Potential innkeepers should consider the various factors attributed to their bed and breakfast — such as how much they’ll charge guests and how they’ll interact with them — in order to ensure that the business is prosperous.

Among one of the most important components of running a bed and breakfast out of your home is that of the different insurance coverages that are required, and how much it may cost you. Despite running the business out of your home, this does not mean that extra insurance policies aren’t necessary. Given that you’ll be running your business out of your house, it is vital that innkeepers attain the coverage needed to protect themselves against any accidents or issues that may arise.

So before you get out your homeowners insurance calculator, check out a few of the extra insurance types you may need if you plan on operating a bed and breakfast out of your home:

Property Insurance Coverage

This one is important because it goes beyond the typical homeowners insurance coverage. Having property insurance when running a bed and breakfast protects you against any damage to the building that may occur, and property used for operating the business.

Things covered under property insurance include business papers such as receipts and invoices, tech equipment like computers, or any detached buildings you may be using to run the bed and breakfast, to name a few. Having these bases covered keeps you protected against any property-related complications.

Liquor Liability

Who doesn’t love mimosas in the morning, especially when waking up in a bed and breakfast? Well, as an innkeeper, if you plan on distributing alcohol on your premises, regardless of whether it’s a sale or not, having liquor liability is a must.

Liquor liability coverage protects you against any problems that may arise from a guest having too much to drink, and if they inadvertently injure themselves or someone else. No matter how careful you might be, having liquor coverage is crucial if you have any plans to provide guests with alcoholic beverages. On the other hand, not serving alcohol but instead having your bed and breakfast be BYOD-friendly would free you of liability concerns in the event an under-the-influence guest injures a third party, since you wouldn’t be considered “in the liquor business.”

General Liability (GL)

This is when only having homeowners insurance isn’t enough. As the owner of an innkeeper, you’ll have numerous guests coming in and out daily, walking up or down stairs, and perusing the property during their visit. All this activity greatly increases the possibility of a potential fall or injury, so you should make sure you’re covered.

Having general liability insurance protects you if a guest injures themselves or damages any on-site property, and then claims negligence of the business place as the cause. This way, regardless of any accidents which may arise, you can rest easy knowing that your GL insurance policy covers these potential issues.

Workers’ Compensation and Employment Practices Liability

If your bed and breakfast continues to grow, you’ll soon find that you may need to hire extra help to run things smoothly. When deciding to do this, it is important to find employee-related insurance policies to protect both yourself and the workers brought on board.

Generally speaking, workers’ compensation will cover any injuries that may occur while an employee is on the job, while employment practices liability (EPLI) will protect against claims of illegal or wrongful employment practices as a whole. As your bed and breakfast grows, you’ll see it start looking more and more like a business, and so you should take careful note to treat it as one.

The decision to start a bed and breakfast is an exciting one for many property owners. The hospitality business is not only enjoyable, but also provides an added layer of responsibilities and guidelines that must be adhered to. By keeping an eye on the different types of insurance required to operate your bed and breakfast, you can ensure all legalities are taken care of, and your business is running smoothly and safely.

Running a Bed and Breakfast: Is Homeowners Insurance Enough? is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Between the new car smell, sleek upholstery and paint job, there are many experiences and memories you can expect to make with a new car. That being said, a brand new car does come with responsibilities, just like any other vehicle. When it comes to insurance for your brand new auto, you’ll want the best coverage available.

Shopping Around with Different Companies

As you compare different auto insurance packages and research insurance companies, you’ll see that some agencies are better equipped to insure certain vehicles than others. Just like people have opinions about cars, insurance companies are no different, only their opinions are based on statistical evidence. This includes how often your make and model breaks down, is involved in a traffic collision, or is stolen. Before a company is willing to insure you, they need to be positive that you (and your car) are not a liability risk. Your risk factor will determine the cost of your monthly premiums. Comparing car insurance quotes could help you sort out the bad coverage options from the good.

Taking Your Time

Some people absolutely dread doing anything that deals with numbers and finances. However, it only makes sense that you take your time when evaluating all of your potential risks, options, and costs for a specific quote. In other words, even if it takes you two hours to thoroughly complete your car insurance quoting comparisons, it’s well worth it if it means getting a fair deal. Your time is valuable however, so if you’re looking for a new auto insurance plan, make sure you’re protecting yourself. If you have to, pick up the phone and the old-fashioned way to see what individual insurance companies can offer you. However, it’s recommended you have some quotes to use as bargaining ammo. It could pay major dividends finding out just how bad a particular insurer wants your business.

Comparing New Car Options

Another thing to remember is that new cars also come with insurance options that don’t cover older vehicles. These options include new vehicle replacement should your vehicle be damaged or stolen. It’s one of the top perks of owning a new vehicle and it’s available under different coverage types. Though keep in mind, this option’s availability is dependent upon the specific insurance company you wish to work with. With this option, if you do have the new car replacement option and you get into an accident within the first few months of owning your new car, then your insurance company will buy you a new car to replace the one that was declared totaled by your insurance adjustor. That is a great perk (among many others available) that you can only receive with new cars under certain auto insurance packages.

When you’re shopping for a new car remember that there are more than enough ways to get ahead. Obviously a new vehicle means having to pay more money. However, you can minimize the increases you’re going to pay through continuing to shop around for new car insurance quotes that will both cost less and give you better overall coverage in the process. You have to remember that you don’t have to break the bank in order to drive around a new car. And, as long as you do your planning and quoting before you take that new car for its first spin around the neighborhood, you might even be lucky enough to pay the same amount (or less) than you were before. It’s all about finding the right company to protect you.

Comparing Car Insurance After You’ve Bought a New Car is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Almost every other piece of personal finance advice I’ve written about I’ve implemented myself: have an emergency fund, set up a college account for my daughter early, buy value stocks, cooking dinner at home and buying a used car with cash, among other things.

Shopping for insurance is one of the easiest things to do, taking minutes online or a five-minute phone call to an insurance agent. Up until about a month ago, the last time I went shopping for insurance was about a dozen years ago when my wife and I bought a house and needed homeowner’s insurance.

Insurers often offer bundled savings, so shopping for insurance for your home is often accompanied by a quote for auto insurance. You can save at least $100 per year by buying multiple policies from the same carrier for your cars and home.

An armored truck started it all

After more than 12 years of not shopping for insurance, what finally got me checking around for prices? Dissatisfaction with our insurance company. It all started when an armored truck made an illegal left turn and hit my wife’s car, totaling her car and soon starting us down the path of shopping for insurance.

I’ll make that story as brief as I can, but the end result was saving $350 on our annual premiums for home and auto insurance. That’s not a ton of money, I realize, but it’s enough of a savings to make the switch worthwhile. And I realize that someday our current insurer may disappoint us, which may again cause us to go shopping for insurance.

It’s now something I realize I should do annually. Loyalty to an insurer, I found out, isn’t a two-way street.

What led to me shopping for insurance

Luckily, nothing major has happened to our home, so the change in homeowner’s insurance wasn’t at the top of my mind when I went shopping for insurance after an unhappy tale from our insurer, Traveler’s. Still, the price from AAA for homeowner’s insurance was about $80 less per year, so the change was worthwhile.

What led to the change from Traveler’s to AAA was the number of times Traveler’s dropped the ball with our auto insurance claim. Here’s a quick recap of the balls they dropped:

• Telling us to go after the other insurer to reimburse us for a rental car. After the accident, our claims rep told us to get a rental car for up to two weeks so my wife could drive to work, and to send her the receipt. We rented a car for nine days. After weeks of back and forth with our insurer’s subrogation department and being told that Traveler’s would go after the other party’s insurer to reimburse us, the Traveler’s rep told us in an email that it was up to use to work with the other insurer to get that money. I called the claims rep and told them this was unacceptable, that Traveler’s should be working on our behalf. She called the subrogation rep, who later sent us a check for the rental car.
• Slow responses. A claims adjustor at Traveler’s told us to sign some papers and FedEx them back quickly so that a check for the totaled car’s value could be sent to us. We did, but Traveler’s response was incredibly slow. Almost two weeks went by before we received a check, a process the rep told us would take a few days. After I asked where the check was a week after sending them the documents they needed, they discovered that it hadn’t been sent yet but would arrive in a few days via FedEx. A week later, the check arrived.
• Inexperience. From the claims rep, to the adjustor, subrogation rep and even the sales rep, I felt like I was dealing with rookies. I often knew more than they did about the process, though I admit they were helpful in a lot of areas I didn’t understand. But all of them dropped the ball at some point, either giving me wrong information, conflicting information or an attitude that they didn’t care if I left for another insurer.

What went right

The good news is that in the end, Traveler’s came through with the rental car reimbursement, a fair payout for the totaled car, and the negligent party paid our deductible. It took awhile, but I ultimately felt that Traveler’s did what an insurer is supposed to do: Make you whole.

When you get in a car accident that’s not your fault, you’re still going to end up in the red financially. There’s no way around it. Auto insurance may give you enough money to buy a car comparable to the one you lost, but good luck finding one.

Easy switch of insurers

Switching insurers was as easy as a few phone calls. I could have compared prices online when shopping for insurance, but I called AAA because I’ve been a member of its auto club for all of my driving life and I’ve had insurance with AAA before.

I also went shopping for insurance the old fashioned way by stopping at my local AAA office and asking to speak to an insurance agent. I gave her our coverage letters from Traveler’s and after about 10 minutes of plugging numbers into her computer, we had a price quote for auto and home that was $350 cheaper for a year.

A few days later we decided to go with AAA and all we had to do was sign a few emailed documents and make some payments and we were set. Traveler’s required us to sign and mail back two forms before canceling our policies.

One Traveler’s saleswoman asked why we were changing our homeowner’s policy, which I told her was because we found a lower price elsewhere.

I later contacted Traveler’s to cancel our auto insurance, but they didn’t ask why. I suspect they already knew from my request a few weeks earlier to investigate why their subrogation department was asking us to go after the other driver’s insurer to get our money.

At the end of the day, I am happy that my wife was not injured, and we made the decision to switch to another company to save money. However, with the help of a car accident lawyer this situation would have run much smoother, without any need for me to have to contact as many people that I did. In addition, if any injuries would have incurred I would have made sure to connect with personal injury lawyers to get her compensated for any pain and suffering she may have experienced.

How I Saved $350 by Finally Shopping for Insurance is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

1. Know the Basic Components of Coverage

The main of purposes of an insurance policy are to protect your health, other driver’s health and your assets. As such, proper coverage is essential. The three common types of plans are liability, collision and comprehensive. Liability pays for third-party injury and property damage. Collision policies repair your vehicle following an accident and are usually required if you have a loan on your car. The comprehensive category entails other incidental damage caused by non-accident related situations such as weather, theft or vandalism.

2. Consider Policy Add-Ons

There are many helpful extras that can be added to aid you in sticky situations. Here are some common useful add-ons:

• Medical Payments
• Uninsured Motorist
• Towing
• Rental
• Gap

Some of these are advisable for young drivers, while others are legally required. Certain states ask that you have insurance that covers the uninsured motorist. Teens, leasers and owners of recently purchased vehicles may want to consider gap plans in case the car is totaled. Otherwise, you may be left with a large bill and without a vehicle.

3. Understand What Influences Deductibles and Premiums

Think about how you use your car and what you need from an auto insurance policy. Do not add components unless you genuinely think they will be useful. For instance, extra coverage makes sense for an inexperience driver, but older drivers are less likely to get into a serious accident. Know what to expect and consider these elements when pricing coverage:

• Your driving habits
• Accident history
• Type and number of vehicles
• How often you drive
• Age
• Gender

Young men will likely have the highest monthly premiums and large cars have more expensive plans.

4. Compare as You Shop

Get quotes from local car insurance agents. Even large national agencies have hometown representatives that understand the your state’s laws and common concerns. Be honest about what you need and your driving history. This will yield more accurate quotes and more effective coverage. If you are looking for multple types of plans, you may find a firm that offers bundle deals. Some companies will give you a discount for paying biannually or yearly as opposed to monthly. Additionally, look for discounts for good grades, experienced drivers, multiple cars or even paperless billing.

The first step to getting affordable and effective insurance coverage is to understand what you need and how that will affect the price. For instance, inexperienced or teen drivers will have higher premiums, but you can get discounts for report cards or driving classes. Ask about savings and shop around. Start with these tips and you will find the right policy and company with just a bit of research.

Photo courtesy of: digidreamgrafix at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

4 Tips for Affordable Car Insurance is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

There are some travellers that don’t consider it important to take out travel insurance, when embarking on trips either domestically or internationally. No matter if your trip is for pleasure or business, it is always wise to cover yourself against life’s unexpected mishaps. Not taking out cover, is a gamble that people usually take because they ‘don’t think it will happen to them.’ If you like the thrill of gambling with your family’s wellbeing while away from home, then for you the thrill of beating ‘the odds’ will outweigh the danger. For the rest of us, here is a quick reminder on why it’s sensible to buy travel insurance.

Medical Expenses

If you are overseas and need treatment for anything from an infection to a major injury, there is a chance that you will have a hefty bill to pay. For Brits travelling in the European Community (EC), even the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) will only give the holder basic cover that will vary from country to country. For countries such as the US and many outside the EC, there can be huge bills for even the most minor visit to seek medical advice.

Loss of Belongings

For travellers on a budget, there are lots of ways to save money. For example, visits to lots of fantastic museums are free. While it is a great to keep your total budget in mind, not buying travel insurance is false economy. With the amount of high-tech goods such as tablets, laptops and smartphones, most people travel with, it makes sense to protect them against loss or damage. Thus it is vital to take out a policy for these items. You should also make sure that your policy also covers your travel money (cash) as well.

Cancellation Fees

Even though we never want it to happen, there could be a genuine reason you have to cancel a trip or a holiday. A travel insurance policy will include coverage if you need to cancel. The same applies if you need to cut short your holiday due to unforeseen circumstances.

Accident Liability Coverage

If you cause an accident while on holiday, then the policy will pay out. If for example you have an accident skiing and injure somebody the injured party could put in a claim against you for damages. If this is the case, your policy will cover you. Accident claims can often be thousands of dollars so it’s important to have accident liability coverage.

Flight delays

Travel insurance also gives you coverage for delayed flights. It also is there to assist you when you need to pay for another flight should you miss the one that you originally booked due to an unavoidable delay such as traffic or weather delays. These days, travel insurance is cheaper than you think. And that is another reason, why it makes sound financial sense. Have you ever purchased travel insurance for a trip? Image courtesy of: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

5 Reasons Travel Insurance Makes Sense is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

This post is written by Chris Huntley, who is a licensed life insurance agent in 48 states.  He is director of marketing at JRC Insurance Group and blogs about life insurance at www.InsuranceBlogByChris.com. 

Life insurance is without a doubt the most important financial safety net that every American household should buy.

The sudden loss of the main income earner could leave such a devastating financial hole that many households may not be able to cope.

Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents points out that a staggering “35 million households don’t have any life insurance” AND, that “58 million households don’t have enough.”

If you fall into either of these vulnerable categories, and don’t know anything or very little about life insurance I’m going to give you a brief life insurance primer so you can financially protect your family.

Types of Life Insurance

There are two types of life insurance that you can buy:

• Term Insurance
• Permanent Insurance

Let’s look at each of these life insurance formats in more detail.

Term Insurance

Term insurance is the most common type of life insurance purchased today in the U.S. and is the most basic type of life insurance available. It is also the most affordable form of life insurance.

Although term insurance covers you for life, you buy it in periods of time such as 10, 15 or 30 years. Some companies sell policies which are age specific such as age 65, for example.

Term insurance pays out death benefits only. You select the amount of death benefits you need such as $500,000. You then choose the length of the term or period of time that you want the insurance to cover.

Most people don’t know that there are three types of term insurance available:

Level Term – The most common type of policy that you see advertised. You pay a specific premium for a specific period of time and amount of coverage (death benefits).

Decreasing Term – This simply means that your premiums remain the same but the amount of coverage will diminish at various time increments throughout the term of the policy. This is an ideal policy to buy to cover your mortgage.

Increasing Term — With this type of policy, both your death benefits and your premium will increase at certain time increments during the life of the term. This can be a good policy for young families starting out and who are on a budget.

Permanent Insurance

This form insurance is more complicated and more expensive to buy. These types of policies cover you for your entire lifespan. They provide not only death benefits like term insurance, but also provide a cash value accumulation feature which grows through the life of the policy.

The types of permanent policies available include:

• Universal Life
• Indexed Universal Life
• Whole Life
• Variable Life

These polices should only be discussed in more detail with an experienced independent insurance agent and can be ideal for those with complex estates, tax issues or are earning higher incomes.

How Much Does Life Insurance Cost?

First, let me point out that life insurance becomes increasingly more expensive to buy as you age. Along with advanced age you may also incur health issues that can also affect the cost of what you pay.

Here’s a few sample quotes for a 30 Year Term Life Insurance Policy — “Preferred — Non-Smoker” – $500,000 Death Benefits.

Age 25 – $40.18 / Month

Age 35 – $39.25 / Month

Age 45 – $107.50 / Month

Age 55 – $301.20 / Month

Tips on Buying Life Insurance

Here are a few handy money saving tips to keep in mind when buying life insurance.

Tip 1 – Always Use an Independent Agent

Although you can buy direct from a life insurance company or a company agent, your best bet to get the best coverage at the most affordable rates is through an independent life insurance agent.

Why?

The reason is because independent agents have access to dozens of life insurers so they can not only perform the comparison shopping for you, they also know which companies are more lenient when it comes to certain health issues.

Tip 2 – Don’t Buy Life Insurance through your Employer

If you are healthy, you are better off buying through an independent agent because you will get a better rate. Also, keep in mind that when you leave your employ, your life insurance coverage is terminated.

If you have health issues, group insurance through an employer can be a good route to go as you will almost certainly be approved for coverage.

Tip 3 – Avoid No Exam Policies if you are Healthy

You see these advertisements everywhere. They are convenient but one thing the advertisers fail to mention is that these policies are considerably more expensive than those which do require a medical exam.

These policies are more commonly known as “Guaranteed Issue.” They can be useful if you hate needles, have health issues, or need a policy fast such as if you need life insurance to cover a business loan.

Whatever you decide, start the life insurance process today and don’t leave you family vulnerable.

Life Insurance 101 — Cost, Types and Helpful Tips is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

My transportation costs stayed around $200/month, which was gas and only gas.

When that car officially died in January, I bought my Honda. Since I was driving my own car, I have to pay for insurance as well.

This freed me completely financially; I do not owe anyone and I am accountable only to myself. The only downside is the cost.

In 2009, I got into a fender bender in my previous car because I didn’t shoulder check and cut somebody off, resulting in the car hitting me from the side. The accident was my fault and it caved in the wheel well of the other car. Apparently this is an extremely expensive repair, because I ended up being presented with two options: I could either pay it out at $4,000 or “enjoy” a nice 10 percent surcharge on my insurance premium. I would have had to take out a loan to pay it out, so I chose the surcharge with the plan to not drive for the next couple of years. I chose the surcharge. The insurance on my Honda is $4,000/year.

My saving grace was that I lived fairly close to work for a few months, saving me a lot on gas, so my monthly fuel expenses went down by quite a bit.

When I got my current job in April, I started working farther from home, costing me more in gas. On top of that, they are building a new bridge that I have to cross every day to get to work. The government is tolling the bridge at an astronomical $3.50 per pass ($7/day if you go to work and then come back home), to help pay for the bridge. The tolling starts in December.

So what we’re looking at, then, is the following:

$220 Car Payment
$220 Gas
$330 Insurance
$140 Bridge Tolls
$25 Parking (I have to pay every once in awhile)
$20 Maintenance (pro-rated over the months)

________________________________________
$995 Per Month

That figure is absolutely astounding. It’s double my portion of the rent, and more than our monthly rent as a whole. It’s actually almost half of my monthly income from my day job.

Seeing that figure is extremely motivating for me to get out of debt and pay off my car loan as soon as possible. Paying off my car loan will reduce that expense to $775.

It will also make me feel a lot more comfortable buying a house, which would decrease the bridge toll cost and the gas costs; we are planning to buy closer to work so we don’t have to go over the bridge. I could probably save $100 on gas when we move, and the bridge toll expense would be nonexistent. $515 is much more manageable than $995.

But, the first step is to tackle this car loan like it’s my job.

I’ve been able to pay off $2600 in under 6 months, and for a big portion of those months, I was making half of what I’m now making.

With a trip to NYC in September, I don’t think I’ll be able to put a lump sum onto my loan until October. But having this debt payment every month, hanging over my head, is starting to get pretty depressing. So here’s what I’m planning to do to cut back:

• Never pay for parking unless necessary (Savings – $25/month)
• Eat at home/brown bag it for breakfast and lunch every day, and dinner 6 days per week (Savings – $40/month)
• Find a way to save $20 on my phone bill (Savings – $20/month)
• Stop buying books; read the ones I have (Savings – $20/month)

And then, now that I’ve handed in my final project, I have some extra time with which to make extra money. Here’s the plan with that:

• Put all extra money made from babysitting toward car loan (earned – about $250/month)
• Find an extra $100 per month through side gigs (earned – $100/month)
• Continue to put blogging income toward other savings/travel – otherwise I wouldn’t be able to pay for my trips in September (N/A)

This can all be implemented at the start of August, but the income part will have to go toward my September endeavors for that month. So, by the end of the year if I keep this up, I’ll be looking at:

$220/month payment, $40 going to interest = $180/month reduction
$105/month found via cutting back
$350/month earned at side gigs
____________________________

=$675 extra payment each month

My current loan stands at $9850. By January 1, 2013, I should be able to have my loan decreased to $6,970.

The loan was supposed to be a five year loan, but I should have it gone by the end of 2013.

This is a relief – it’s much more manageable than paying it down for five years. And this is also not accounting for any extra payments that I will be making from my regular income, though I will likely have to save that for the crazy insurance expense that I have to deal with.

Are your transportation costs out of control?

Out of Control Transportation Costs is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

First was the TD Insurance debacle. I had to go through several different channels to have them reverse a transaction on my account which should never have been charged in the first place.

Then, I had a tear-inducing situation with Rogers, when they decided they would renew my contract without my consent. In fact, they had even told me they wouldn’t require a contract extension when I changed something minor on my account.

After talking to one awesome customer service rep, and then another rude representative, they escalated the issue to another department (after refusing to allow me to speak to a supervisor or manager). An awesome Rogers rep on Twitter confirmed that they changed it back after hours of being on the phone and almost bursting into tears because I cannot possibly be stuck with that horrid company for an additional three years. 

So, needless to say, I got my way for both of these. Because I was in the right. I’m not going to coach you on how to get your way if you want $100 worth of monthly service for free just because that’s what you want and you think you should get what you want. But if a company screws you over, just because they can, here’s how I’d deal with it:

Collect Yourself

Give yourself a couple of hours after the incident so that you don’t panic and call them over something that could be worked out on the website. I’ve done that before and it made me feel pretty dumb.

If you give yourself an hour to cool down, you can then re-read the policy that you think they breached, or recollect a memory of the situation that went wrong so that you can accurately describe it without stuttering or forgetting key details.

Stay Calm

As a bonus of giving yourself time, you will likely calm down and see things with some clarity after a cooling period. If you’re not calm yet, give yourself more time. Your ability to talk calmly with the sales representative will be detrimental to your success of solving the problem.

Have you ever had to deal with an irate or overly emotional person? It’s torture. If you’re calm and agreeable, the person on the other end of the line will want to help you.

Be Nice, but Firm

When you decide to act on the complaint, you can always start by tweeting the company. They are usually very receptive to social media complaints, because everyone else can see them. If you would prefer not to use your phone minutes talking to the company for hours, they will usually call you to solve the problem.

When you do talk to them, you should never start off the conversation on the wrong foot. You are asking this person to help you, and to solve the problem for you. If somebody called you up and was rude to you, would you want to help them? Likely not.

Remember, the person you are talking to is just doing their job. They didn’t create the policy, and they are likely not the person that made the mistake on your account to begin with.

Calmly and nicely explain the situation. I’m not suggesting that you be passive aggressive, because that won’t work either. Be firm.

Ask to Talk to a Supervisor

If the problem is severe enough, ask to talk to a supervisor right away, because explaining the situation to an associate will just deplete your patience and you will likely need to talk to a supervisor anyway.

If the person on the other end won’t help you (and that will happen), ask to talk to a supervisor. The associate usually either freaks out a little and solves your problem right then because they don’t want to bug their superior, or transfers you to the supervisor who will, 80% of the time, solve the problem right then for you.

If All Else Fails

If the supervisor or manager, or sales associate won’t solve the problem for you, but you know you are in the right, file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

Many people don’t know about this resource, but the BBB is there to capture consumer complaints about companies who are acting unethically – the BBB protects the consumer. Consumers are in a vulnerable position, because our money is on the line. Companies usually take complaints that go to the BBB very seriously, because the BBB rates the companies.

I had to file a complaint with the BBB about the TD Insurance situation, after which they fixed the issue right away. They called me to fix the issue, in fact.

Don’t go filing BBB complaints because you threw your iPhone in the bathtub and Apple won’t replace it for you, or you took a chainsaw to your couch and The Brick tells you that you’re SOL – but if the company is infringing on your rights, and you’ve exhausted all other methods, it’s a great tool to help you out.

I’ve had to deal with some shady companies and using these steps usually help me resolve the issue.

How to Deal With Terrible Companies (Or, How to Get Your Way) is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.