Do I pursue the recycling guys scraped my car?
June 17, 2011 11:25 AM Subscribe
Recycling guys damaged my car. Now what?
I was parked in a neighboring city. After finishing an appointment with a coworker, I and the coworker witnessed a recycling pickup guy try to drag the recycling can between my parked car and another, even though there wasn't enough room. It seemed like he was going to try to force the can between the two cars, and I said "Hey, that's my car!" but he didn't seem to hear me. I was standing in between the two cars at this point, but on the sidewalk, if that makes sense. He said "Excuse me!" loudly and I stepped aside. He lifted the can and put it back, then he and the other guy drove off.
My coworker and I inspected the bumpers and found black paint from the black recycling can on my left bumper. And on the right bumper there was blue paint, with matching scrapes in the blue recycling cans on the curb. For some reason the blue cans also had patches of bright blue spray paint on them, and this rubbed off on my car. So I guess they had also tried to force another can between the two cars before I got there. There is a minor but not completely trivial amount of damage to the two bumper areas. My coworker asked if I wanted to confront the recycling guys, but I was on my way to a doctor's appointment, not to mention feeling unwell, and said no. Then he left.
So, I didn't confront the garbagemen, but I took pictures of the damage and the garbage cans in question, and noted the date, time and intersection.
This was on Tuesday. Today is Friday. It is the second incident in about three weeks where I witnessed my car being hit, but didn't do anything. In the previous incident I was in the car when someone backed into me; I was also ignored by the perpetrators, got the license plate number and took pictures, but wound up not reporting. At this point I am considering a comprehensive claim, but I am not sure it is worth the hassle, or if it will raise my rates. Also wondering what the process and order of steps is. Do I call the recycling company first, the insurance company, the police? Or am I just being totally OCD?
I was parked in a neighboring city. After finishing an appointment with a coworker, I and the coworker witnessed a recycling pickup guy try to drag the recycling can between my parked car and another, even though there wasn't enough room. It seemed like he was going to try to force the can between the two cars, and I said "Hey, that's my car!" but he didn't seem to hear me. I was standing in between the two cars at this point, but on the sidewalk, if that makes sense. He said "Excuse me!" loudly and I stepped aside. He lifted the can and put it back, then he and the other guy drove off.
My coworker and I inspected the bumpers and found black paint from the black recycling can on my left bumper. And on the right bumper there was blue paint, with matching scrapes in the blue recycling cans on the curb. For some reason the blue cans also had patches of bright blue spray paint on them, and this rubbed off on my car. So I guess they had also tried to force another can between the two cars before I got there. There is a minor but not completely trivial amount of damage to the two bumper areas. My coworker asked if I wanted to confront the recycling guys, but I was on my way to a doctor's appointment, not to mention feeling unwell, and said no. Then he left.
So, I didn't confront the garbagemen, but I took pictures of the damage and the garbage cans in question, and noted the date, time and intersection.
This was on Tuesday. Today is Friday. It is the second incident in about three weeks where I witnessed my car being hit, but didn't do anything. In the previous incident I was in the car when someone backed into me; I was also ignored by the perpetrators, got the license plate number and took pictures, but wound up not reporting. At this point I am considering a comprehensive claim, but I am not sure it is worth the hassle, or if it will raise my rates. Also wondering what the process and order of steps is. Do I call the recycling company first, the insurance company, the police? Or am I just being totally OCD?
Call the recycling company (or the city, or whoever handles the recycling pickup). The city handles ours, and when one of their recycling guys damaged my friend's mailbox they were very accommodating about taking care of the damage. This kind of thing probably happens all the time and I'm sure they have procedures in place for taking care of it.
posted by something something at 11:45 AM on June 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by something something at 11:45 AM on June 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
Did you file a police report? If not, I'm not sure if you are going to have much recourse. Try calling the garbage company, but they may laugh you off the phone.
posted by TheBones at 11:52 AM on June 17, 2011
posted by TheBones at 11:52 AM on June 17, 2011
The city has insurance for this. Call around, get the form, get an estimate, and fill everything out and you'll be ok.
posted by tintexas at 5:40 PM on June 17, 2011
posted by tintexas at 5:40 PM on June 17, 2011
Be careful here. Are you sure that you were not parked so that you obstructed recycling pickup? Make sure that you weren't blocking the recycling pickup area or parked illegally if you decide to make that claim. Your insurance rates will go up and you will still be financially responsible.
posted by misha at 7:26 PM on June 17, 2011
posted by misha at 7:26 PM on June 17, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by caek at 11:31 AM on June 17, 2011 [1 favorite]