Qtec
08-16-2012, 04:57 AM
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Progressive Insurance’s Response To The Fisher Scandal Is A Textbook Example Of A PR Catastrophe
As such, like me, you might have heard about the horrible ordeal that enveloped he, his family, and Progressive Insurance and has absolutely been blowing up the past few days (Gawker, for instance, now has an entire front page section dedicated to updates).
While I’ve written a bunch about the story on my personal blog and Twitter, I haven’t covered it for Mediaite, partially because I know the guy and mostly because it’s unrelated to politics and media. However, Progressive’s social media response has everything to do with media (the word’s right there in “social media”!) and I will write about that because it is basically a textbook example of a corporation doing every single thing wrong when combatting bad 21st century press.
For those of you who don’t know, this is what went down. Throughout last week, Fisher had been tweeting angrily at Progressive’s official Twitter account. Two days ago, he wrote a long post on Tumblr explaining to his friends and fans what the deal was. He gave it the instantly noticeable title, <span style='font-size: 14pt'>“My Sister Paid Progressive Insurance <u>to Defend Her Killer </u>In Court.”</span>
In that post, Fisher told of how his sister, Katie, had tragically been killed in a car accident with an underinsured driver. Witnesses claimed that the other driver was at fault and his insurance provider instantly paid out a small sum. However, Katie was a Progressive customer and they refused to give the Fisher family the money her policy promised her. Eventually, they offered to pay a much smaller sum, claiming that it wasn’t proven that Katie wasn’t at fault. The Fisher’s were forced to take legal action. However, due to a Maryland law, they found that it was illegal to sue an insurance company for policy payment. Instead, they had to sue the other driver in civil court to prove that he was at fault.
And here, in my admittedly biased opinion, is where it got disturbing. From Fisher’s Tumblr:
<span style='font-size: 14pt'>“Now my parents don’t harbor much venom for the guy who killed my sister. It was an accident, and kicking that guy around won’t bring Katie back. But kicking that guy around was the only way to get Progressive to pay. So they filed a civil suit against the other driver in hopes that, rather than going to court, Progressive would settle. Progressive did not. Progressive made a series of offers (never higher than 1/3 the amount they owe) and then let it go to a trial.
<span style='font-size: 14pt'>At the trial, the guy who killed my sister was defended by Progressive’s legal team.</span></span>
If you are insured by Progressive, and they owe you money, they will defend your killer in court in order to not pay you your policy.“
Yikes. The driver was found at fault and now Progressive will have to pay but, still, yikes. </div></div>
link (http://www.mediaite.com/online/progressive-insurances-response-to-the-fisher-scandal-is-a-textbook-example-of-a-pr-catastrophe/)
Gasp!
Q
As such, like me, you might have heard about the horrible ordeal that enveloped he, his family, and Progressive Insurance and has absolutely been blowing up the past few days (Gawker, for instance, now has an entire front page section dedicated to updates).
While I’ve written a bunch about the story on my personal blog and Twitter, I haven’t covered it for Mediaite, partially because I know the guy and mostly because it’s unrelated to politics and media. However, Progressive’s social media response has everything to do with media (the word’s right there in “social media”!) and I will write about that because it is basically a textbook example of a corporation doing every single thing wrong when combatting bad 21st century press.
For those of you who don’t know, this is what went down. Throughout last week, Fisher had been tweeting angrily at Progressive’s official Twitter account. Two days ago, he wrote a long post on Tumblr explaining to his friends and fans what the deal was. He gave it the instantly noticeable title, <span style='font-size: 14pt'>“My Sister Paid Progressive Insurance <u>to Defend Her Killer </u>In Court.”</span>
In that post, Fisher told of how his sister, Katie, had tragically been killed in a car accident with an underinsured driver. Witnesses claimed that the other driver was at fault and his insurance provider instantly paid out a small sum. However, Katie was a Progressive customer and they refused to give the Fisher family the money her policy promised her. Eventually, they offered to pay a much smaller sum, claiming that it wasn’t proven that Katie wasn’t at fault. The Fisher’s were forced to take legal action. However, due to a Maryland law, they found that it was illegal to sue an insurance company for policy payment. Instead, they had to sue the other driver in civil court to prove that he was at fault.
And here, in my admittedly biased opinion, is where it got disturbing. From Fisher’s Tumblr:
<span style='font-size: 14pt'>“Now my parents don’t harbor much venom for the guy who killed my sister. It was an accident, and kicking that guy around won’t bring Katie back. But kicking that guy around was the only way to get Progressive to pay. So they filed a civil suit against the other driver in hopes that, rather than going to court, Progressive would settle. Progressive did not. Progressive made a series of offers (never higher than 1/3 the amount they owe) and then let it go to a trial.
<span style='font-size: 14pt'>At the trial, the guy who killed my sister was defended by Progressive’s legal team.</span></span>
If you are insured by Progressive, and they owe you money, they will defend your killer in court in order to not pay you your policy.“
Yikes. The driver was found at fault and now Progressive will have to pay but, still, yikes. </div></div>
link (http://www.mediaite.com/online/progressive-insurances-response-to-the-fisher-scandal-is-a-textbook-example-of-a-pr-catastrophe/)
Gasp!
Q