ifuckinghateyou.com - your enemy's enemy is your friend.

posted February 26, 2010 10:21 AM PST

Are you a graphic designer?

WARNING: This is long, but if you're bored then there exists a slight (very slight) chance that you may find this interesting.

The parents of the kid who hit us wanted to pay out of pocket to keep their son's rates from going up. On Tuesday I had faxed them two separate quotes, with a cover letter explaining the terms on which we would proceed. To summarize:

- Quote #1: $1800 includes replacing: bumper, impact bar, rear driver side taillight assembly. Also includes body work on driver side rear quarter panel, and paint. Did not expect final bill to exceed $2300 total with incidental cost overruns.

- Quote #2: $1300 includes everything in the above quote, with the exception of the impact bar. (IMHO it should be replaced after an accident, but they're the "experts") Did not expect final bill to exceed $1800 total with cost overruns.

- Car Rental estimate: $250 - $150/week for compact car, $13/day Damage/Loss Agreement, $7/day Personal Accident Insurance. 5 total days of rental.

The non-negotiable terms:
- We would take our car to the company that provided quote #2, the cheap quote.
- All money would be provided to us up front and would include the potential cost overruns for the most expensive quote (just in case #2 was low-balling to get the work) and the rental car estimate. That total was $2550
- After the work was completed, the balance of the money would be returned, down to the penny.

I guess this didn't sit well with them, because this morning I got a call from the mom. Even though I already explained it in the fax, she wanted to know why we were asking for so much. So I told her, again. Then she told me that the money had to come out of her son's college fund, and that he didn't have that much in there. (bitch, I know your address. I grew up in Northfield. YOU ARE RICH) I said it wasn't my problem or concern where the money came from. Then she offered to put $1000 down with the mechanic, and pay the balance afterward. I said that was exactly what I did not want to do, because if she walked away after the work was done it would be next to impossible for me to collect from her insurance. She said that it would be illegal for her to do that, and I said I didn't care.

So then she asks me if I didn't trust her. I said "well, you owe me money and I don't know you. Of course I don't trust you." Her natural response was "Well then why should I trust you with $2500 of my son's money?" and I explained to her that because there were great risks involved in me doing this favor for them, then it would have to be done on my terms.

Then she asks me if I'm a graphic designer. I'm assuming she googled my name or something. I do have some old resumes out there, and my name is credited on a few things... so she may have seen that. (although, after checking google myself, I believe she was looking at this: http://www.scottjacksonstudio.com ) Anyway, she basically tried to bribe me with work, which I did not appreciate. So I told her that I wasn't comfortable with the direction the conversation was going, and said that I would discuss what we talked about with my wife. Before I hung up, she asked for my email address, and I gave it to her because I knew that at some point I would have to tell her the deal was off, and email was probably the best way. I could keep my composure, make sure my communication was clear, and have everything on record.

So what follows is the email discussion that transpired:

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Scott -

Just to clarify our conversation this morning, I wanted to restate some of the details I suggested:

1) My son will pay Collision Revision a $1000 cash deposit toward the repair of your car. I spoke with the Collision Revision adjuster who indicated that he and his general manager do not require any upfront payment. I explained your concern that you don't know us and have no guarantee that we would ultimately pay for the expense, he understand your concern and says he is confortable with that strategy as an offer of good faith on our part.

Once he has the final estimate, (my son) can deliver the remaining balance to Collision Revision.

2) I have a corporate relationship with Enterprise Car Rental, which can get your wife a daily rate of $35.99 plus CDW. I believe this is the same deal that Collision Revision will offer you, so there is no real incentive to use our discount. In either case, they will accept my credit card upfront as payment for the rental car so that your wife does not have to pay and then get reimbursed. They will not accept cash, and must have a credit card to process the rental.

3) I spoke with our agent at Geico regards this accident and the estimates. Based on the estimated costs, and our $1,000 deductible, he strongly suggested that we simply pay directly as the net dollar benefit is not worth having them process the claim.

4) If you prefer to handle this through your insurance company, it will also go on your record even though your wife was not at fault, so I think we both have an interest in handling this directly.

5) (my son) is paying for the repair out of his college fund. If the repairs, rental car, etc amount to the $1500 or so he will have used 75% of his funds. I realize that this is not your issue, but I do mention it as asking for an additional $1000 more than the expected costs seems an unfair request of him.

I realize that your primary concern is that you are made whole, and I would like to explore other options that accomplish this rather than fronting you an additional $1000 as guarantee:
- notarized guarantee
- prepay Collision Revision the $1500 and put car rental on our credit card

If you have other ideas, we are certainly open.

I am also copying (my son) on this email. If you could respond to both of us, I'd appreciate it.

Many thanks, we'd like to get you whole as quickly as possible.

Thanks,

J
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My response:

J,

I had explained to (your husband) already that the only way I was comfortable with letting you pay for the repairs directly instead of through insurance was if I personally received that money up front, and if it included additional padding to allow for cost overruns. The amount that I provided you with was what I had calculated as being the absolute worst case scenario. I wanted to use a number like this, because at no point did I ever want to dip into my own money to cover any expense. Even though we've decided to go with the lower quote from Collision Revision, we used the numbers from Gerber to come up with that estimate because it is unlikely that any repair would be more expensive than theirs.

Please understand that I am well aware that when all is said and done, the final bill will be significantly lower. But also understand that I was not asking to keep the balance of that $2550. It was simply a deposit, to me personally. All receipts would have been kept, and whatever was left would have been given back. I am not looking to gain anything from this accident beyond having my car restored to the condition it was in before the collision occurred, at no expense to me. The only way I would have felt certain that this would happen is if I had the money up front. You can assure me that you will pay them when the work is done all you want, and offer me graphic design work all day, but none of those things offer the same guarantee to me that having the money up front would have.

Yes, I understand that it would have involved a great deal of trust in me on your part to accept those terms. But you also need to understand that I have been seriously inconvenienced by all of this at no fault of my own, and have absolutely no incentive to do you this favor. It has been two weeks, and we are still driving our car with no working left turn signal and bare metal that is being exposed to salty streets. That is simply not safe. If I had gone through insurance, it would have been fixed by now. So if I was going to do you this favor -- and let's be honest, that's what it was -- it was to be on those terms, which were not up for negotiation.

With that being said, I am proceeding with filing a claim with the insurance company. I just do not feel comfortable with the direction that this discussion has gone, and I also want to have my car fixed as soon as possible. I had told (your husband) about two weeks ago that this is what my intentions were. He persuaded me to at least entertain the idea of allowing you to pay out of pocket for the repairs. However the way things have been developing have convinced me that this is simply not worth it. Yes, it will be on my insurance record. However I have already been assured by my agent (who I have been working with for 17 years) that it will not affect my rates. I may be out a few dollars covering the balance of my rental car cost, but it is a small price to pay to remove the greater risk of not having the insurance companies involved.

With that being said, I would appreciate no further discussion on this. It's extremely unlikely that I could be convinced to change my mind, and I am also exceedingly busy with work for the next month or so and just do not want to be bothered. I do not want this to drag out any longer than it already has. I want my car fixed so that it is safe for me and my wife to drive. I'm sorry if this is not how you wanted things to play out, but I am obligated to look after my family's interests above everything else. This is, after all, exactly why we pay for car insurance in the first place.

Thank you,
-Scott
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So that set off a litany of responses. I purposely didn't respond to them individually and gave her some time to cool off:

Response #1:

Scott,

Certainly that is your perogative to handle it through your insurance company and I'm sorry that you feel that you need to go that route. Whether you chose to pursue this through your insurance company or not, (my son) will still pay cash, as the difference from our deductible to the out of pocket amount is quite small.

My effort was to find ways to guarantee you that we, and my son, are honorable people and full stand by our claim to fully cover the cost of the repair. At the same time, we have no guarantee that the monies deposited with you would actually be refunded to us if Collision Revision's estimate did prove to be close to accurate.

The only issue, as you state, seems to be one of trust, and the only way the you feel you can trust us is to have us deposit $2500 with you. Can you tell me what type of guarantee (my son)will have that he will get his hard earned money back after all expenses are incurred. Would you be willing to have us deposit the money with Collision Revision?

I understand you are busy, and don't want to further drag this out.

J

Response #2:

I just reread your email, and think you misunderstood. I was not offering you graphic design work. I mentioned that your name had come up about a month ago when the company I work for, [redacted], was hiring graphic designers. I only offered to have our CEO, [redacted], give a character reference for us to again offer you the assurance of our trustworthiness.

That is all I intended, and still can give you that offer.

J

Response #3

Scott,

It was our insurance agent's recommendation that we not front additional monies to you without some guarantees. Yet, you are not comfortable with any other option. As a means of assuring that my son will get any monies back that are due him, would you be willing to refund it at the time the car is finished and picked up at Collision Revision. We would be comfortable with that option.

J

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So my last response, because I just want to be done with this:

J,

I think that this process will be easier for everyone involved if we
just let the insurance companies take over. That way all of these
questions of trust become null and void. This is why I expressed
reservations to your husband two weeks ago about proceeding in this
direction in the first place. At this point I am just grateful that my
wife was not seriously injured in the accident, and my primary concern
is that we get the car repaired so that we have a safe vehicle.

Thank You,
-Scott
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Probably not the last I've heard from her or her husband... but we'll see how things go. I'm kicking myself for listening to the guy two weeks ago when I called to tell him we were just going through insurance. I should have stood my ground.

What irritates me about this is that at no point did she seem to grasp that it was my vehicle that was struck and that she was the responsible party (albeit by proxy.) As such, she really didn't have any grounds to question the terms I set or my integrity. In doing so, she essentially accused me of attempted extortion, while trying to bribe me in the same breath.

Some people just don't know when you're doing them a favor.

last updated February 26, 2010 12:50 PM PST