I keep thinking I'll feel better, but I just seem to feel blah.First of all, I watched my football team get beat. It wasn't pretty. We put up a fight, but through many turnovers, some bad calls on Shula's part (4 & 15!? and call a timeout?!?), and just some weak playing, Auburn took us down to the mat. This on our own turf, and the fifth time in a row that we've met, at that. Ugh.
Really, Alabama is just now starting to recover from the wicked sanctions put on them in 2001. They lost 21 scholarships over 3 years! I didn't really understand the implications of the sanctions and where they had originated from. Evidently, University of Tennessee's head coach, Fulmer, is a snitch because he's the one that orchestrated the whole thing. I found an interesting article that explains the lowdown on what happened. With a loss in the recruiting class of 2002 and 2003, Shula still has a team that is low in talent compared to other SEC teams. He's probably going to be sent packing soon; definitely if things don't improve next season.
Also, it has to go back further than that, with the abandonment by Franchione -- what a weasel!! Follow that up with a scandal by Mike Price, and the rush of putting Shula in there...It just made for an unstable team. This carries on through the years, like a sickness.
I just really, really wanted them to win. I'm a fan who will root for Auburn when they're not playing Bama (which my cousin, who's a die-hard Alabama fan chides me and our grandfather for!), but I just want to see them win against Auburn for once!
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Well, let me take this back to Friday...I haven't really wanted to blog about it because it upset me so much. I finally got in touch with the other lady's insurance company (see Sept post here, and Friday's post here). I first talked to a guy named Bill over there who tells me the person I need to speak with is Mike, and he should be back from lunch any minute. I ask him to leave a message for me. Now, mind you, this is after I've spent the better part of the morning trying to track the right people down to get some answers as to why the liability has not been claimed for the damage to my truck. After getting off the phone with Bill (who tells me Mike should be in ANY minute), I sit around and wait for about 45 minutes.
About this time my mother calls to get an update to the situation. She advises me that I should call back to find out what's the holdup. So I call back and a woman answers the phone. She seems to be fairly harsh to begin with, but perhaps it's because my stance is already somewhat hostile and you can hear it in my voice. So I ask for Mike, and she says, "Well, I can either transfer you to his answering machine and you can leave a message, or you can call back." I say, "I'll hold, please," to which she barks, "You're not going to hold on my line -- this is MY line." I'm pissed now, b/c this woman is just being a bitch, so I say, "I don't care what you do to make it happen, but I want to speak to someone who is going to take responsibility for answering my questions. I've been put off by you people long enough, and it's time someone takes the time to speak with me." I guess she didn't like that, b/c she slams the phone on the desk, but I can still hear her bitching about me in the background. Oooh, I'm getting all upset now just thinking about it.
I finally get transferred to Mike, who is supposed to be the agent with whom I need to speak. We get down to the situation, and I tell him that I want to know what the problem was with liability, since it had been indicated previously that they would take responsibility. I said I wanted to know why when this woman backed into my truck, why her insurance company, whom he represented -- why after 2 months they have not come to the conclusion of whether or not they are going to take responsibility. He goes through the spiel of how the case got transferred from person to person, until he finally got it on the 26th. He apologized for not sending me a letter to indicate that he was now handling the case. He tried to be smooth when he kept saying, "...and I do apologize for that." He was patronizing me!! He was emphasizing his apology for not sending me a letter about the holdup on the case, when he knew the main issue was the fact they were probably not going to claim liability (because he had already indicated as much).
I went on -- meanwhile, he keeps interjecting with all kinds of lame excuses -- trying to pull some sort of 'I'm a man and you're just a woman, so I'll humor you for the time being' crap-- so I went on about how not only was I shocked that they had supposedly not come to the decision yet, but I was also appalled that they seem to have changed their tune.
**Basically, I had been told by one of their agents that they would take liability when she came to inspect the damages on my truck. I asked her at the time what I needed to do, and she said that as soon as I received an email from her company, I could take the paperwork to any shop I chose to have the repairs done. I even specifically asked her, "What if there is a discrepancy between the price you quote and the repair shop's estimate?," to which she replied, "It will be handled between us and them." I even asked again before she left that all I would need would be the email confirmation, and she said yes again. So I get an email a few days later that states (and this is a cut-'n'-paste job, so no b.s.):
"Dear Client,
This is a copy of the estimate written by our appraiser at _____. A copy of this estimate has been sent to your shop choice if you indicated one when we scheduled your vehicle inspection. If a shop was not chosen, please take this copy to your shop choice and tell them this is an insurance matter. The insurance company will typically pay off our estimate and any additional damage is handled as a "supplement" This is typically paid directly to the repair facility. ..."
It says right there!!! Naturally, this is why I took my truck in. I thought I had confirmation, provided verbally and through this letter. Wouldn't any reasonable person?!**
So, here I am, confronting him about why they've evidently changed their story. He denied that she would ever say anything like that. At least he was diplomatic in his approach here by not accusing me of lying, but he definitely made it clear that he didn't believe that she would ever say anything like this. ARGH!! She did say that all I needed was the email confirmation, I swear! And I have the email to prove it!
I also conveyed to him that I couldn't understand how they could NOT take responsibility, as the police report claimed the other driver (his client!) was at fault. He laughed -- actually laughed -- and said, "Well, that means nothing to me." And this is a quote!!! I was floored. I was like, "what?!?" So he goes on to 'explain' to me that the cop had no way to prove that it was the other lady's fault, and that the cop had only arrived AFTER the accident, so how in the world could he have known whose fault it was?! Can I just reiterate again here how I was completely flabbergasted? So, we kept arguing like this for awhile. Me saying that it was his client's fault, and that I had proof -- the proof of the accident report that the cop had filed VERIFYING that it was her fault AND the fact that SHE WAS TICKETED for improper backing!! His reply to me saying something about the ticket is, "Well, tickets get thrown out all the time." He goes on to tell me that unless I provide an 'independent witness,' this is basically just a she-says one thing, and I say another situation. So I keep saying, but no, I have something to back up what I'm saying, whereas this woman doesn't. He didn't care -- the way he made it sound, he said he MIGHT authorize half of the payment. Finally, the conversation of us going back and forth was getting nowhere.
Now, by this point, my voice is quavering, and I am crying as I speak to him. But that saying kept going through my head, "Speak your mind, even if your voice falters," so I did just that. I sounded like I was getting emotional, which I was, but I couldn't contain it. So I just tried to keep my mind calm on the words I was speaking, even though my body was betraying me. I made it clear to him that I needed an answer as soon as possible so I could decide on a course of action. I informed him that I would be flying out for Japan on the 26th for deployment, and because of that, I needed to know soon.
After I got off the phone, I cried. You know, it's not the money. I mean, it is, but it isn't. Yeah, I don't make that much, so over $350 for the repairs is no chump change for me. What I'm saying is that if I don't get reimbursed, it's not going to kill me. It's just that the whole situation seems so upside-down. I don't know...it just feels so wrong. And I guess that's what's got me so upset. I wouldn't exactly say it's the 'justice' of it...maybe that's part of it...b/c I know life's not fair. And I know that people will screw you over if you give them the chance. I guess it's just the way these people have been...from the lady that hit me and her psycho boyfriend, all the way to this guy. The whole situation just sucks.
Well, I called my mother and cried some more to her. She made an interesting point about the cop. She reminded me that how often do police officers see an accident as it occurs? Not many. When they get to the scene of an accident, they take into account the evidence and they make a determination based on that. So his decision that it was her fault was not just the fact that I told him it was her fault (b/c she was sitting there saying the same thing about me). So how can this insurance guy just say that's not valid at all? Mom thinks I need to report these people to the insurance commission.
After all this, I went to speak with the cop who had filed the paperwork on Friday. I wanted to know if the ticket had been thrown out or could it get thrown out. He didn't say too much, b/c I don't think he wants to take sides, but he said that 1) even if the ticket does get thrown out, the at-fault party still stands valid, and 2) I should have my insurance company handle this situation and quit dealing with them myself. Only problem with that is I'm a liability-only customer, and I don't know how this will affect their service to me. I'm going to definitely call them Monday to see what they can do for me, b/c they are aware of the situation already. And I think on top of that, I'm going to take this woman to small claims court to recoup the damages, b/c I had to fork out the cash to get my truck back. It's just frustrating, b/c here I am leaving in less than a week for Japan, and now I have to worry about setting all this up. Is there some sort of limitations on when you can take someone to small claims? I don't know these things, but I guess I've gotta find out. On top of that, Butch (the wannabe-gangster) threatened me at the scene of the accident. I'm not super scared of the guy, but who knows what he might do if I take his girlfriend to court.
Whew! That feels better. I just kind of slammed it out...
I'm not working right now b/c I'm on standdown to get ready for deployment, so I haven't seen any of my coworkers lately. Also, my friends are either out of the country or out of the state right now, so I really don't have anyone to talk with about all this. I guess it helps to dump it out somewhere!
That's why I've been blogging so much lately. I don't have a life right now! haha It's kind of nice to relax for a bit before I have to go to Japan. At least this will be my last deployment before I'm out of the Navy!
I want to say that I should not be getting so worked up about this situation. I heard once that you can 'should' all over yourself, though, so let me rephrase that. I wish I could take it in stride. This is definitely a learning lesson in many aspects. I know in the big scheme of things, it will all get worked out. I'll be a little more wise from it, too.
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