My sad Maxima story
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Everyone has a story, everyone has a tragedy. Here's my tragedy.
At my place of employment I have a friend who's name is Anisa. Anisa found out that I bought a new Maxima over the summer and was looking to first modify it by completely revamping the entire stereo system. Anisa has a brother in law who does stereo work. She recommends him to me and we get in touch. I pick out a system I want and at the end of the summer he installs it.
He has the car for a week. I call him everyday and he tells me that everything is going good but he has to keep on getting new parts in, like a new circuit board because there's a grounding loop problem with the previous one.
At the end of the week he brings the car back to me. The car has a long stripe/dent going down the side of it (As if it swiped a guardrail pretty hard). It also has four indentations in the hood. Gary, the man who installed the stereo explains that he took the car down to Argosy casino (Which is located in Lawrenceburg, KY... a good 45 minute drive from my house) to test out the stereo system and the speedometer (which he was also fixing). He could not explain why he took it to Argosy, but just said that he had and he was sorry.
Gary then went to tell me that he took it down there, had it valet parked and then when he went to pick it up, the body damage had taken place.
He said he had pretty much settled a claim with Argosy and I was supposed to call them back in 2 weeks with the claims person got back in town (He was on vacation). Two weeks later, with not much I could do, I called the claims guy who reported that Argosy would not take the claim because when they took pictures of the damage, the dents had dirt engrained in them, which would lead a person to think that the damage happened previous to the car being parked in an inside garage.
I called Gary back, and flustered, he told me that he was mad, and he was going to call Argosy and get back to them. I told him I had had it. I told him I highly suspected him of hurting my car and I didn't care how he got the money to me, but he needed to get my car fixed. He said he would call Argosy and his insurance company about the matter.
Anisa meanwhile is keeping a very close watch on everything that is happening, we keep in touch on a daily basis.
I then went ahead and had two estimates done on the car. The first estimate was $3200.00 in damage, the second one was $2800.00. I was willing to give Gary a break and let him have the second one.
Last week, with nothing happening on the claim and Gary still stalling me, I called his insurance company and they reported he had made a claim with them for the vehicle. In the claim, he admits to hurting the car himself. That right there is insurance fraud, documented and well suppported. Insurance fraud is easily prosecutable and is a felony. Also, the insurance company reported that they could not cover the claim, because, despite the fact that he was the driver, they would not be liable for my vehicle.
I left Gary a voicemail after this saying he needed to present me with a check for 2800 dollars. He never got back to me. That was last week.
I called him today and told him I needed the 2800 dollars and I was willing to let him pay me back in installments in the next 3 months. He told me that he wouldn't be able to pay that amount back in 2-3 years. He cited bankruptcy, family problems, and that he was selling his house and moving to an apartment.
At this point, my only hope for getting the money to pay for the damage is through civil litigation or through some kind of restitution along with criminal charges or if the family gets involved... which is Anisa's task, who feels very bad about the whole situation.
That is my Maxima story. What a tragedy. I refuse to be hustled. Someone is going down for this.
At my place of employment I have a friend who's name is Anisa. Anisa found out that I bought a new Maxima over the summer and was looking to first modify it by completely revamping the entire stereo system. Anisa has a brother in law who does stereo work. She recommends him to me and we get in touch. I pick out a system I want and at the end of the summer he installs it.
He has the car for a week. I call him everyday and he tells me that everything is going good but he has to keep on getting new parts in, like a new circuit board because there's a grounding loop problem with the previous one.
At the end of the week he brings the car back to me. The car has a long stripe/dent going down the side of it (As if it swiped a guardrail pretty hard). It also has four indentations in the hood. Gary, the man who installed the stereo explains that he took the car down to Argosy casino (Which is located in Lawrenceburg, KY... a good 45 minute drive from my house) to test out the stereo system and the speedometer (which he was also fixing). He could not explain why he took it to Argosy, but just said that he had and he was sorry.
Gary then went to tell me that he took it down there, had it valet parked and then when he went to pick it up, the body damage had taken place.
He said he had pretty much settled a claim with Argosy and I was supposed to call them back in 2 weeks with the claims person got back in town (He was on vacation). Two weeks later, with not much I could do, I called the claims guy who reported that Argosy would not take the claim because when they took pictures of the damage, the dents had dirt engrained in them, which would lead a person to think that the damage happened previous to the car being parked in an inside garage.
I called Gary back, and flustered, he told me that he was mad, and he was going to call Argosy and get back to them. I told him I had had it. I told him I highly suspected him of hurting my car and I didn't care how he got the money to me, but he needed to get my car fixed. He said he would call Argosy and his insurance company about the matter.
Anisa meanwhile is keeping a very close watch on everything that is happening, we keep in touch on a daily basis.
I then went ahead and had two estimates done on the car. The first estimate was $3200.00 in damage, the second one was $2800.00. I was willing to give Gary a break and let him have the second one.
Last week, with nothing happening on the claim and Gary still stalling me, I called his insurance company and they reported he had made a claim with them for the vehicle. In the claim, he admits to hurting the car himself. That right there is insurance fraud, documented and well suppported. Insurance fraud is easily prosecutable and is a felony. Also, the insurance company reported that they could not cover the claim, because, despite the fact that he was the driver, they would not be liable for my vehicle.
I left Gary a voicemail after this saying he needed to present me with a check for 2800 dollars. He never got back to me. That was last week.
I called him today and told him I needed the 2800 dollars and I was willing to let him pay me back in installments in the next 3 months. He told me that he wouldn't be able to pay that amount back in 2-3 years. He cited bankruptcy, family problems, and that he was selling his house and moving to an apartment.
At this point, my only hope for getting the money to pay for the damage is through civil litigation or through some kind of restitution along with criminal charges or if the family gets involved... which is Anisa's task, who feels very bad about the whole situation.
That is my Maxima story. What a tragedy. I refuse to be hustled. Someone is going down for this.
__________
-Phat 90 Maxima with a huge sound system and some big *** dents.
haha
damn man that sucks. Not much you can really do about it, you could take him to small claims court but it would just be a waste of time and money.
-Phat 90 Maxima with a huge sound system and some big *** dents.
haha
damn man that sucks. Not much you can really do about it, you could take him to small claims court but it would just be a waste of time and money.
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 496
I feel you have a strong case
Without going back and reading thoroughly my notes and cases on the requirements of a bailor/bailee situation or researching a close case, it seems that you have a great bailment case. A bailment is the rightful possession of personal property by someone who is not the owner. You were the bailor, Gary was the bailee.
The two requirements of a bailment are 1.) Delivery of possession of property; and 2.) Control over the property. Both requirements look to be met here in that you delivered the car for Gary to take control over. Next thing we look at is the intention of the parties. You had a business deal going here for a stereo, as this guy works in a stereo shop. This was not a "test drive" for him to go out and see how fast your car could go, but rather to install a stereo, which appears to be this guy's job. You have a reasonable reliance that he is an expert and will successfully install your stereo. Unless Defendant can show evidence contrary to his negligence, there is a presumption of negligence on his part, this is good for you. He had a duty to maintain the condition of your car, he breached that duty, that was the cause of the harm, and there was in fact harm done to your car. (Quick Torts lesson for you here).
Here's what I would do. Unless you know a lawyer who could take the case for you, I would take the case to small Claims court, pay the $35 and represent yourself. I think you're going to win. The problem then will be to collect the judgment. Good luck and I am sorry to hear about this incident.
The two requirements of a bailment are 1.) Delivery of possession of property; and 2.) Control over the property. Both requirements look to be met here in that you delivered the car for Gary to take control over. Next thing we look at is the intention of the parties. You had a business deal going here for a stereo, as this guy works in a stereo shop. This was not a "test drive" for him to go out and see how fast your car could go, but rather to install a stereo, which appears to be this guy's job. You have a reasonable reliance that he is an expert and will successfully install your stereo. Unless Defendant can show evidence contrary to his negligence, there is a presumption of negligence on his part, this is good for you. He had a duty to maintain the condition of your car, he breached that duty, that was the cause of the harm, and there was in fact harm done to your car. (Quick Torts lesson for you here).
Here's what I would do. Unless you know a lawyer who could take the case for you, I would take the case to small Claims court, pay the $35 and represent yourself. I think you're going to win. The problem then will be to collect the judgment. Good luck and I am sorry to hear about this incident.
My reactin: DAMN! that sucks! when I install stereos (not professionally mind you- just a favor to friends. ;-)
in people's cars, I do it with them present, or I do it in my driveway where they park the car and I do not move it for any reason. blah blah.. DO NOT DRIVE SOMEONE ELSE'S CAR. that's installer rule #1. he broke that one to bits.
rule #2. you break it, you buy it. if the guy was gonna to insurance fraud, he might as well have made up a story that you swerved to miss him in a parking lot and you hit something.. since he was the one messing up, he agreed to cover the damage.. well, didn't happen that way anyway.
As for getting your car fixed, take that **** to court. DO NOT bring your friend/co-worker Anisa into this, no matter how much she wants to help.. it will only cause problems between you and her, whether it be personal or professional.
another thing.. he shouldn't even have to buy new "circuit boards" to fix a ground loop.. ground loops are installation problems, caused by a poor install. they do not spell faulty equpment. the only way that could happen is if the guy screws up something during the installation and fries something because he hooked up wires wrong.
the only piece of equipemnt invovled in ground loops are power and signal wires.
It sounds like the casio didn't have anything to do with the wreck- this guy is obviously lying to you.. he has done it already and will of couse do it again. (and with him thinking he's getting away with it, he's gonna make up more and more lies and cause his problem to get even aorse.) the best thing to do is catch him in one of his lies, and call him on it. especially if you can do it in court, in front of the judge or lawyer(s).
the drawback to taking it to court is that it's going to be dragged out for months, all the while your car is deteriorating in the rain.
life's a ***** man.. you just got screwed. you have my sincere sympathies. I've been there- though not THAT bad- it ain't fun.
good luck!
in people's cars, I do it with them present, or I do it in my driveway where they park the car and I do not move it for any reason. blah blah.. DO NOT DRIVE SOMEONE ELSE'S CAR. that's installer rule #1. he broke that one to bits.
rule #2. you break it, you buy it. if the guy was gonna to insurance fraud, he might as well have made up a story that you swerved to miss him in a parking lot and you hit something.. since he was the one messing up, he agreed to cover the damage.. well, didn't happen that way anyway.
As for getting your car fixed, take that **** to court. DO NOT bring your friend/co-worker Anisa into this, no matter how much she wants to help.. it will only cause problems between you and her, whether it be personal or professional.
another thing.. he shouldn't even have to buy new "circuit boards" to fix a ground loop.. ground loops are installation problems, caused by a poor install. they do not spell faulty equpment. the only way that could happen is if the guy screws up something during the installation and fries something because he hooked up wires wrong.
the only piece of equipemnt invovled in ground loops are power and signal wires.
It sounds like the casio didn't have anything to do with the wreck- this guy is obviously lying to you.. he has done it already and will of couse do it again. (and with him thinking he's getting away with it, he's gonna make up more and more lies and cause his problem to get even aorse.) the best thing to do is catch him in one of his lies, and call him on it. especially if you can do it in court, in front of the judge or lawyer(s).
the drawback to taking it to court is that it's going to be dragged out for months, all the while your car is deteriorating in the rain.
life's a ***** man.. you just got screwed. you have my sincere sympathies. I've been there- though not THAT bad- it ain't fun.
good luck!
Guest
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Wow! Legal and mechanical advise on one board!
I love this place! Personally, you're already screwed and you're probably not going to get any money out of this Jack ***, so just KICK HIS ***, get his cousin pregnate, and then burn his house down while singing "we didn't start the fire, it was always burning since the world's been turning....." I hate stuff like that and it makes me mad that people are that irresponsible to another's property. I'd kill em'! You should see what happens to people who scratch my car!
Guest
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Ugh
Yeah, it's a mess. Right now I'm trying to get documentation from the various involved insurance companies to make a case against this guy. Looks like I'm gonna have to walk across the street to civil municipal division, where I used to work. Yay. I can't wait.
Spader.
Spader.
This Gary is a real assh*le....
How do you do something like that and try to bull**** your way out of it. Especially if its a friend of a relative or something like that...
I don't understand how bad the damage was that it came out to nearly 3,000$! I don't know how much it costs to have a part repainted. but I figure, you can get a used hood, fender, doors... and have then painted. again, no idea how much that can cost, but 3,000$ sounds outrageous...
Good luck with it,
I suggest you consult with a lawyer
I don't understand how bad the damage was that it came out to nearly 3,000$! I don't know how much it costs to have a part repainted. but I figure, you can get a used hood, fender, doors... and have then painted. again, no idea how much that can cost, but 3,000$ sounds outrageous...
Good luck with it,
I suggest you consult with a lawyer
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