for you, that the company will always want what's best for their customer. That's bullsh*t. If they did want what was best for their customer, they wouldn't be in that business. Everything's a give-and-take relationship and it should be equal, not one-sided.

An agent called Kate tried to convince me and I was indeed convinced at first but I insisted I wanted to consult this with my parents first. You know what she did? She told me I was a grown-up; I should be able to make my own decisions. That doing this before telling my parents will benefit them as much as it benefits me. That I would be making my parents proud of me acting like a grown-up.

You know what I see? I saw someone coaxing a two year old child to drink bitter medicine. That's how she treated me. Okay, honestly, it might sound flattering for other people but some can find it insulting. I told her I respect my parents and that even though I can decide what's best for me, I do not make decisions behind their backs especially on something that will involve money. I work hard to earn money; we all do so we know the value of it. I can't just easily say 'yes' and give it away like it's nothing.

Second thing you will notice: they are walking advertisements. Okay, I may not wholly clear on that. What I meant was they know how to say it and the right time to say it. They will make sure you will fall for their program. Everything you do, from your answers to your gestures; they will use it against you. The moment they spot hesitation, they will go for it. Kate was like a tape; every time I said 'no', she would rewind back and start over with her advertisement. Like a robot. She has no respect.

The sad thing is, some of them have successfully convinced some people. Kate even showed me a couple of receipts from hardworking people. One gave Kate all of her savings. Another gave Kate 8,000php. That is a lot of money; it can pay for several bills, food and house rent. They are people who work abroad, away from their own families just to give a better future for their children.

They will tend to tell you that you can start the account with any amount of money you may have (Kate told me: 'kahit barya lang po, pwede na ma'am.' That's a lie; her 'barya' is actually 4,000php.) In reality, your contribution will tend to depend on your age and true insurance companies will tell you that you will not receive money from them for as long as you live; there will be limits. Kate was saying the opposite.

You have to be solid in your decision. Even if it will look rude or harsh, you have to say NO. Agents who scam like this lack transparency, meaning they will not tell you the whole ugly truth. Also, they can become rude to you. Kate is a very sarcastic agent. When we were already talking for almost two hours, she went to the point when she told me: 'this offer is only good today so let's not waste each other's time' ('ngayong lang itong offer na 'to kaya 'wag mo na sayangin ang oras mo at oras ko') and asked me to sign a form that states I am giving them authorization to actually debit money from my bank account ('pirmahan mo na 'to para makapagstart ka na'). I smiled sweetly and told her: 'no, I don't want you to debit money from my account. Even if the offer expires today, it's fine.' ('ayoko po pirmahan yan, ayoko kumuha kayo ng pera sa account ko. Kahit matapos na ang offer, okay lang.')

As we part ways, she told me sarcastically: "God bless you, ma'am." Like somehow she went to some lengths as to use God and guilt-trip me. Shame on her.

14 comments:

  1. Good day to all, i am posting this comments not to violently act on your sides but to correct some issues. i personally worked with Cocolife Company since 2006 as one of their Underwriters.
    Cocolife Insurance(United Coconut Planters Life assurance Corp) is one of the life insurance provider in the Phils which registered and legally to operate under the regulation of the Insurance Commission. it has the track record of will provide, will sufficient, and well delivered promise of the benefits to their CLIENTELE for the past 35years. It sells the complete package of Insurance products(PENSION, LIFE, MEMORIAL, EDUCATIONAL, HEALTHCARE, SAVINGS, INVESTMENTS). Cocolife started making their Mall Market Operation since 2007 until now. we deployed our staffs; underwriter; managers; and customer service for those operations and they undergone massive training's for handling those kinds of operations. am mush aware of your concerns because I personally encountering that thing. we sets our standards for handling the customer concerns specially in this kind of operation of market but honestly we cannot monitor it time to time if how those agents comply for our standards, that's why our Customer Service Hotlines are always open for the some reports or concerns. As Legal Company we comply for the proper requirements of the bureau to operate and we have due process also for some mistakes and misunderstanding between YOU-the customer and the Company itself.

    Upon reading your blogs about us i understand that there some misunderstanding.
    First I would like to clarify that the FUTURE SAVING that our company is selling is not a LIFE INSURANCE. just to give you a full view, The plan is a limited-pay non-participating whole life product which pays 200% of the Face Amount upon the Insured’s death prior to age 100 or upon the Insured’s survival to age 100. In addition, Anticipated Endowments are payable if the insured is alive at the time such benefits are payable. There are three variants of the plan (Platinum, Gold, and Silver). it is a plan that consists of PENSION+LIFE INSURANCE+HEALTH COVERAGE FOR TERMINAL ILLNESS. This plan fall under PENSION PLAN CATEGORY of our Company.

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  2. cont.....

    regarding with the approach of our PROMO OFFICERS-i would understand that it was a bit tricky for the clients. but i assure you that once the client is already inside of our office for the time that she was talking to our agents whos selling the products of our company we monitor it accordingly for both sides benefits. we make sure that the clients are aware of what she /he availing from us and all the papers and documents are legally signed and sworn ed by both parties. of course we train our people how to handle clients objections, but somehow we manage to handle their objections with the reality of life. we don't create things and humors that can affect any fact about us and our clients. once the client dont want to avail the plan being sell-its okay with us because the client has NO OBLIGATIONS from our company but still the FREE items that our promo offices promises to them will be given still to them and were happy to say goodbye. for my 8years with the company i personally close a deal and i would understand that i cant close every client that i has-some of them refuses to sign the contract but most of all yes they do. i do my job with passion, dignity, perseverance, integrity and truthfulness. because no matter what i believe that my client is a human like me that need to be Respected.

    thank you

    i am Mark Anthony Junio, and im proud to be Cocolifers.

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    Replies
    1. Hello, Mr. Junio.

      First of all, I would like to apologize for the delay in response.

      Secondly, I can certainly understand your strong feelings to defend the company you work for. I hold no grudges to you personally. I admit that I might have been harsh with what I've said in this post however, I still stand by most of what I have said.

      It was incorrect of me to tell people directly that Cocolife itself is a scam. To be precise, I had been referring to the agent who tried (and failed) to sell me insurance. The important matter here was that she was close to forcing me out of my own money. While I may think that you are a much more honest person than she is, there is no question that she has shown me poor service and has no respect for my decision. She represents the company and thus must act accordingly and professionally as expected of her however both of which she clearly lacked during that time. If you have had heard how she was trying to convince me to place my signature in the "authorization to debit money from my account" form, you might respond differently. She has also shown me a lot of computations which show "holes" to her explanation of how your insurance works. Also, I was able to talk to her because of the fact that she informed me they are celebrating their company's anniversary at the time and was giving away free insurance without any requirements, which she also did "not" give me after our conversation.

      In this situation, potential customers like me will tend to think poorly of the company she represents, not herself entirely. While Cocolife is indeed a legal insurance company like you claim, agents like Kate will tend to be the cause of downfall for potential business. You may think that your customer is a human being like you and thus you show them the proper respect they need and the honesty they deserve but not everyone is ideally working that way. That's the reality of life as well.

      If I were to detail to you the things Kate told me, you might see it in a different light and you might understand why I also have strong feelings about this. In all honesty, it was one of the unpleasant experiences I have had. It was not "a bit tricky for the clients". There is no need to beat around the bush. Just tell us the facts straight-up so we, clients, can understand. But clearly, some of your Promo Officers, like to TWIST the information into something different. Misunderstanding tends to fester when agents twist what they say. I believe I have made it clear at the beginning of my post here, I have little to no experience with insurance companies. Not to sound rude but, what makes you think I will understand your jargon?

      Anyway, I still appreciate your reply to my post, Mr. Junio. I hope that you continue to be true to your work and the clients you serve so situations like mine will be lessened.

      Have a good day!

      Delete
  3. they started with a trick, meaning there's something fishy with it, i've been calling and doing emails for my cancellation and until now no news from them. so sad, Filipinos are tricking their kababayan..

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  4. Mostly agents are the ones that brings bad impressions to insurance companies, they usually are just using sweet talks and technical terms and promises just to sell and get their commission. I'm very happy that someone like Mr. Junio stood out and defend the his company for the alleged insurance scams.

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  5. Dear Mr. Junio,
    can you please help.me understand more about the Future Savings Platinum with detailed ilustration sample. this will be very helpful for me as a new member of the insurance. my email is lee.maguilang@gmail.com. thank you very much.

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  6. I'm not here to argue about the dilemma brought to you by insurance companies but I think insurance policies are becoming scams because of the sales agents that sells them. We should not blame the company. If we feel that we want to have an insurance policy, you should go straight to their office. Maybe you can also visit my blog about scams in the Philippines.

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    Replies
    1. I agree with you. I think we should first verify is they are really working for that insurance company. This kind of insurance scam must be verified at the first place.

      Delete
  7. Lucky to have found this blog and gave me an idea what the Cocolife agents are really after. I've always been approached by these people whenever I go to the mall. They always ask for my credit card or ATM. So this is their modus. Yes, I believe Cocolife is not a scam but the agents or the mall branches are deceiving customers through this modus.

    I don't have an issue with them regarding money but I have issues of how rude their employees are. You can view my open letter to them.

    http://thelegendaryukayista.blogspot.com/2014/10/letter-to-cocolife-agents.html

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  8. Superb way of explaining, and great blog to get wonderful information.life insurances

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  9. Whether somebody pursuit of his vital thing, hence he or she desires to be accessible that at length, hence that thing is maintained over here.whole life insurance rates

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  10. I agree with you James Abram, the sales agents' way of convincing is really making the prospect clients feel like these offerings are from insurance scam Philippines.

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  11. Will there be any chance to refund the payment done for GPA Insurance. I found it too late that it has very limited chance of actually insuring myself. I am a cyclist and one thing that made me think of getting a n accident insurance is that I am prone to it. I was not informed that those were part of the insurance's exclusions. Thanks

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  12. May chance bang marefund ang 2k GPA payment?how? Please help.

    ReplyDelete