So, on the 20th of this month, a warm front and cold front met where I live and the wind was intense. An old tree, the branches of which have fallen on my and my mom’s car twice before, really came down on us this time. The miracle is, there were only scratches. Not a SINGLE dent. I investigated everywhere and decided it was a miracle.
So, the tree removers came to take the tree off of my truck. (Mine is the one covered in bumper stickers… and under most of the weight.) I watched them the entire time, and when they started on the big part, I felt like they shouldn’t be cutting where they were cutting…
Then that happened. The top (which they luckily tied to the live tree) fell down hard on the roof of my pickup. After my truck miraculously made it out of the disaster with such little damage, just some scratches, this is what they did to it.
As my friend put it, “That is so ironic it hurts.”
My windshield that I had bought and replaced on my truck is destroyed. Where there was no damage on the roof, it is now completely dented. My truck had been so lucky, and the removers had to make sure that some damage was done.
Anyway, thank you for being my outlet, because I am just enraged.
Yes, we’re going to have our insurance companies work out who is going to pay for it. I have to tattle on them about them being the ones who caused the damage because when I came out and talked to them, they were trying to blame the damage on the tree originally falling, but I have plenty of pictures to testify against that.
The company who removed the tree is actually the owner of the tree. I neighbor a construction company and the tree grows in their property. They sent their so called Disaster Team to clean it up… and I’d definitely agree that they’re a “disaster team.” They didn’t know what they were doing at all.
Anyway, they’re going to pay for it, I’ll make sure of it.
Yeah, it’ll be alright in the end. I was just so thankful and grateful that nothing bad had happened when it fell… And so angry at them for reversing my good luck.
I can’t believe they didn’t even use any of their equipment (I assume they have a leaf-blower somewhere in their arsenal) to blow the sawdust off your car. Customer service, people… customer service. Don’t be afraid to contact BBB on their “behalf.” That often pinches them where it hurts–at least until they agree to resolve the issue.
Really sounds like the original Murphy’s law… “If there is any way to do it wrong, they’ll find it.” at least you have the pictures and no one was hurt.
Yeah, I’m really glad I took so many pictures. It turns out that the company who is located next to me didn’t send their own disaster team because they were busy, but hired these subcontractors that did a horrible job.
I called the subcontractors twice today asking for their insurance information and they refused. I didn’t want it to come to this, but it looks like war. And I’ll definitely be using the BBB as additional leverage.
Wow. If contacting BBB doesn’t work quickly enough (your car looks drivable, but if it were mine, I would want to get that dent fixed ASAP), contact your lawyer (or a friend who’s a lawyer) and have them on standby for a scary e-mail or phone call. Sometimes the word “lawyer” is enough to get an about-face from these types, fortunately. I worked in customer service for a New York hotel after college–you’d be amazed how much time was spent just dealing with some of the incompetent companies we contracted with!
The dent isn’t really the part I’m worried about, it’s the windshield. You can’t really see it from the picture, but there are 6 or 7 huge cracks running down from the shattered part at the top. I’m afraid that if a rock hit my windshield, I’d have a face full of glass. But, I do feel as though the dent will have to be fixed before a new windshield can even be attached.
Yes, their incompetence is amazing. The last thing I’d want to do is deal with companies like this as my job.
My friend’s dad is a lawyer and she got a lot of hassles cleared up with simply stating “Thank you, my lawyer will be in touch directly.” If that failed, he’d write a letter that hinted at a pending lawsuit and the problem usually went away.
I just realized that I never provided closure for this thread! In the end, the owner of the company continued to refuse to give out his insurance information, stating that he’d “never had a claim in 37 years and wanted to keep his rate down.” That said, he still did cooperate with me (after plenty of threats and me behaving like a raging *****) and paid for the repairs out of pocket. I was afraid that my truck was totaled, since it has much more sentimental value than blue book value, but I took it to a place he recommended. I was afraid to take it there at first, since I thought any company he would recommend may be as incompetent as he is, but I have to admit. They did an amazing job.
Yay, glad things got sorted out. I can kind of see the argument for not wanting insurance companies involved (especially since I think that can cause a chain effect, so claiming against your car insurance could affect house insurance premiums as well), but the guy/company should have been more proactive about things.
Yeah, I didn’t really care where the money came from, as long as it wasn’t my insurance/bank account. I’m just glad that it’s been fixed properly! Having two jobs and going to school is nearly impossible not being able to drive.
at least you have the pictures and no one was hurt.
I worked in customer service for a New York hotel after college–you’d be amazed how much time was spent just dealing with some of the incompetent companies we contracted with!
To make it look like that cost him $1500+.
I am too.