Most of you probably remember when this happened (and a bit more here)...even though it was way back in May of 2011. Seems like a long time ago doesn't it? And it is. Certainly long enough for my truck to be fixed and sold long ago.
Except it isn't.
Almost a year later, I'm still fighting with my insurance company to get everything done. The details are too long and frustrating to bother getting into here, but suffice it to say that I finally lost it today. After all the delays and lies about when the truck would be ready (or that it was ready when it wasn't) and terrible bodywork that had to be redone...today was the last straw.
The only thing the truck needs at this point are two new fog lights and to replace the right headlight bulb. Somehow that's managed to take nearly a month. Yimy and I sat in this guy (Daniel)'s office today for nearly an hour while he waited for the guy in Cochabamba (Sergio) to approve the purchase of said lights. This would be the same guy that took eight months to "fix" the truck in the first place.
Finally Sergio called back and said that they would pay for the fog lights but not the headlight because they didn't know if was because of the accident or not, and Daniel (the Santa Cruz guy) agreed with that. After ten months of waiting...four trips to Cochabamba to pick up the truck only to be asked if I could come back in a few days because "it wasn't quite ready"...more waiting in Santa Cruz for the bodywork to be redone....multiple trips to the Santa Cruz office to try to get them to finish the work the Cochabamba office didn't do (this Daniel character actually told me that it was my fault he hadn't gotten to this sooner because I didn't come into the office often enough to remind him to contact the Cochabamba office for permission to buy the lights. He said that he had "lots of other work to do!").
And now they were fighting me on a $5 light bulb.
I couldn't believe it. I seldom get angry over things, but that was the last straw. I ranted to Daniel (he later told Yimy he was annoyed that I left without saying thank you for his help!) then went to my insurance agent (who I've bought my insurance from for the past six years) and ranted to her. She was sympathetic and asked if I wanted to talk to the main boss guy.
Oh, heck yes...
So I told the boss guy my whole story and explained that I couldn't believe that, after everything I'd been through with them, they were saying they wouldn't buy the stupid lightbulb. I figured it was the least they could do. It's cost me hundreds of dollars in interest to the bank to have that truck parked for ten months when I couldn't use it or sell it, not to mention the trips to Cochabamba, not to mention the aggravation of waiting for so long.
Yea...I was pretty angry. I told him that if he wanted to keep his clients happy he shouldn't argue with them over a stupidly small thing when they've done such a terrible job in the first place.
He was actually really good about it. He appologized and immediately agreed that they would pay for the $5 lightbulb. I walked back past Daniel (the pain in the butt guy) with my head held high and a pride in my step.
Yay for Ken! He finally get's to win one!! Who cares if it's only a $5 lightbulb...it's still a victory for the little guy over the big, evil corporation! I was quite pleased, if I do say so myself. I never seem to get to declare victory in these kinds of situations.
And then....there's the funny, little final chapter to my story. We stopped back at the house to get the broken lightbulb from the truck to show the parts store what bulb it was exactly. After a couple of minutes Yimy came back into the house with a smirk on his face.
When he went to pull the lightbulb, he noticed that there didn't seem to be any wires coming from the headlight like there were on the other one. Turns out the autobody guys unplugged the light when they were working on the front end and then never plugged it back in again. When Yimy reattached the plug?
Low and behold the lightbulb was fine and everything worked great.
Ahem. Would "Oops" be the appropriate response?
After a moment of somewhat self concious laughter on my part, I decided that I don't feel too bad about my ranting. Sure it was over a $5 headlight bulb that turns out was never broken (haha...that makes me laugh even as I write it), but that was really just the tip of the iceberg. My insurance company's work was terrible and it feels good to have been able to say something to someone who matters.
I also decided that my insurance company is never going to find out. Yimy's the only one who knows down here and I pay for his food so that effectively buys him off.
And so....yay, Ken finally wins one!
Kind of.
Except it isn't.
Almost a year later, I'm still fighting with my insurance company to get everything done. The details are too long and frustrating to bother getting into here, but suffice it to say that I finally lost it today. After all the delays and lies about when the truck would be ready (or that it was ready when it wasn't) and terrible bodywork that had to be redone...today was the last straw.
The only thing the truck needs at this point are two new fog lights and to replace the right headlight bulb. Somehow that's managed to take nearly a month. Yimy and I sat in this guy (Daniel)'s office today for nearly an hour while he waited for the guy in Cochabamba (Sergio) to approve the purchase of said lights. This would be the same guy that took eight months to "fix" the truck in the first place.
Finally Sergio called back and said that they would pay for the fog lights but not the headlight because they didn't know if was because of the accident or not, and Daniel (the Santa Cruz guy) agreed with that. After ten months of waiting...four trips to Cochabamba to pick up the truck only to be asked if I could come back in a few days because "it wasn't quite ready"...more waiting in Santa Cruz for the bodywork to be redone....multiple trips to the Santa Cruz office to try to get them to finish the work the Cochabamba office didn't do (this Daniel character actually told me that it was my fault he hadn't gotten to this sooner because I didn't come into the office often enough to remind him to contact the Cochabamba office for permission to buy the lights. He said that he had "lots of other work to do!").
And now they were fighting me on a $5 light bulb.
I couldn't believe it. I seldom get angry over things, but that was the last straw. I ranted to Daniel (he later told Yimy he was annoyed that I left without saying thank you for his help!) then went to my insurance agent (who I've bought my insurance from for the past six years) and ranted to her. She was sympathetic and asked if I wanted to talk to the main boss guy.
Oh, heck yes...
So I told the boss guy my whole story and explained that I couldn't believe that, after everything I'd been through with them, they were saying they wouldn't buy the stupid lightbulb. I figured it was the least they could do. It's cost me hundreds of dollars in interest to the bank to have that truck parked for ten months when I couldn't use it or sell it, not to mention the trips to Cochabamba, not to mention the aggravation of waiting for so long.
Yea...I was pretty angry. I told him that if he wanted to keep his clients happy he shouldn't argue with them over a stupidly small thing when they've done such a terrible job in the first place.
He was actually really good about it. He appologized and immediately agreed that they would pay for the $5 lightbulb. I walked back past Daniel (the pain in the butt guy) with my head held high and a pride in my step.
Yay for Ken! He finally get's to win one!! Who cares if it's only a $5 lightbulb...it's still a victory for the little guy over the big, evil corporation! I was quite pleased, if I do say so myself. I never seem to get to declare victory in these kinds of situations.
And then....there's the funny, little final chapter to my story. We stopped back at the house to get the broken lightbulb from the truck to show the parts store what bulb it was exactly. After a couple of minutes Yimy came back into the house with a smirk on his face.
When he went to pull the lightbulb, he noticed that there didn't seem to be any wires coming from the headlight like there were on the other one. Turns out the autobody guys unplugged the light when they were working on the front end and then never plugged it back in again. When Yimy reattached the plug?
Low and behold the lightbulb was fine and everything worked great.
Ahem. Would "Oops" be the appropriate response?
After a moment of somewhat self concious laughter on my part, I decided that I don't feel too bad about my ranting. Sure it was over a $5 headlight bulb that turns out was never broken (haha...that makes me laugh even as I write it), but that was really just the tip of the iceberg. My insurance company's work was terrible and it feels good to have been able to say something to someone who matters.
I also decided that my insurance company is never going to find out. Yimy's the only one who knows down here and I pay for his food so that effectively buys him off.
And so....yay, Ken finally wins one!
Kind of.
2 comments:
If you did all that ranting in Spanish you are a winner in my books!
Ha... I'm off to the post office today for some 'justice' as well! Where's the slow, easy life everyone things we're living?
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