NYC dry cleaner calls the insurance contact her courier gave her over a damaged $15,000 Dior dress and is told ‘we have nothing to do with that’

Rechelle Balanzat, the CEO of a New York dry cleaning startup, Juliette Tech, is currently jumping through hoops to resolve a situation for her client. While a $15,000 vintage Christian Dior dress was in transit with a courier company she hired, it was allegedly ruined. Then, she shared that she was stuck in an insurance spiral by uploading her call with the insurance number the courier had allegedly given her. The Instagram and TikTok post got over 1.7 million views. 

In the video, Balanzat began her call by telling the person on the other end that the company had damaged the dress. Immediately, the woman tells her, “Hold on one moment, please. Hold on. We have nothing to do with that. You would have to follow up with either (courier’s name) or the claims department itself.” When Balanzat asked how she could contact the department, the woman said, “I don’t know. Oh, we have nothing to do with anything. So I don’t know.”

Balanzat responded by saying, “The real issue at hand was that (courier name) has been misleading me. He used your name and referenced your company.” The woman told her, “he’s insured here, but like, we don’t really do anything, you know.” Confused, Balanzat asked, “Like, if he’s insured with you, the claim is opened with you, or where is the claim opened?” The woman then revealed,  “I don’t know. I guess it would be open with whoever he’s insured with… I’m just a broker.”

The call seemed to become a dead end quickly

Balanzat said she was confused. She says that she got the broker’s name from the courier. Then, the broker told her that despite being the intermediary, she didn’t know who he was insured with, which confused many of Balanzat’s viewers. Then the broker mentioned on the call, “We have no information. All we have is that the claim was reported. That’s all we know. I don’t have anything else to tell you.”

The account and the call recording come from Balanzat, and neither the courier nor the broker has been identified or could be reached for comment. Many viewers were baffled by the broker’s response.

One Instagrammer commented, “As a broker, she DOES have the policy information. I work for a broker. They can/should be able to give you the contact info for the provider.” Another user noted, “Girl, I am an insurance adjuster. The Broker would absolutely know who send the claim to. This is ridiculous.”

TikTok agreed. One user noted, “I have worked for an Insurance brokerage for over 10 years. A lot of the times the brokerage does not handle claims at all. We supply the insurance only. But for her to say, she doesn’t have the carriers information and or contact information for the claims department is lazy work.” Others were more cynical, with one user suggesting, “Red flag ‘we don’t have anything to do with anything’ girllll they saw 15k and turned off the f—ing lights.”

According to Acrisure, an insurance brokerage is a professional service that connects individuals or businesses seeking coverage with insurance carriers that provide it. Instead of representing a single carrier, a brokerage typically works with multiple insurers. They help customers identify coverage that fits their circumstances. However, the actual policy purchase is typically completed with the insurance carrier.

Balanzat remained incredibly calm through the call, despite the frustrating circumstances. She told the broker that, as a 10-year-old vintage dress, it was “irreplaceable.” Balanzat also claimed that the entire situation made her feel like the courier was misleading her.  She says, “I don’t think he actually claimed anything, and I think he’s just leading me on to believe that he did.” 

The Broker ended the call by wishing Balanzat well, saying, “Hopefully, you’ll hear something soon. Okay?” A colleague summed it up afterward: “The plot thickens every time you go digging for a little more.”