Why Me…?

So Precious – my ’02 Firehawk – is back at Paradise Body & Paint again. It was a little over a year ago that she made her first trip to meet Bob (back in Doh!) and I was pretty much hoping that it would be smooth sailing from then ‘til I ever decided to sell my Precious. It was a lofty dream and reality is what it is. A bit over a month ago, as I was attempting to merge with the traffic jam that is the 101 on each and every afternoon rush-hour, I got rear-ended by this rather nice lady and her Mercedes SUV. Have I ever mentioned how much I love living here in southern California…?

The collision actually occurred on the 7th of October. As you can easily tell by the post-date of this article, it is now the 17th of November. From what I have been able to gather by speaking with Bob at Paradise and through the several conversations I’ve had with Regina – the claims representative assigned to my case by Encompass Insurance – I do believe that work has at least been started on my car by now. I suppose that’s progress … I’m always amazed at the absolute lack of respect one gets from so-called “professional” businesses these days. Has it always been like this or is this just another symptom of the disease that our modern society has become? To further explain my query, here’s the whole story…

First off, the entrance ramp to north 101 from northbound Lindero Canyon Blvd. – like many of the US Hwy 101 entrance ramps – is pretty much an “accident waiting to happen.” It’s one of those 270°, downward sloping, right-hand curved ramps that ends up going directly under the overpass of the street you are exiting. In this case, the street being exited (Lindero Canyon Blvd.) is a standard inner-city type divided highway and the road you are entering is a 65 MPH interstate freeway. One would think that an acceleration lane of ample length would be provided after the 270° curve to aid in the high-speed merging process; however one would then not be a southern California civil engineer – I think you’re given somewhere around 30 feet or so in reality. Suffice it to say that there’s really not enough room given to merge here in heavy traffic…

As I was attempting this merge last month (something I had done many times before but rarely with ease…), I accelerated into the right-hand lane of the freeway speeding up to match the flow of traffic. It was then that the car I was merging behind slammed on their brakes. I’m still not sure why this extreme deceleration was necessary – probably one of those far-to-common chain-reaction events caused by some idiot ahead – but my only option was to slam on my brakes and prepare for impact. I watched the rear of the car ahead disappear from view and waited for the crunch. It took me a couple moments to realize that the crunch I heard came from the SUV behind me smashing into my rear. Although I must have missed my target by no more than the skin of my teeth, I did not crash into the car in front of me. The lady behind me wasn’t as lucky…

We (I and the now leaking SUV behind me) pulled off to the right shoulder, contacted the police, exchanged information, had both our vehicles towed (mine was on a flatbed, of course) and I ended that excitement by getting a ride home by the very nice flatbed driver – turns out that my place was on the way to where the holding yard was. I was told that I could file an “over the counter” police report the next day, provided the address to do so (I guess the cop at the scene wanted to avoid the paperwork himself) and given a signed confession from Alison (the very nice lady that hit me). My plan was to contact my insurance, get Precious moved back over to Bob at Paradise – mainly because he was already well versed in dealing with this car – then order up a rental car to be used while waiting for the repair to be completed. I would set this plan in motion the next morning … it was too late to get anything started that evening…

Upon contacting my insurance, it was decided that my best move would be to open a claim directly with Alison’s insurance – Encompass. As fault was not questionable in this accident, there really was no reason for me to involve my insurance at all. I had already filed a rather substantial claim about a year ago and was trying my best to avoid any increase in my premiums. I figured leaving my insurance out of this completely was a good idea. As a “just in case” measure, I did head down to the CHP station and filed an OTC accident report later that day. It was yet one more incident that demonstrates the pure contempt that many of today’s police officers have toward the citizens they are supposed to be working for. Here’s how that event unfolded…

I approached the counter and informed the officer that I was instructed by the responding officer, the evening before, that I could head to this office and file an OTC accident report – that was my reason for being there. It seemed that I was disturbing his television viewing schedule (there was a TV mounted on the wall that appeared to have no other use than to entertain this officer during his work hours) although he diverted his eyes from the set long enough to grab an empty traffic collision report form, quickly cross out large sections of it, highlight what he wanted me to fill in and tell me to write a description of what happened on the back. I then showed the signed, written confession I had obtained from Alison and requested that it be included in the report and started filling out the sections marked. I was then told that I needed to go get pictures of the damage to my car before I would be allowed to file the report. I shrugged this off and continued filling out the collision report form…

Everything I could remember was written in my accident description – including the responding officer’s name and badge number. I also made mention of the self-written, signed confession of guilt that was provided to me by the other driver. After finishing the report, I started heading back out to my rental car a bit peeved that I was being asked to waste more of my time obtaining pictures that I saw as being completely useless. The officer said that he needed the pictures to show that an accident actually occurred; even though I had the name and badge number of the responding officer as well as a signed confession by the other driver. I decided then that these pictures were unnecessary; turned around and headed back in to the office.

After patiently waiting for this same officer to finish an extremely important discussion he was having with another officer about some purely non-work-related subject (I forget what they were talking about – something about some chick or sporting event or the like; whatever it was, it sure as hell wasn’t more important that doing what they’re being paid for...), I informed said officer that I believed the pictures to be unnecessary and wanted to file the report as it stood. He then rather insolently asked me how he knew an accident even occurred. To this I suggested that he could inquire with the responding officer and pointed out the name and badge number written in the report. As a second, and perhaps much more obvious proof, I had a signed confession for the other party in the accident. I once again reiterated my belief that the pictures were overkill at best and requested that the report be filed.

It was then that my interfering with his television watching and socializing activities apparently pissed him off a bit. I distinctly remember him saying that I could “ask” him to file the report but I had no authority to “tell” him to file it. Personally, I’m pretty sure that I do have the authority to file a report whenever I feel like it being that I am a legal, taxpaying citizen of this country – granted I could get myself into quite a bit of trouble by filing false reports; however this cop – as seems to be a far too prevalent these days – appears to be suffering from a bad case of superiority complex. I returned his blatant threat with, “Pretty please, will you file this report?” He then sat down at his desk and filed the report for me.

I really cannot tell you how dismayed I’ve become of late about the seemingly endless contempt that law enforcement officers (and not just the cops, but the whole American legal system) seem to have to the populace they are supposed to be protecting. The way that presumption of innocence has turned into a dated concept really bothers me to no extent. But I digress … although the deterioration of the rights we Americans currently possess is an interesting topic, it’s not what I came to bitch about today. I’ll get back to my story…

Okay, so I’ve done my best to make sure that I am, in no way, able to be shown at fault in this accident. Whether or not that even means anything these days is yet to be seen however I’ve gone way out of my way to clear my name in case it becomes an issue. The goal now becomes getting Precious adequately repaired with little to no cost on my part. I contact Encompass Insurance and file a claim. Here’s where the fun begins…

Everything seems to go fine from the start: I successfully get Precious dropped off at Paradise Body & Paint and, after being informed by Regina at Encompass that I would be allotted $25 per day for a rental vehicle during the repairs, decide to switch out my initial rental car (obtained from the Thousand Oaks Avis for $30.99 per day) to a rental from the Avis that Paradise works with for $25.99 per day. It’s still more than the insurance is willing to pay – a fact that I will address later – however it looks to be saving me $5 a day from what I could possibly be held responsible for. Whatever … I suppose I need to do what I need to do. I now need to wait for Encompass to complete an appraisal of the damage before the body shop can begin the work. How long could this take, right…?

At this point, I’m set. I’ve got a rental car to use whilst Precious is in the shop and all I need to do now is wait for that call telling me she’s ready to be picked up, right? One would think … but in today’s world, no frickin’ way. It’s somewhere around a week after my poor, wounded car is delivered to the body shop when I finally decide to call in and see how things are going. What I’m basically told is that they’re not going – something about the appraisal being insufficient for the work required and there being some need for another appraisal to fix the problems with the first … yadda yadda yadda and blah blah blah… I figured I best call Encompass and get their side of things…

I call and – as what will become the norm with trying to contact Regina – am greeted by a voice-mail message that informs me what day it is, what the working hours for Regina are and that I should leave a message with my name, contact number and claim number so that she would be able to get back with me prior to the end of the business day. I leave the requested information. No call is returned prior to the end of her business day nor the complete morning on the day after. I decide to try contacting her again in the early afternoon of the next day and get a bit lucky – she answers the call. I inquire with her about the status of my claim and am told the standard “song and dance” that everyone gets – their appraiser was sent to the body shop and an appraisal was filed. I explain that the body shop is telling me that the appraisal is insufficient for the work required and get the standard response that they are, by law, required to repair the car to a condition prior to the accident and that, since my car was an ’02 model, the appraisal would not include any improvements. It was then that I tried to explain to Regina that my car was a rare, limited edition collector’s item that I had kept as close to pristine as I could. It was, in no way whatsoever, your typical ’02 car. I was doing my best to convey that they were not going to get away with low-balling the repair and they might as well cut their losses (I reminded her that Encompass was paying for my rental as long as this repair took) and pay for the repairs needed. She then FAXed the appraisal for me to look over…

What I got was an initial appraisal of $6989.96 for repairs. This was the official appraisal dated 10-12-09. Interestingly enough, there was also a supplemental adjustment of -$1436.93 dated two days later. I was confused by this and decided to call Bob at the body shop. He received the same thing and this was actually the problem he was referring to on my initial contact with him. The fourteen hundred dollar savings was the removal of a replacement quarter panel from the initial appraisal. Bob was told that he needed to repair the current quarter panel when the second appraisal was filed since, as it appears, the first appraisal was seen as too expensive by Encompass – even though this was what the appraiser priced it at. Luckily Bob refused to do it and insisted that a new quarter panel was required. In his expert opinion – an opinion that was apparently shared by the initial appraisal – the quarter panel was beyond repair and needed to be replaced.

Since then, there have been a couple more (at least) appraisals filed that seem to (trying to make sense of this paperwork is next to impossible for me) bring the total price for repair up to $7475.75. That’s actually more than the initial appraisal – which I find rather interesting – and the new quarter panel has been added back in. From what Bob has informed me, the quarter panel has been ordered from Canada and should currently be at the shop. He told me it was the absolute last one available. It also appears that the rear Firehawk decal is no longer available which bums me out a bit; but I’m hoping to at least be getting my car back sometime soon. Unfortunately I actually have no idea whether or not this will happen…

As of Friday evening, I’m heading back to Michigan for a week. Last time I spoke with Bob, I was told that he wouldn’t have the car completed by Friday. I need to return my rental car then though, so I’m hoping that my car will get completed prior to my return. The reason I’m hoping this is because I was actually able to get Encompass to put my rental on a direct bill to them – not an easy task, mind you… Of course Avis called me earlier today and informed me that Encompass was under the impression that I had been renting this car since the 4th of November. Seeing as it was actually the 8th of October, I think they’re not going to be too happy. Lynette (Regina’s boss) did tell me that they would take the rental cost as a direct bill due to the ungodly amount of time that this repair is taking thanks in large part to delays caused directly by Encompass. Yeah … something tells me this isn’t going to go too smoothly… Anyway, I’m hoping to be able to get Precious back on my return as to avoid the need to get another rental. As if my luck was ever that good…

Oh well, that’s the latest cluster-fuck that I’m being forced to deal with. I hate my life…

bis später,

Coriolis