posted on May 20, 2012 04:42:18 PM new
About 8 weeks ago a tree fell on my car during a freak snow storm. I took it in for repair a few weeks later. After 5 weeks and $9000 in body work I get it back last Wednesday afternoon. With a 90% new paint job (only the rear bumper wasn't painted).
Today, while I am at our warehouse, the gentleman who manages the building accidentally dinged the side of my car with his door. You have no idea how frustrating this is. Fresh body work, the paint hasn't even cured and now a ding.
When we moved in last October I plugged in a shop vac to a standard outlet. Apparently, the previous tenant before us had converted the 120v outlet to a 220v, but with a standard 120 outlet plate.
We were unaware of this modification when we plugged our shop vac into it and blew the motor. I told him about it, and he tested all of the outlets in our studio and changed them back to 120. I forked out $75 for a new vac and left it at that.
Now this ding on a brand new paint job. Here is where the conflict comes in. We have a month to month written lease. He is a nice guy, but I am concerned it may turn against us.
posted on May 21, 2012 03:01:41 AM new
All this fuss over a ding? Just have the body shop pop it out. Ask the manager to pay for the ding and report the outlet changes to the owner of the building. As a renter you should not have to be responsible for repairs on the building. If you were unaware of the changes from 120 to 220 the manager probably was also unaware. Submit a bill for the shop vac to the owner of the building and move on. If you are happy with the building and the manager other than the ding on your vehicle then stay. If not, then move.
posted on May 21, 2012 05:04:41 AM new
for most of the people in the world a car is just a car for the small minority of us a car is a CAR. We like to keep it clean and looking good be it a new Beemer or a 10 yr old mini van. No matter the size of the ding the repair bill will be a few 100 dollars.
posted on May 21, 2012 05:12:31 AM new
I would ask him to pay for the ding and the landlord to replace/repair your vac.
The only way to find out is to find out.
posted on May 21, 2012 06:38:08 AM new
Changing the 120 to 220 should have been approved by management/owner. If it wasn't, then it was the tenant responsibility to change it back when he left.
IMO the management/owner should reimburse you for your damages at the depreciated value and then they should go after the former tenant(unless they allowed the change). I was in property management for over 20 years but I know each state varies on laws. Plus it's very important what the lease says.
As to the ding - that is more of a personal matter but you should ask for reimbursement from the guy but in no way involve management.
Like capolady said if you like the building, why let this run you off.
posted on May 21, 2012 03:46:15 PM new
Obviously, some confusion here. He is the property manager. this is a warehouse space that he divided and rents out to different businesses.
the shop vac happened in October when we were vacuuming the floors before moving in. i am not worried about him replacing the shop vac. he fixed the wiring and I bought a new vac.
I mentioned the vac here because I let that slide without asking for a replacement. This is the 2nd incident which I don't plan to let it slide.
I figure, the first was a freebie and the 2nd is on his dime. In both instances it wasn't intentional, but could have been avoided... the door ding more so than the outlet since he was the direct cause of it.
Alldings has it nailed down. I am a person who cares about my car, in fact, I care about everything I own. I keep my boxes for everything electronic. So, yes, it does matter... and besides, just 5 days earlier I got my car back after forking out my deductible for the repairs.
[ edited by shagmidmod on May 21, 2012 03:49 PM ]
I know this is late - because I haven't checked in for a while, but I'm curious, how did the conversation with him go? My guess is it would be easier if he too was a car guy, if otoh he's someone like me who rarely even bothers to get her vehicle washed, he probably isn't going to be too concerned about your ding.
posted on May 27, 2012 01:48:38 PM new
Well, I finally had a chance to have the discussion. Ironically, it took greater tragedy to soften the blow.
Yesterday evening we had a freak thunderstorm, and if you know anything about Portland, we rarely get lightning and thunder. For an hour it poured like I have never seen it rain here. The entire warehouse was flooded. He was 5 hours away and wasn't able to get back until this morning.
We had to remove most of our furniture from 7" of water. Fortunately, most was saved though there are a few things that will be a total loss.
posted on May 28, 2012 04:33:10 PM new
yeah, its been a strange bit of luck since the 1st of the year. a bicyclist also hit the side of our van... parked in front of our house. We didn't see it happen and nobody left a note on it, but I am sure it was a bicyclist as there were scuff marks at the perfect height for pedals and helmet, plus a scratch where the handlebars would be.
Then, after the tree fell on my car, it took 5 weeks for them to repair it. 2 weeks of that time was at the end, waiting for two strips of plastic on the top of the car. To make matters worse, when they returned the car it had tons of problems. The trim strips were applied unevenly, there are small dimples in the paint on the top of the car, what appears to be a faint dent on the hood, bubbling in the window trim, the worst swirl marks I have ever seen on a car, and compound paste in the crevices.
I took our van to Best Buy because the stereo we purchased there was malfunctioning. They sent it in for repair and it came back Friday. They worked on it, but didn't fix it. Go figure.
I am finding humor in it, I guess that is the best I can do. lol.
posted on May 30, 2012 08:33:12 AM new
Yeah, I bought lottery tickets hoping my tide will turn. I won't hold my breathe.
Good news is that we sold a major piece of furniture on Saturday that doubled our entire monthly sales at the shop we rent space at. Otherwise it would have been a terrible month for us. So, technically, we did just ok, not stellar. Too bad it wasn't a great month with that dining set on top of that. That would have been nice.
