December 2013 by Sarah K.
This review of Oakton Insurance Agency is specifically referring to Irv Schneiderman. I recently moved to Chicago and was getting various quotes for condo and auto insurance. I contacted Oakton online to receive a quote because they were located in my area and would hopefully be more knowledgeable about specifics for the city. First, I received an email asking when he would be able to call to discuss the insurance. That was fine, but I informed him I would prefer to communicate via email simply because it is more convenient. After Irv's prodding, I finally gave him my phone number and spoke to him over the phone, giving specifics about the insurance I needed. It took him several days to get back to me (again, that is completely fine), but after verbally giving me the quote over the phone, he was not willing to email me that same information to have on my end. Second, the initial condo purchase fell through, but after finding a new one, I contacted Irv again to see how the quote would have changed for the new condo. Between the initial discussion of the new condo and Irv's response to my phone call, I decided to go with another insurance company. When he called back with my quote, I politely informed him that I had decided to go with a different company and this is when his true colors came out! He basically started yelling at me, telling me I obviously didn't know what I wanted, what I was doing, or what I had agreed to pay for with the company I had chosen. He spat specific questions at me regarding the policy I had chosen and when I didn't have the specific information or gave him a slightly incorrect answer, he raised his voice and repeated that I obviously did not know what I was talking about. He asked what insurance company I had decided to go with and after I told him, he immediately started badmouthing his competitor. After being belittled by Irv for 10 minutes, I finally told him that I felt that he was bullying me and he scoffed. He told me it was obvious I didn't know what I was doing with my money and that I didn't actually want a real insurance agent. Eventually he said "Well I just give up!" and said goodbye. At this point, I had already had quite a stressful day, and his lack of professionalism and rudeness pushed me over the edge and I began crying! After some reflecting, it is possible that his older age may have given him a feeling of elitism and different perspective on how to deal with potential clients. Again, this is solely based on my one experience with one agent, but I think it speaks volumes about the integrity of the company who chose to hire him and allows him to interact with potential customers. Overall, I would NOT recommend using Oakton.
