Smash and Grab

Kittengolf · #1 (**permalink**) 11-03-2009, 01:49 PM

On Friday I came out to go to school and found that someone had broken into my beautiful 2009 Honda Fit. In the process they smashed in my driver side window, scratched the B pillars, bent the window sill trim and generally screwed up all the window seals. They only took a few things out of the car, but did not steal my squash air freshener. Thats whats important.

My real concern right now is my insurance company. I have been unable to stay in touch with one claims representative and the claim has been transferred to three seperate reps since Friday. The first rep prompted me to set up an appointment to get the glass replaced before anything else, though there is still other damage that will need to be replaced. Safelite came out today and replaced the window. The guy was very prompt, did great work, and was very polite. However after he had left I realized the window had been replaced with a non-genuine part. I am wondering why, if I am paying a $500 dollar deductible out of pocket, to pay for something that was not my fault, why the car is not being made to be exactly the way it was before the break in. That is the function of full coverage on a brand new car, is it not? I feel that the deductible is penalty enough, and that affecting my resale value is not right. Especially when a driver side window for the car only costs $142 bucks through Bernardi.

Do I have any options here? Anyone have any legal insight into this? Any information or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks a ton.

gimme · #2 (**permalink**) 11-03-2009, 03:32 PM

I am no attorney or anyone with anything legal, but i think it's at the discretion of the insurance company on whether they use genuine parts or not. I do know that my insurance company even advertises they replace with factory parts.

Kittengolf · #3 (**permalink**) 11-04-2009, 12:15 PM

So I called my insurance company and went off yesterday about the lack of communication and the issues I had ben having with this claim. They told me that I needed to inform them that I wanted OEM glass at the time of the claim. Fortunately for me, the original claims rep, who I could never reach again, told me nothing of the sort. So after about a half hour of calm negotiation (Read: Me yelling at multiple people over the phone) the insurance company decided it would be in their best interest to replace the glass with OEM glass when they took the car to be repaired. So the insurance company set up an appointment with a towing company to take the car, still with glass in the seat to the body shop to get fixed. Here is where it gets interesting.

The guy came, and could not find a place to anchor the car to the flat bed on the tow truck, so he put it behind the truck. After a half hour of him figuring it out, he securely strapped the tires to the back tow platform (Read: ratcheted them down tight enough that the side walls were flexing around the straps) and proceeded to drive off down the alley. At the end of the alley is a steep incline in the middle of a small valley created by peoples yards. And wouldnt you know it, the driver, trying to turn out of the alley caught the front end of my car on one hills. So now, in addition to the damage caused by the break in, I have a huge gash in my front bumper from a softball sized rock that just happened to catch on the tow platform.

To make a long story short I have gone from mildly displeased to absolutely pissed off this morning. I need a hug. Please feel free to comment.

DreaMv · #4 (**permalink**) 11-04-2009, 12:53 PM

/hugs

sucks bout what happened man! i hope everything gets resolved quickly!

Mela_SC · #5 (**permalink**) 11-04-2009, 12:59 PM

You got my sympathy, kittengolf...what a screwup.

Kittengolf · #6 (**permalink**) 11-05-2009, 12:24 PM

Update. Bumper damage was purely cosmetic. However the jolt of the car on the platform scratched both front wheels, screwed up my alignment, and messed up the side skirt. Just from what I can see and not including any messed up front suspension parts, the truck driver did well over a thousand dollars in damage to the car. Good thing I hadn't put my TE37s on yet.

krakhed · #7 (**permalink**) 11-05-2009, 01:28 PM

Kittengolf

Tell me you took photos of everything BEFORE the truck driver drove off. And if you answer YES, then I'm going to go with them having to pay to fix the stuff on your car that they damaged.

That's a not so good week, but think...Saturday is just around the corner.

G'luck

Cat · #8 (**permalink**) 11-05-2009, 01:35 PM

Sorry to hear about all the problems that you have had. There is a right way and a wrong way to tow a Fit. Hope that you can get everything repaired and back to normal -- then no more problems for a long time!

Cat :x

neil patrick harris · #9 (**permalink**) 11-05-2009, 02:40 PM

i hope they put the front wheels on dollies. you're not supposed to tow a car w/ the drive wheels on the ground. that's the best way to damage the differential/trans.

good luck w/ everything.

reako · #10 (**permalink**) 11-15-2009, 01:51 AM

Wow, what a rough week. Sorry to hear of all the trouble. Stick to your guns and have them make it right. Take a deep breath, we got your back!

reako · #11 (**permalink**) 11-15-2009, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kittengolf

So I called my insurance company and went off yesterday about the lack of communication and the issues I had ben having with this claim.

So after about a half hour of calm negotiation (Read: Me yelling at multiple people over the phone)

the insurance company decided it would be in their best interest to replace the glass with OEM glass when they took the car to be repaired.

This is exactly what I would do. Call and bitch. Works every time. Hang in there!