Trusted Senior Specialists Company

[Josh]

And you know this, how?
Have you looked into their eyes and seen their souls?

Go play in traffic.

I've done quite a bit of business with them and have worked closely with several other agents that have done the same. Tell you what, after you've done business with them and had dinner with them a few times, you get back to me on what you think.

Any large FMO is going to have a problem here and there. What little I know about wehotex leads me to believe he's a reasonable agent, but I don't buy his story 100%.

 

[wehotex]

Go play in traffic.

I've done quite a bit of business with them and have worked closely with several other agents that have done the same. Tell you what, after you've done business with them and had dinner with them a few times, you get back to me on what you think.

Any large FMO is going to have a problem here and there. What little I know about wehotex leads me to believe he's a reasonable agent, but I don't buy his story 100%.

MPS,
Why would I make this up? HealthNet was not big here in San Antonio since they only offered a PFFS prod & PDPs. I had significant trouble getting paid for my HN PDPs (lowest price PDPs at the time), so I just switched them over to Aetna rather than deal with the hassle. I have sent e-mails about renewals for nearly 2 years that TSS was paid on and talked with HN Commissions on numerous occasions. They def know me there.
They also gave me grief with some Bravo renewals. I had to go over their heads to the carrier on that one too.
You may have good experiences with them, but I certainly have not.

 

[Josh]

MPS,
Why would I make this up? HealthNet was not big here in San Antonio since they only offered a PFFS prod & PDPs. I had significant trouble getting paid for my HN PDPs (lowest price PDPs at the time), so I just switched them over to Aetna rather than deal with the hassle. I have sent e-mails about renewals for nearly 2 years that TSS was paid on and talked with HN Commissions on numerous occasions. They def know me there.
They also gave me grief with some Bravo renewals. I had to go over their heads to the carrier on that one too.
You may have good experiences with them, but I certainly have not.

I'm not implying that you made it up, but your experience is hardly the trend. Any large FMO is going to have unhappy customers and problems with commissions getting paid out, that's just going to happen, but I wouldn't go as far as saying they're not to be trusted when money is involved when you have what sounds like one case. It's clear that you feel you have some beef with them and from what little I know about you I believe that there is an issue, but I don't believe we're getting the whole story and more importantly, I don't think anyone should have any doubts about doing business with them.

Let's not forget, when a carrier pays an FMO that pays an agent and it's not all direct pay there are issues. Maybe you have a chargeback balance you need to be paying, maybe it wasn't coded right, maybe you didn't recertify with the carrier, there are a whole lot of reasons why you could have not been paid your renewal that are legitimate. Maybe you're 100% right and they didn't pay you a commission you were rightfully due, but that single instance where they *possibly* didn't handle a situation correctly is hardly enough to warrant not doing business with an FMO I've never had any issues with and have always treated me well as well as any of the agents I know that have worked with them.

 

[houcoogster]

MedicarePlanSolutions,
You're avatar is the most annoying of all the avatars on the forum congratulations!
It resembles taking in new agents and spitting them out (vulgar).

Since you have some much stroke with the owners (Mike), why not just go ahead and get this guy paid the money he is due?

 

[Josh]

As far as I'm concerned what TSS does with their agents is between TSS and their agents, except to say that they do have a solid reputation and if there was any misdeed it would certainly be the exception, not the rule.

wehotex, my apologies, but Bravo should be direct pay from the carrier and has nothing to do with TSS or any other FMO. Did you certify with HN each year? Did you have a debit balance with them for anything else? Truthfully I don't care one way or the other, but you may want to talk to the commissions folks instead of the carrier. Not e-mail, pick up the phone and call them and see what they have to say about the situation.

houcoogster, I suppose you get out of the avatar what you want. I look at it as a funny little monster that is doing a dance, but I suppose one could take it that way. What's your beef with me? Is it personal, or are you just a grumpy pants?

 

[houcoogster]

As far as I'm concerned what TSS does with their agents is between TSS and their agents, except to say that they do have a solid reputation and if there was any misdeed it would certainly be the exception, not the rule.

wehotex, my apologies, but Bravo should be direct pay from the carrier and has nothing to do with TSS or any other FMO. Did you certify with HN each year? Did you have a debit balance with them for anything else? Truthfully I don't care one way or the other, but you may want to talk to the commissions folks instead of the carrier. Not e-mail, pick up the phone and call them and see what they have to say about the situation.

houcoogster, I suppose you get out of the avatar what you want. I look at it as a funny little monster that is doing a dance, but I suppose one could take it that way. What's your beef with me? Is it personal, or are you just a grumpy pants?

Hey, If you do biz with them on lists that's cool and they pay you fine that's great but don't bust in the thread thinking wetohex is wrong. If the shoe were on the other foot you would not appreciate it if you were not getting paid for your lists? That's all ,be respectful, and hear the man's compliant. I personally think they are understaffed there and he actually is owed the money based on my personal dealings with this outfit. Nothing against the owners, just not enough qualified people to help the agents.

This is why I go direct every chance I can.

 

[Josh]

Maybe there is the point of confusion, maybe you're under the impression that I'm not an insurance agent and do not have experience working in the Medicare Advantage world and do not have personal experience working with TSS. I've never sold a list to TSS and that most likely will never be the nature of my relationship with them.

If an agent wants to criticize an FMO for not paying commissions I think they need to be held more accountable for those accusations. I've worked with agents too long to believe that they can be trusted at the word to provide a full and accurate depiction of the situation. Almost always there is a component of the situation that is being left out. More importantly, I think anyone who is interested in doing business with TSS should absolutely go for it and not be led astray by a well intentioned but misguided slam against a FMO that actually does a great job. There are plenty of sharks out there, TSS is not one of them.

wehotex, have you called TSS to confirm that they received your e-mails? Have you certified with the carrier every year? Are you positive you do not have a negative balance with them on anything else? My guess is that there is a reason the commission didn't get paid out and it's not because you begged and begged them and they didn't cut the check. If I'm wrong, I'm sure a phone call could get the ball rolling on fixing it.

 

[houcoogster]

"There are plenty of sharks out there, TSS is not one of them."

Agreed, Docile Barracudas would be a fitting description.

 

[Josh]

"There are plenty of sharks out there, TSS is not one of them."

Agreed, Docile Barracudas would be a fitting description.

Grumpy pants it is.

 

[wehotex]

Maybe there is the point of confusion, maybe you're under the impression that I'm not an insurance agent and do not have experience working in the Medicare Advantage world and do not have personal experience working with TSS. I've never sold a list to TSS and that most likely will never be the nature of my relationship with them.

If an agent wants to criticize an FMO for not paying commissions I think they need to be held more accountable for those accusations. I've worked with agents too long to believe that they can be trusted at the word to provide a full and accurate depiction of the situation. Almost always there is a component of the situation that is being left out. More importantly, I think anyone who is interested in doing business with TSS should absolutely go for it and not be led astray by a well intentioned but misguided slam against a FMO that actually does a great job. There are plenty of sharks out there, TSS is not one of them.

wehotex, have you called TSS to confirm that they received your e-mails? Have you certified with the carrier every year? Are you positive you do not have a negative balance with them on anything else? My guess is that there is a reason the commission didn't get paid out and it's not because you begged and begged them and they didn't cut the check. If I'm wrong, I'm sure a phone call could get the ball rolling on fixing it.

I have been certified and re-certed with HN since 2007 without lapse. There is not a negative balance. I have spoken with the rep at TSS numerous times about this throughout this time, but it's not like I've been calling them every week for a measly $200 renewal. I do have other things to do. Even if I did send only e-mails, shouldn't someone have answered them?
I will be in Houston today and tomorrow and am going to pay them a visit. Maybe then I might be able to get to the bottom of it.
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Hey, If you do biz with them on lists that's cool and they pay you fine that's great but don't bust in the thread thinking wetohex is wrong. If the shoe were on the other foot you would not appreciate it if you were not getting paid for your lists? That's all ,be respectful, and hear the man's compliant. I personally think they are understaffed there and he actually is owed the money based on my personal dealings with this outfit. Nothing against the owners, just not enough qualified people to help the agents.

This is why I go direct every chance I can.

That's what I think too. The person that I've spoken with has been kind but I think that she's overworked seriously. Thanks for your concern.