I switched my auto insurance company today to Progressive. I got a tip that I might be able to save some money, so I went online and used their calculator to determine what my premium would be. It took about 6 minutes to complete and in that time I saved 30% on my current premium with another company, Commerce.

Once I got my premium amount, I proceeded to sign up online. Everything is done online, including signing the forms. The only form that they must mail to me is the contract. Unlike my current provider, you can edit/update your policy online and don’t have to waste time speaking with an agent. It all looks pretty efficient, except one thing.

Everything was going great until it was time to sign the forms. Progressive’s website was telling me I didn’t have JavaScript enabled on my browser (Safari 4.0 BETA), didn’t have Adobe Acrobat installed on my system (I do), and that my browser needed to be updated to, get this, Internet Explorer!!! Of all browsers…

No matter what browser I used, including FireFox 3.0, I could not get the forms. Luckily, I have Windows installed on my Mac, so I was able to boot into Windows, sign the forms, then get out as fast as I could. This prompted me to write a little note to the support team. I include that note here for completeness sake.

Aside from this minor annoyance, so far, so good.

I am an Apple Mac user and no matter what current web browser I used (FireFox, Safari, Camino) I got a message stating my browser needed to be updated.. to Internet Explorer no less.

Your site said I had no JavaScript, no Acrobat, etc. installed. Luckily, I have Windows installed on my Mac (because Macs are good like that), so I was able to sign my electronic documents. Had I not been able to boot into Windows, you would have had to mail the forms to to me for my signature.

I understand Windows is the dominant operating system, but Mac users should be able to use your site, especially since Mac + modern web browsers are 1000x more secure than any Windows machine.

In the future, I would like to see better Mac compatibility with your online services.

Thank you,

Bryan
New Customer