I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

Yesterday, I was having a great day. Took a ride down the beach. Got home and the security arm coming into the building closed on my car. It hit the roof, bounced 4 or 5 times putting scratches and dents down my roof and then did the same on my trunk. The arm which you pass first and the gate are broken at least once a week from this happening. I went to the security gaurd at the gatehouse (he didn't open or close it, I have a remote). I said to him, "Sir, the arm just closed on my car, what shuold I do". He looks at me and said "NEXT TIME, READ THE SIGN". The sign said Caution, One car at a time, not responsable for any damage done to car. Then he said "I bet you'll read the sign next time". This old Bas***d pissed me off worse the the damage to my car. The problem is, If you do paaint work on a car like this, It has to depreciate by $10K EASY. I wouldn't buy one with paint work. What would you do. When I got there the gate and arm were open (which is very common for a Saturday) The security gaurd stops non residents. I did hit my button on the remote and had no idea the arm would come down.

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

Damage!!

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

Not just scratches, Dents under the scratches!

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

Is the car dented? Can you rub out the paint from the security arm. I would think the security company is responsible to have your car fixed. But if you don't want paint work done. Their not going to buy you a new car. I would have it fix buy the best body shop around and sell it. Good luck. Just my .02

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

First of all there is no way that they can make that claim. You have an expectation that the gate will work properly and they are responsible to make sure that it does. Not responsible for the damage to your car is if some one opens up a door into you, or your car gets broken into and your camera gets stolen. That is part one. Call your insurance company and they will take care of it for you. I know that Amica did for me.

Next is your repair. If it is done correct there will be no depreciation on your car. My wifes car got hit and you can not tell. I used to do auto body work and I know what to look for. Make sure that they are using Glazzo or Spieze Hekker (sp) paints. There are shops in every state that specialize in high end cars. Find them, look at cars that they have done. Ask them what the damage was and see if you can tell. If you can tell then keep looking. Some one that will do that car correctly will probably pull the windows (moldings at least), removed any moldings, blend down into the sides of the car. Probably a couple grand in damage. Good luck.

Jon

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

Oh ya tell them to take a freeking foam pad to the bottom of the gate so that it will not damage a car if it drops!!!

Jon

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

That Sucks!! I'd get a beater truck and just bust the arm clean off...then pull up to the gaurd shed and sideswipe his booth!! Hope all works out!! :mad:

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

That sucks. Basically what that sign is saying is, "if this gate screws up, oh well not our fault".......

Got a feeling you are between a rock and a hard place here. It would seem to me that if there is a gate place in your community/whatever that there is some responsibility on the managers/association to be sure that it doesn't damage vehicles. Just my opinion though.

I'm glad it was not me. If I owned an automobile of that calibre and that guy smart mouthed me with what he said to you there is no doubt I would be sitting in the Iron Bar B&B right now. He should have at least apologized and offered you any options you might have. But to say what he said, no excuse. In that situation when someone who is PAID to do a job, and all he can do is come up with a smart azz answer, only one thing to do. Reasoning doesn't work. Pow........

Wouldn't be the first time I've been "detained" for smacking some azzhole.

I'm betting that your condo/homeowners/ association has some type of liability insurance. They won't tell you that of course, but they'd be total idiots not to have some type of policy. Start with them and then go legal. My two cents anyway.

Difficult being an "analog" guy in a "digital" world.

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

get an attorney and sue for the damages and the dimished value to the car.i was a manager @ palm beach mercedes and fixed several cars with the same damages you have and the sign won't cut it in court THEY ARE RESPOPNSIBLE FOR YOUR damages. your estimate of 10k is probably conservative... there isn't a used car manager at any high line dealership that doesn't have a paint mil gauge, which will show what areas of your car were painted. there is no way to hide the paint work these days no matter how good a job the painter does. if your in fla i would be happy to hook my dually to the arm and the gaurd booth and relocate them a mile or so down the road...does the fat azz guard sleep in his lil booth? i'd drag his azz down the street in the booth! the guard knows he'll never own a fine automoblie like yours, it probably cost more than the losers house :D so he's a tad jelous of your mack daddy ride. good luck

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Depending on the size of the dents call around and find a pdr (paintless dent removal) guy in your area, get the one with the best reputation, the mercedes dealer probably has one they use. They can get the dents out with no prob. Secondly, they cant say they arent responsible for a peice of equpment like that, thats like saying they arent responsible if the elevator falls a floor and hurts someone. I would go into the office and speak with a higher up, let them know what the old crapper said and ask what they are going to do about it. If they say nothing then retain counsel, you'll win just may take some time.

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Some of the white will come off with no problem. There are scraches and Ding like dents under them. I can't believe they don't have a foam pad under the arm. I guess it could have been worse, I could have been driving a convertable! OUCH!

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wrong... the # of mils of paint on the car is a dead giveaway that there was paint work...dimished value. bam if there is a high line used car manager that lets a repaint be traded in without him knowing it was a repaint he wouldn't hold a job very long because he would be getting put to sleep on trades. at palm beach mercedes wouold always have 2 or more people look at trades to make sure the dealership didn't get put to sleep on trades that have been painted or repaired. it takes about 1 minutes to check the paint mil thicknees on the entire car so you are probably screwed for the diminished value unless you hire a lawyer. good luck

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

If we pulled the gate and the guard house out with the Guard still in it we would be charged with a "RACIAL HATE CRIME" I'm sure

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

Hell make it real expensive for them. Tell them that you want to send it to Gullwing Motors in Essex, MA. They are the premier Benz resoration shop in the world. They have won Pebble beach many times. Hell you could come out of it with your car being worth more. Of course it will cost them tens of thousands of dollars but hey that is not your proble. Bet they would fix the probably 10 dollar part that is broken then :D:D

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

damn gino , getting it from every which way

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

Just because they have a sign doesn't mean they aren't responsible. Suppose I had a sign in my front yard that said "Caution: All blowboaters will be shot on sight. " Would that absolve me of all liability? I think not.

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

All I can tell ya is there are cars that get repaired that are a LOT more expensive then that. You will have a very hard time getting depreciated value. Just make sure it gets fixed properly.

Jon

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

That would be enough for me :D:D

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

you may try a paintless dent repair guy. find one that does high end dealers work. have him do the paintless ding removal then take it to the dealer to have them wet sand and buff the minor scratches that remain after the paintless dent guy straightens the panels. if the dent guy can access the damaged ares from the backside you should be ok, leave it like that and you will probably be ok when you trade it in. good luck

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

Ya I would definatly go that route first.

Jon

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

It's been a rough weekend!

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

i have seen many insurance companies pay diminished value claims. one state farm adjuster told me about a dimished value claim on a ferrari the got wet from the pedals down. new carpets seats etc. state farm offered 4 k for diminsed value the owner refused and took it to arbitration. the y found for the owner and st. farm had to pay 32k for diminished value. ouch. diminished value is handled differently from one state to the other talk to a few high end body shops in your area and they should be able to educate you on how these claims are handled in your state. good luck

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

there is one other option... you could chrome the damaged area and tell every one your a rapper or a pro ball player and have absolutly no taste, hence the chrome benz :evilb:

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

I thought about that. The only problem, I don't know how they would get access to the dents. When the ding is in a door the drill a little hole in the door jam and access it that way. I don't know what they would do in this case. I would not let them drop the suade headliner. It figures, it had to be this car. Any other car I drive would have been no big deal. I have some luck lately!!

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

One of my best friends is a pdr guy in Northern VA, they drill holes ONLY when necessary, its ok to drop headliners and such as they normally carry replacement snaps and pins to put them back, if they are top quality pdr guy that is. thats where you have to research it. A quality guy will be able to get all of them out no problem, and it is much less expensive, and better in the long run.

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

Interesting you posted this thread. We were talking about this exact subject at work 2 weeks ago. A co-workers father had same exact situation happen to his Cayenne Turbo. Had the sign syaing the weren't responsible for damage and such. Anyway, he sued and won. Judge said he has resonable expectation for the gate to worl properly as long as the gate procedures were adhered to. ie Don't follow someone through...

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

It sure sounds to me like ,,, The gate was open and then you said hit your button,,,, Why would someone elses insurance have to pay for your actions??? :( ,, Maybe I just read it wrong,,, but ,, You are the one that said it ,,, any how ,, good luck with the fixing ,,, do the best job possiable and life goes on ....

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

Yes the gate will shut if open and you hit button..just fix it and you will soon forget it...what you will not forget is that repeated cat insurance.

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

Make sure and keep us updated on this one.

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

Ask the Mr. RUDE Rent-a-cop
for the name and phone number of his superviser
call his superviser and ask for his boss. Ask them if they pay these guys extra for the rude BS atttude and that there are other professional companys that supply guard shack attendants that you will be contacting. Remember the old plumber's rule **** runs down hill. Also if you use the pick-up truck to tear the arm off the gate BE SURE that you clearly have a sign posted on your truck just like the one they posted. Stop, get out, Shake you head, point at the sign after ripping the gate to shreds and say "Maybe you better read the sign next time". Get back in your truck do a U-turn and nail the exit gate too. If they try to claim your sign was not an excuse give them a bill for your new car.
Mistakes happen. Bad attitude and rudeness will not EVER be tolerated.
GO GET THEM!
Veecat in Texas

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

Buy a hyundai and it wont feel as bad. :D :D

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

It always happens to the nice cars. If you were in a sh*t box that day it would have never happened. It happened to me at a toll booth in 1990. I went into the exact change lane with only a $20 and tried to get threw with the car in front of me. The arm came down on the windshield and only left some white paint. The arm split into pieces and I side stepped the clutch to get the hell out of Dodge.

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If I shoot you in the chest while i'm wearing a t-shirt that reads "Armed a$$hole- not responsible if I shoot you" am I OK?

Those signs are there to give the brush-off to morons who believe everything they read.

You can put up all the signs you want, it doesn't in any way absolve the responsible party from liability. The end-around that the Ohio Insurance Commission pulled was to eliminate responsibility on the insurer's part for diminution of value- in Ohio, I can't sue you, I have to sue your insurer. I wonder though since you weren't involved with another auto but a piece of real property if it wouldn't change things.

The first thing I would do would be to get an affidavit from a franchised Benz dealer stating that upon trade-in, all customers are required to sign a statement that their vehicle has never sustained damage in any way (most high-end dealers do this as a matter of course) as well as an appraisal trade-in showing a deduction for the damage and loss of value due to the specialized nature of the vehicle.

Time to see the attorney.

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

LubeJobs42,
I ran a private Rv Park and we had a security gate... Which like you said it is broken at least once a week. the function of the gate was to close after each vehicle problem is it would also try to come down on the boat being towed... they can say they are not liable but the truth is they are ...get an estimate for repairs and the go see the one in charge. higher up then the guy you talked to tell him either they pay for the damages or you will have to take other actions. Our Gate never worked right and when someone did have a problem with it hitting their car or something else. then we would pay for the damages. the only time we wouldn't is if they were not a member and were trying to get in behind another car. good luck and let us know how it works out.

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

1) Signs don't mean squat.
2) Whoever owns the gate is responsible for damage it causes if it malfunctions.

A) It doesn't *really* sound like the gate malfunctioned, though. If it was already open, then it'll close before it will open again. Sure, they could have had a safety eye on the controller to keep this from happening. Sure, they could have had a big foam bumper on it. But they didn't HAVE to have either. Since it is ON THE PREMISES of your residence, I would imagine that the homeowners/resident association should be able to have a say in how their security gate is equipped, but that was a matter to be discussed before this.
B) If the gate was functioning as it was intended, then you are sort of the guy at fault.

Insurance shoudl cover it. Might be only a comprehensive claim, not a collision claim. That should make it more tolerable.

* Paint meter will pick up ANY variations in paint thickness.
* Any dealer looking to accept a high dollar trade like that WILL run a paint meter all over that puppy.
* If anybody drops the headliner, make sure they are VERY familiar with the fastening system specific to that particular car, and that they have the proper clips to reinstall it properly. Those dent repair guys, though, are absolutely magicians. Find a very reputable one and let him do the dent work.

sorry it happened to you
and sorry it was that car.

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

I would a high end detail shop to see if they would buff out and a paintless dent repair shop to see if they be able to pop them out. If so then get the guard shack or who ever is in charge of it and get them to to compesate for damages done, down time of the veihcle. If not then get the guard shack to pay for vehicle value loss due to marks and have a mercedes dealer write it up what it would cost so you would have all the documentation needed.

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

from what it sound slike you it the button and closed it on yourself.....correct?

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

The button dosen't close the gate or the arm it only opens them. Actually you start pressing the button before you make the turn into the drive so it's open when you get there. The gate is then open 10 seconds before you get to it. If someone goes through in front of you and the gate starts closing behind them, you hit the button and it reopens before it closes completely. If the gate closed by pushing the button (which it doesn't), if a car is going through and someone else pushed the button, it would close on the other car. I know I just have to get it fixed and forget it. I will talk to them and see if they pay. If not, i'll just pay for it and move on. I don't need animosity's where i live. The thing that pissed me off so bad was the $6 an hour security guard giving me a lecture and an attitude.

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you could also go get the baseball bat, drive up to the gate with the guard that was there being there and park blocking the drive in so he can see ya walk over towards his with bat in hand and comence a few wacks when he goes ape sht, just tell him not your problem and then leave, more than likely he will stop ya and give you the needed info to get it resolved before you can even get to his car.

Re: I am so pissed!! Need advice!!
 

... or a murdercycle. Happened to me one night coming out of the parking structure at Wayne State University.