Ruby Joyce Barnett

Ruby Barnett has been my agent since relocating to California. Her agency was super helpful — I was unfamiliar with how things work in CA. I seldom have needed Ruby’s or her staff’s services, but each time they have been highly responsive, and went the extra mile to tend to my needs.
Top notch! You will get great service, and can trust Ms. Barnett’s recommendations. You should talk to her.

Every large company have their share of issues and problems. However I have been a customer of the Ruby Barnett agency for years now and I have received excellent customer service. I agree that mostly everyone is rating Ruby based on their feelings about a company. She is the most professional person I have met in the insurance arena. I will continue to do business with her and her agency.

So to start off, it seems that many people are reviewing «Nationwide» instead of reviewing «Ruby Barnett». She’s not really able to set her own rates. She’s not the one with a skyscraper full of actuaries crunching statistics. Nationwide more or less tells her what the premiums are.
That being said, yes Nationwide is a pain. Just like any other large company (I’m talking to you United Airlines!!). There is an automated phone system. When you finally get someone at the other end they are usually not terribly helpful. It is what it is. Note that I compared the auto insurance rates (for a driver with a good record – different story if you have tickets) at Nationwide to 6 other companies and Nationwide always came out with the lowest premium.
In regards to actually reviewing Ruby… I have never had a problem. She even helped me insure an auto while I was temporarily out of state. She calls back when she says she’s going to.
Altogether I’ve been happy with the experience of actually having an agent to speak to. I avoid that 800 number like the plague. Would rather have Ruby help me out.

The agency is comprised of a mixed bag of workers with inconsistent skills and professionalism. This results in the perpetual question as to how a call or issue will be handled. Insurance is far too important to be placed in such an uncertain state. A nice phone manner doth not guarantee a satisfactory business outcome!
I had further learned that I had been significantly overcharged for coverage. A cruder way to put it was that I was being ripped off. Despite inquiries into this matter and a request to find more reasonably priced options, no attempt was made to remedy the situation. It was clear, even to this lay person, that the rates were abnormally high, especially on my homeowner’s policy. Ms. Barnett promised to shop other insurance companies to find more reasonable coverage but never followed up. A simple cursory check on my part found a highly rated national company’s rates were approximately ¹⁄₃ lower.

Best Insurance.

Ms. Barnett is kind and patient, but overall, this was a nightmare. They misreported my VIN number, which delayed my coverage, Nationwide messed up my automatic payments, resulting in extra fees and a cancellation notice. I’m not sure how much of this is Ms. Barnett’s office and how much is Nationwide, but I wouldn’t recommend this, even if it saves you a couple of bucks.

Ruby is a very kind and helpful person, unfortunatly Nationwide Insurance is NOT a user friendly company. You would be able to spin a bottle and find a lower priced house insurance company. Not to mention their requirements of paperwork will come as a shock if youv’e ever had home owners insurance before. Car insurance prices are average but stay away when it comes to covering your house!
Ruby gets an A, Nationwide gets a D.

The story from *ell. My homeowners insurance was expiring and my carrier wanted me to install central heating and air to continue with them. So I called Ruby’s office and got a quote for $ 466 a great rate so the agent Li said I needed automatic gas shut off valves. So I go to home depot buy the vavles about $ 100 install them leak check them and go back to have the policy written. Li goes through her program again now gives me a $ 488 policy then does it again rips it from my hands and shreds it and gives me $ 500 policy so I am not happy but its only $ 34 more. So she calls the underwriter and now they can’t write the policy because I had a felony. I filed a complaint with the state insurance board so they contact me and tell me that I qualify with the felony now so I say write the policy so now Ruby comes to my home and wants a furnace inspection so the guy comes out and says nothing is wrong with my floor furnace but a cap that I fixed but now they say they require central heat as well. I went to Farmers insurance and it was all done in an hour.

No returns of messages on voicemail. No one answers consistently during office hours. Not even when I call the 800 number and ask them for a local agent can I get someone from this office to call me back. Good like… having this agent is like having no agent at all. Stick to the 800 number if you have Nationwide (I’ve been with the company for 24 years and I’m leaving them !)

Never even spoke to the agent until i needed her help… her assistants did all the work of signing me up as a customer. When i actually needed some help from the agent, she was unavailable and unwilling to take any time to speak with me.
I spent quite a bit of money with her agency (auto, homeowners, motorcycle, etc) and have never been treated so poorly. Customer service is not her strong point.