Am I being hosed?

[sr71blackbird]

I brought my car to have new front brakes on Saturday morning. Not wanting to pressure the mechanic, I told him that I have another car and to call me when he is done. Saturday comes and goes, Sunday comes and goes, Monday comes and goes and Im getting a little nervous and decide to pass by the shop in the way home from work. I dont see my car outside (they dont have a lot- which will play into this later).
Today (Tuesday) comes and still no call until 10 am when the mechanic calls my cell and says "I have some bad news"... It seems that some "old lady" was making a U turn in the street and hits my car from the rear light on the drivers side and continues hitting the car until the drivers side mirror and this happened Yesterday! It left a dented groove 1 to 2 inches deep all along the drivers side and it was, according to the mechanic, legally parked at a meter in the street. He tells me this and Im upset, thinking that the call is about a mechanical issue unrelated to the Body of the car. He says that he has a guy that does body work that he can have look at it, and if I have Collision... Im thinking...Collision? Why do I need to have MY insurance pay for this when the car was under his care while its being fixed? He tells me he will bring it to his body guy and get an idea whats involved in recifying the situation.
Im too shocked to think straight at this point and agree. A girl I work with's husband owns a body shop and I tell her about it and she calls him and they are talking and he tells her that from what I describe he seriously doubts the mechanics story but will agree to accompany me to the mechanic to get my own estimate of the dammage (I havent seen the car yet). I take a half day off work to get this situation resolved somewhat and arrange to have the body guy husband come with me to estimate the dammage. I decide to call my mechanic to advise him that Im coming with this guy to look at the dammage and figure out how to handle it. The mechanic tells me..."Oh, I told the guy to fix it!"...Im like..."What??".. and I head there with my body guy friend like a bat out of hell. We get there and I see the extenet of the dammage, a deep groove all along the drivers side from tail light to mirors edge and its already stripped down to bare metal and a guy is attaching metal soldered pins which will be used to pull the dented groove out...
My jaws at the floor at this point and my body guy friend confronts the boss of the body shop and says... "Why are you guys working on this car when we didnt authorise it? Whos gonna pay for it?" The boss is like.. "The mechanic says he will pay for it, as it happened while under his watch...dont worry, hes a good guy and a man of his word." Now, I delt with this mechanic before and do find him to be reputable and honest so I feel somewhat better, BUT, Im worried, by the body guys comments as I drove him back to his shop (as Im sure he was hopefull to get the job himself) that "what if the body guy tells my mechanic this will cost X amount and my mechanic tells me its way over what he was expecting and refuses to pay ?" "maybe the mechanic and the body guy have an agrrement to fix it for $500 and he gives the mechanic a bill for $2000 that he submits to his insurance company" and he MAKES money off me??
People I work with say that I could have also had done something similar and even made money on the deal, but Im not the kind of guy who believes in fraud to insurace companys. Geico's been good to me. Should I have done something different? I know I could have just said "Hold up! I want a police report and contact my insurance, yada yada.." Now, the cars being worked on, if I contact the insurance company at this point, they will want to have an adjuster look it over and ascertain dammage that is now being obscured by active body work... I didnt tell anyone to do any work, buts its already in progress.. What if when the guys done with the bodywork, I dont like the way it looks? Am I screwed?? What should I do from this

[high fly]

Get a lawyer, NOW!
Don't try to work this out yourself.
Don't call or take calls from the mechanic, either. Let the lawyer do that.
When the guy took the car to work on it, he assumed responsibility for it's care, but you need a lawyer.
Being right is not enough.
A letter from an attorney will let this mechanic know you ain't fuckin' around.
He isn't gonna try to roll a lawyer like he's trying to roll you.


" and they ask me why I drink"

[furie]

sorry. i stopped reading after Not wanting to pressure the somebody.

you've got to break that block up, dude.

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[sr71blackbird]

Are you sure? A lawyer? I usually stray away from lawyers at all costs, and I dont want to have to pay anyone. Who will pay the lawyer? Me or my insurace? If its my insurance, wont they hammer me for not going to them to begin with?

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Many Thanks Soup!

This message was edited by sr71blackbird on 8-5-03 @ 6:00 PM

[DJEvelEd]

Save the money on the lawyer. You will win in small claims court if they can't rectify the situation. I just won a signifigant amount of money in Newark small claims court Monday from a shop that detailed and tinted my truck. When I got my truck back, my check engine light was on, door ajar light, & battery light too. They damaged my engine while cleaning it and I gave them ample time to fix it but they never did. I sent them a certified letter and filled out the proper papers in Newark courthouse. It only took me 2 1/2 hours sitting in court to get my judgement. Make sure you document everything and copy everything. And you WILL win.
Hopefully it won't go that route. It sounds to me like they're trying to fix your problem quickly and it doesn't seem like you are being screwed intentionally. Give them a chance. But the law IS on your side if they fuck up.

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I OFFEND THREADS & RUIN THE WEAK MINDED

[sr71blackbird]

Thats what I was hopig, that if by me bing a nice guy, I wouldnt get hosed. Usually by being nice I have actually avoided being screwed and I was hoping that this wouldnt be the one time my niceness didnt fuck me. In my heart, I understand that accidents happen, and give most people the benefit of the doubt till they prove otherwise. I had serious doubts when thinking that this happened Yesterday while I was at work, all cosy with the idea that I'll soon get the car back with no worries. It does tend to make people like me realise that there are people that lie to you with a smile on their face, but I dont want to give up my hope that my faith in human kindness will protect me from the dregs of society, but maybe Im living in a pipe dream.

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Many Thanks Soup!

[SatCam]

I think I've watched enough Judge Judy to know that if you're going to small claims court, you should bring all the meterials you think you will need as evedence, plus more (you never know what'll come in handy). You should also rehearse your story and give it some fine tuning (im not saying lie, but maybe leave some stuff out that could work against you). Hope that helps.

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[KC2OSO]

You might want to file an accident report with the police in the town where the accident happened just so your side of the story becomes a matter of record.

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[carguy]

You have to try some paragraphs. It makes reading so much more enjoyable.
Anyway. There isn't a little old lady. Wouldn't it make sense for her to pay for the damage? If the shop did nothing wrong they wouldn't volunteer to pay for the damages. The guy working on your car probably had his head up his ass and clipped the bay backing the car out. It happens, I've done it plenty of times. The old lady is just a half assed excuse. I'd be more pissed at the shop for bullshitting me than trying to screw me.

[sr71blackbird]

......I did try breaking it up a bit, but its a complicated story and i didnt want to leave out detail that would take away from the story. Basically, there was no police report filed because the car was already being worked on in the body shop guys shop., which makes it impossible to determine extent of dammage.
......I know the mechanic did wrong by me by authorising and unknown agent to alter the car without my permission, so I know I have a leg to stand on there. I also have MY body guy who is a witness and saw the car and knows the procedure who will back me up if the need be.
......In my mind, if the mechanic makes good and I get the car back and it looks great and you cant tell dammage was done, I'll be happy. If I was paying for a rental car, that would be another story.
.......I believe people should be accountable for their actions. I also think there was no "old lady" hit and run accident, I think it happened in this guys shop and he wants to limit his own culpability by saying it happened outside, out of his power to control (thus limiting his liability) and providing a unprovable excuse. If I take his word at face value, and allow his guy to fix my car and everythings ok, Im happy. My concern is if the work is not satisfactory, what are my options? There is where the legal advice comes in and rightly so. But of course, it will be far too late at that point.
.....Would YOU call your insurance company at this point?


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Many Thanks Soup!

[Alice S. Fuzzybutt]

I wouldn't contact your insurance yet. It might result in a hike in your premium. They should be the last option. See what happens if the mechanic foots the bill. The car is still driveable, right?

If the guy doesn't pay for the damage, take him to small claims court.

If the guy won't pay for the damage and you really want to fix it right away, then contact your insurance company. Take him to small claims court and make him pay for the deductible. This should be a last resort.

And keep track of EVERYTHING!

GOOD LUCK!!!!!

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thank you dcpete!

[JustJon]

You may want to consider calling the police and getting a report written up, so you have proof there was an accident.

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[sr71blackbird]

I just called the local PD and advised them of what happened and asked them their opinion. They said that they would wait to see what happens with the body shop guy, that a responsible mechanic will have a body guy in his pocket for this type of situation. He said that I still have options in the event that I go to pick up the car Friday and it looks like crap. It is still driveable, it was just a long crease dent about 8 feet long from rear quarter panel to almost the front fender. I may have to call them back to get the answer to the question about wether I can still fill out a report so long after an actual accident, good question. If I get screwed, I would absolutely make a stink and sue their balls off. Would any of you call the insurance company to ask them their opinion?

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Many Thanks Soup!

[UnknownPD]

<b>Care, Custody and Control</b>. This is the insurance term for when someone has your property and something happens to it. They are responsible. It doesn't matter if an old lady hit it or golf balls fell from the sky. This stuff happens all the time so don't freak out.

You did the right thing. Had you reported it to the insurance company it would have been recorded as an "incident" and even though it is not your fault it would still have been on your record.

Just wait until you get the car on Friday and see if it is okay. If it is then ok it was a hassle, but its done. What you really want to do here is get the guy to throw in the brake job for free. You get a freshly painted car, good brakes and all it cost you was not having the car for a week.

I had to laugh as I read your "Body Guys" comments. I'd be more concerned about him than the people fixing the car. He seemed to know how to scam "way too quick"

Anyway just relax until Friday and if you are not happy that's the time to take action.

[Reephdweller]

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You got hosed Davey!

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[french bread pizza]

yes..but the water pressure is not too strong with the hose and it's luke warm water so it's not too bad...i'd go buy an umbrella


PLEASE NOTE:: i stopped reading after am i being hosed?

<3 satcam
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MILF
I'm having a baby.
or as some might say, a bagel bite

[FUNKMAN]

do like Jim Carrey in The Mask... break in and stick a few tailpipes in these guys(where the sun don't shine)...

i'm worse than frenchy, i only read "am i being"...

Best Of Luck!

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sig by ADF...

[french bread pizza]

worse than me....i'd say you're better than me..you wasted less time

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[sr71blackbird]

As an Upd@te, the week ended and I was told the car was done and went to the mechanic to pick it up. It was repaired to my satisfaction and the mechanic charged me $200 for the brakes and that was it. They were very apoligetic and while I was tempted to ask if they would throw in the brakes for free, some part of me held back and I accepted the bill. (Some say Im too nice) Later that evening, I stopped of at a pizza place to grab a slice for dinner and when I came out, I found my front tire flat down to the ground. I pulled into a parking lot to change it and I never changed the tire on this kind of car. I had it jacked up and as soon as the front wheel came off the ground, the car rolled forward and crushed the jack to the point that I couldnt use it to get the car off it, nor change the tire. (I have AAA, but chose to tackle the dilemma myself)
I live about a mile and a half from the lot where my car sits upon the crushed jack. I walk back home and get a hydraulic floor jack I have and its kind of heavy. I figure I can ride my bike back to the lot with the jack under my arm and then put the bike in my trunk and drive home. I get back to the car with the jack under my arm and procede to raise the car, extricate the crushed jack and remove the flat tire and inspect the new brake pads. I get the spare out and position it by the studs, but soon see that the car needs to be higher to fit a fully filled tire on the studs. I try pumping the jack up higher, but find that its at its maximum height..too low to get a full tire on!
I try lowering the car and using a wedge or something under the jack to get the car up higher. I try and put the flat tire back on, but now, no longer encumbered with the weight of the car on it, its rebounded and Im no longer able to get it on the studs! I search frantically around the parking lot for anything I can use. (It was late and I see no one I can ask for help..even though its the parking lot of the fire house!) Eventually I find some cinder blocks and bricks and 2 x 4s from a nearby construction site and am finally able to rest the frame of the car on something so I can get some wood under the jack so I can get the car high enough to get the fucking tire on and get the fuck home! As soon as I get the tire on and the bike in the trunk and about to pull out of the parking lot, a cop pulls into the lot, just in time!! So this whole operation took me 3 hours to change a tire and its 2 AM and Im filthy and hot and now I gotta buy a new tire! In one week this car cost me brakes, and tires and aggrivation!

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Many Thanks Soup!

[Snoogans]

you woulda been hosed if you paid for the body work. i still think you seem like a bike person, with the mishaps it just might be less costly.
so you dont feel so bad though, i went in to get new tires once, and hit a nail leaving the tire place and got a flat.

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[FUNKMAN]

i got a spare tire but it's no good, you know why?

because it sits around my waist...

i have a horror story trying to get a headgasket fixed on the engine of my 1975 Datsun... to keep it short it took 2 months... 1 month for them to never fix it and give it back(it's leaking fluid from the gasket when me and my Dad were taking it home on the back of the pickup we were using) and another month to fix it...


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