Travel Guard has just taken a very customer-unfriendly step with its web site

[Turtles06]

Travel Guard used to have a terrific web site; as a customer, I could easily and quickly look at plans, get a quote, and make a purchase.  No need to call them.   I've done that for years.  So I was shocked to just learn that if the trip you want to insure is more than a year out, you can no longer purchase your policy on line -- you have to waste time calling them -- time on hold until you reach someone in their call center, time you have to spend giving a call center rep all the information (names, addresses, birth dates, trip dates, etc.) that you could more quickly and accurately have typed in yourself, etc.    

 

As savvy travelers know, if we want our travel insurance policy to include very important provisions, such as coverage of pre-existing conditions, primary coverage for medical expenses, etc., we typically have to buy the policy within a specific number of days after the initial trip deposit.  With Travel Guard, that is 15 days.   Many of us book cruises that are more than a year off, and thus being able to buy the policy right after making that first trip deposit is critical. 

 

It's pretty difficult to understand why any company would make its web site less robust and customer-friendly than it used to be and force customers to telephone a call center.  Most companies are moving in the opposite direction.   A cynic might say that Travel Guard is trying to make it more difficult for travelers to obtain coverage for pre-existing conditions, etc.  All I know is that I am extremely disappointed by this change.  

[iamtrustworthy]

Hi Turtles06,

 

What State do you live in? I'm asking so I may test it out for you.

Something must have gone wrong when you tried to order online because I do not know of any restriction for trips more than 1 year in the future.

 

Steve

[Turtles06]

6 hours ago, iamtrustworthy said:

Hi Turtles06,

 

What State do you live in? I'm asking so I may test it out for you.

Something must have gone wrong when you tried to order online because I do not know of any restriction for trips more than 1 year in the future.

 

Steve

 

Thanks Steve, much appreciated. It wasn’t easy to get to a person with knowledge, but it turns out that they recently “upgraded” their website and messed this up (and didn’t even know). They plan to fix it and said it could take awhile. I haven’t checked it yet as I bought the policy I needed over the phone, since the clock was ticking.