Hastings Direct - A shot in the eye for Customer Service (Or "How not to engage with a Customer at any levels about Policy they wish to purchase") I received a promising Car quotation from Quotezone (and all the multi car insurance search websites) where Hastings Direct comes out top regarding cost. I then went to the website to see what key bullet points are covered. Summarily I had several questions I wished to ask before purchasing the insurance. This is where the fun starts (verbatim email extract below):- 1). You cannot call me back, a new prospective customer, when the information I would merely like to clarify is NOT provided in your quotation or purchase mechanism that I wish to purchase. That makes it a purchase of faith. 2). You send a generic statement (in your email reply below) that in the coronavirus paragraph provides a meta link to live chat. When redirected, there is no live chat! 3). When I ring the number you provided below, it mentions that only existing customers can be assisted via phone (WHY!!!) and then offers options, with option 2 being for new quotes. When I choose option 2, it then states it cannot help nor sell any new policies over the phone (which I was not doing, I wanted to receive more info about the policy I wished to purchase online) and then disconnects. NO PHONE CALLS OR CALLBACKS? One has to ask just 'how' the current coronavirus condition affects the ability to answer a call and to interact with customers and prospects? You cannot catch this via a phone line, it states on your recorded message that call quality may not be perfect as a lot of your agents are working from "HOME". So - how does this limit things? Whilst car usage demographics may have changed during the current crisis, it's mandatory to have a car insured when on the road - so I assume that the car insurance industry, unlike others, have not seen too huge an impact. Which then leads to one final assumption. It's the company taking advantage of the current conditions to review the business model, look at how to cut costs/options, and to maximise profit. Lastly, In the absence of all of the above, in my original email I asked whether I could be provided with a policy document so that Icould then check this for the answers myself, as they would undoubtedly be in the product descrption. This wasn't provided. What truly fantastic service from a company who apparently wishes to undertake minimal work and to sell their products purely via the online mechanism, with no thought for any capacity for a purchased (e.g. "THE CUSTOMER") to ask questions. An example of 'I can't be bothered/find out yourself' service - definitely not any form of customer service. Needless to say, I won't be purchasing from this company.