| The public sector vs. the private sector | |
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JavaGuy - Student  |
On Saturday my car was totalled, hit-and-run, while parked in front of my house. I called the police and the insurance company. I do not have collision coverage on the vehicle, only liability, but for some reason it seemed a good idea to report the accident to the insurance company. An officer came to take the report and videotape the scene of the accident. I gave the insurance company the exact same information that I gave the police. This afternoon I spoke with the officer on the phone, who informed me that he had done everything he could do but that there is no possible way we're ever going to find out who hit my car. Too bad, so sad, I'm just going to have to fork over the money to buy a new car myself. After I got off the phone with him, it rang again. It was my Progressive insurance agent calling to inform me that she had solved the case. Ten minutes later I was on the phone with an agent from the insurance company for the guy who had hit my car. _______________ My signature is only one line. You're welcome. |
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JavaGuy - Student 
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It's cool, and I wasn't trying to suggest that you think all cops are like that. Just wanted to clarify my point about the public vs. private sector. I second your point about how things seem almost magically to get done when somebody actually cares. And sure, there are people who care and people who don't care in the public sector, just as there are both types in the private sector. It's just that the private sector has better incentives to encourage the people who care. _______________ My signature is only one line. You're welcome. |
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Ecks - Student 
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Sorry if my post was misunderstood. I know many good cops. I was just trying to illustrate an example. Forgive me if it seemed misplaced.  _______________ "To become a greater man, you must be a lesser one first." |
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JavaGuy - Student
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Not all cops are like that. The point of posting my story was how different the incentives are in the public and private sector. Not "It's all about the money" because both insurance companies and the cops get your money, just in very different ways. An insurance company gets your money because you pay voluntarily, not necessarily because you're happy with the service but because you're happier with their service than you would be with any other insurance company at a comparable price. The cops get your money on tax day, rain or shine, whether they do a good job or not. It's all about the incentives. There are good and bad cops. There are good and bad insurance employees. But the incentives are very different. Even good cops can't solve a case if they aren't part of an organization that is conducive to doing so. And a police department gets its budget whether cases get solved or not. At an insurance company there's incentive to create an organization where things get done because the money will dry up if the customers go away. And yes, some insurance companies suck, but you don't have to do business with those companies. I will always expect the private sector to do things better, faster and cheaper than the public sector because the incentives are different. _______________ My signature is only one line. You're welcome. |
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Ecks - Student
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Yea, I agree. People who actually care, can somehow magically get the job done alone, as opposed to a force of guys in blue who don't care, and give up after missing a rock concert. Some kid once punched a window in at a Coffee Time store near my school. Cops did nothing. They gave him bandages for the hand, and let him go. They told the store owner to pay for it with his OWN insurance. Never has the word "b***s***" been better represented. It took five very responsible parents in the community to get the kid's family to fork out the money, while the cops didn't give a damn. _______________ "To become a greater man, you must be a lesser one first." |
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tarpman - The Tarped Avenger 
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Good to hear, although it would be even better to hear that you'd given up driving and switched to a bike.  _______________ Saving the world, one kilobyte at a time. |
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delta - Student 
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Glad you got it worked out in the end. _______________ ~Dav Proud Former Padawan of 3th |
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Bubu - Hubbub 
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Heh. It's all about the money. _______________ make install -not war |
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Gradius - Ex-Student 
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Hahaha, sweet. Go Progressive. Yeah, cops usually give up in situations like these. He didn't do everything he could've done, that would just waste his time. So he just told you nothing could be done. Seriously, if a car insurance agent can get it all solved whereas a cop can't, what does that tell you? Well, good stuff JG. _______________ - Proud padawan of Kueller. - We really are at the beginning of it all. The trick, of course, is to make sure we never find the end. - Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything - <gen-e-sis-happy> Liek, you can train, liek, a n00b, but he'll just be a trained n00b... --> Wise words! - "daer SOE me likes your a company i am having your some money for letting me do stuff cos mes the best amd i do it all meself" - Slider |
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