Cage Match: Trip Mate Travel Insurance vs. ChatGTP
There I was, sprawled out on the floor of some 200-year-old hotel lobby in some god-forsaken city in North Africa, too weak to even
struggle over to the buffet table. My head was spinning. My throat was
dry. I couldn't move. I hit my head while blacking out.
In this pathetic condition the very last thing on my mind was trying to figure out how to cancel my flight to Tripoli or how to book a new flight directly to SFO -- or even how to collect a bunch of receipts so that I could get paid
back by my travel insurance company when I got home.
If I got
home.
Hell, my hotel was located right next to a cemetery for World War II American
soldiers who had died during General Patton's North Africa campaign against Rommel the Desert Fox. Forget about returning to California. Just bury me in the American Cemetery!
Yet somehow I managed to get home five days later. Can't really
say how. The whole trip was a blur. Turkish Airlines? Maybe. Ah, the
hazards of travel.
What had caused me to get so sick? My theory is that when the
French Foreign Legion evacuated North Africa after 130 years of genocide, enslavement and exploitation of the local population, they left behind a rearguard secret weapon, a
poison pill -- French pastry! I loved Algerian French pastry a lot and loved
Tunisian French pastry even more. I ate it. I devoured it. I got
really sick. Let's just hope that those evil Frenchmen are happy now.
Humph.
But when I finally got home and applied to Trip Mate, my travel insurance company,
to get reimbursed, their answer was unexpected -- and adamant. "In your dreams!" Trip Mate seemed to be saying. "If we gave every poor sucker the pay-out that they deserve," they seemed to say, "then how would we make enough profit to afford our solid gold Cadillacs
and country homes?" I could be wrong about this interpretation. But probably not.
I had asked Trip Mate for a reimbursement for transportation, flight and medical expenses. They offered me a measly $100 -- and then stone-walled me for months before
finally giving me an additional $34.98. What to do? Revenge.
"Release the Kraken!" Or at least summon up ChatGTP. AI then wrote a hecka good
demand letter for me and gave me all kinds of snarky advice too.
Who will win this sordid cage match between Trip Mate and ChatGTP?
It's not quite clear yet -- but my money is on ChatGTP.
If AI is gonna eventually take over the world, enslave us all and
not even feed us French pastry either, then we might as well take advantage of
ChatGTP's good side now while we still can -- before the Evil Globalist
Bastards in charge of all those mega data centers, proto-human
chip-installing brain surgeons and armed robot dogs gleefully turn all
the rest of us into Soylent Green.
PS: FYI, here's the letter that ChatGTP created for me. Dontcha just love it when ChatGPT talks legalese:
Dear Trip Mate Claims Department:
I am writing to formally demand payment of benefits owed under
the Trip Interruption provision of my travel insurance policy with
you. During my recent trip, covered by you at the cost to myself of
$549, I suffered a
covered sickness that required medical treatment and prevented my
continued participation in my trip. As a direct result, I was forced to
interrupt my trip and return home earlier than planned.
Under the policy’s Trip Interruption provision, you agreed to
reimburse “unused non-refundable land or water Travel Arrangements plus
the Additional Transportation Cost paid… if You must interrupt Your Trip
after departure…”
My claim now falls squarely within this coverage.
First, as a direct result of my covered sickness, I was unable to
participate in the final three days of my prepaid travel itinerary, including scheduled visits to Kairouan, Hammamet, Sidi
Bou Said, Carthage and the North Africa American Cemetery. These
missed portions constitute “unused non-refundable land or water Travel
Arrangements.” These three missed days therefore represent a loss of
approximately $703, which is covered under the policy.
Second, my illness also forced a change in my return travel. As a
direct consequence, my later-scheduled return flight became unused and
non-refundable. This constitutes an additional covered loss of resulting from the interruption of my trip. You have already been provided with this extensive documentation.
Despite these clearly-covered losses, Trip Mate has paid nothing under
its Trip Interruption provision and has instead relied on provisions
applicable to medical evacuation or pre-approval of transportation --
provisions that do not apply to the separate and independent Trip
Interruption benefit.
The policy does not state that reimbursement for unused
non-refundable travel arrangements is contingent upon purchasing a new
ticket, canceling alternative arrangements in advance, or obtaining
pre-approval for transportation. To the extent any ambiguity exists, it
must be interpreted in favor of coverage and against the insurer.
Accordingly, I demand payment for:
- $703 for unused, non-refundable land arrangements; and
- The documented non-refundable value of my unused return flight.
Please remit payment within 14 days of this letter. If I do not
receive payment or a satisfactory response within that time, I will
pursue all available remedies, including filing a claim in small claims court and submitting complaints to the California Department of Insurance and the New Jersey
Department of Banking and Insurance.
I prefer to resolve this matter promptly and without further
action. Thank you in advance for your immediate attention to this
matter.
Sincerely, Jane Stillwater, Disgruntled Consumer (and her able assistant, ChatGPT)
PPS:
I will never never, ever ever use Trip Mate Travel Insurance ever again. And even if they never pay me what I am rightfully owed, perhaps my Web Log will be mightier
than their insurance policy and Trip Mate might pay me off just to shut me up! Or at least I can go down fighting, pen in hand.
Plus I also keep reminding myself that all this alleged skullduggery is not the end of the world. "At least I'm not living in Gaza." Not being a victim of the Epstein Class's cruel genocide (so far) is a win in itself.
Resources:
Holy sheep dookie! The WAR in Russia and Ukraine is ESCALATING. So much blood, so much waste. It is a crime and a shame that the world had allowed this brutal slaughter in Ukra$ne and Russia to continue for 1,389 days now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-GKH8JJQCg
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