A plea for help - the good, the bad and the ugly

THE GOOD. Our website is working! Article marketing is working! My blog is working! People are finding our home inventory service among the masses!

THE BAD. I received an email from Matt in California seeking help (he found us by Googling - see 1st paragraph). I find it sad that he had to contact someone as far away as Indiana for assistance. His email started, "My mother's house recently got broken into and had a bunch of personal items get stolen. Luckily, no damage was done to the house but lots of items are missing and this is our first time dealing with such a situation. I was hoping to get some advice as far as how to best write my missing items and whom to deal with. ..."

THE UGLY. His email continued, "I am with (I won't name the well-known insurance company) and so far it seems that everyone is sort of brushing me off and not really wanting to deal with the situation. I have been told twice that I should just "write a list and description and fax it to the central office". I feel like such an open ended description is hiding some sort of actual proper procedure to go about getting all of the money that is due. Can you help clarify how best to handle this? - Thanks, Matt from California."

The reason I find this ugly is it would have been so easy for the insurance agent to give Matt a little guidance. His question about the "proper procedure" could have been answered in just a few minutes. But he had to reach out to a total stranger to get the advice he needed to move forward. All he needed was a few minutes of the insurance agent's time, a few instructions for guidance and a few words of comfort. Is that too much to ask? It took me less than 5 minutes to email him how we log the items when we compile a personal property inventory.

Too bad he's not from Indiana - I have a long list of insurance agents I could recommend to him, all of which would have given him the customer service he so desperately needed!