communication breakdown

Deck The Halls With Boughs of Frustration

So, I'm sitting here in Jacksonville, on a dial-up connection, going stir-crazy and about to rip my hair out. I've been stuck in town for 12 days (3 days past when I wanted to leave town), and I haven't had access to a car my entire time here. Why, you ask? Well, that's a complicated question. The short answer is: I had a car accident on the 17th and I haven't gotten my car back yet. I came in town a week before Christmas, because I bought my mother tickets to see the Nutcracker for her birthday last month. The rain was torrential: I was hydroplaning all the way into town, and visibility was extremely poor. I got into town OK - but I had one of those feelings like something was going to go wrong. I had been feeling it all day. Ever have that happen? It's the weirdest and most frustrating thing. Anyways, I got here just in time to pick up mom and head out to the theatre. The Nutcracker was wonderful; neither of us had seen it before and we really enjoyed ourselves.

However, on the way back home, I found myself in a right-turn only lane when I wanted to go straight. There was a car next to me preventing me from going over, so I started to slow down and waited for them to pass. However, due to the low visibility, what I didn't see approaching was a small concrete median at the end of the turn-only lane, apparently put there to enforce drivers to turn rather than go straight. Well, I turned the wheel sharp but didn't fully miss it, clipping it with the right side of my car. Unfortunately, I was going fast enough to cause some serious damage: both of the tires and wheels were shot, the oil pan was knocked off, and there was some damage to the undercarriage. But this is only the beginning of the story...

The long answer to why I don't have a car is: complete incompetence on the part of the car dealership. Due to the flat tires the car was completely undrivable, so I had to have it towed. I assumed that the safe bet was to tow it to the dealer where I bought the car several years ago. Bad, bad idea. They have been screwing around with it ever since. Despite the fact that there were several things that needed to be fixed, all of the parts were in stock the same day I brought it to them, so it should have been a one or two day job (they said that themselves). But things started going downhill very quickly. Here's a sampling of some of the stupidity I've been dealing with:

• First, it took two days to convince them that my front tire was covered under Road Hazard Warranty and needed to be replaced for free. When I purhcased the tire three weeks ago (after busting the previous one on a pothole), I was told that VW now provides free Road Hazard coverage on all its tires. The dealer absolutely denied any knowledge of this. After repeatedly telling me I was incorrect, they finally had to call VW national headquarters to find out their mistake.
• I originally assumed that the only damage was to the tires/wheels and the oil pan. After a further look they noticed the underbody damage, at which point I knew things were getting expensive and that I would have to claim it on insurance. I told them not to replace anything until I filed the claim and the insurance adjuster saw the car as-is in order to get an accurate estimate. Well, they completely ignored my command and started working on the car anyways first thing in the morning. This put me in a tough position, because the insurance company refused to give them permission to finish, because doing so might jeopardize my ability to get covered. Yet the dealer kept calling me saying "we have to finish this car now because it is taking up room in the shop and preventing other cars from being serviced". Essentially they tried to pressure me into granting them premission to finish by making me feel it was my fault, despite the fact that I told them not to start.
• After the insurance company provided an estimate, they determined that the wheels could be found elsewhere for a cheaper price. Well, the car then sat for three days with nothing happening, because no-one claimed responsibility for ordering the parts from the other retailer. I literally sat on the phone with the insurance company, who assured me that the dealer was being stupid and that the insurance company never orders parts. Then I would sit on the phone with the dealer, who assured me that the insurance company was being stupid and that the dealer never orders parts from other retailers. Both sides were practically screaming at me, trying to convince me that they were right, and I'm sitting there ready to explode, just thinking: "I don't care who's right, someone order the damn parts or I'm going to destroy you all". Finally, the dealer broke down and ordered the freaking rims.
• After ordering the rims, the dealer told me it would take one day for them to get there. This was right before Christmas, which ensured I would not have my car until post-holidays, which was a huge hassle. So I call yesterday, only to find out that, all of a sudden, it will now take a week to get the rims. Completely unacceptable. So I tell them that I will pay the difference on the damn rims that they already have in stock: just get my car fixed so I can get it away from these morons.
• I call back today, expecting my car to be fixed. Now I find out that, surprise!, the car needs an alignment, and that can't be done until tomorrow, delaying me by at least another day, despite the fact that she told me it would be ready today.

So, as you can probably tell, I'm about ready to kill someone. While it is possible that this is a joint screwjob by both the insurance company (Progressive) and the dealer (Tom Bush VW in Jacksonville, FL), my personal assessment is that the incompetence is almost solely on the dealer. So, my advice for all of you would be to never, ever deal with Tom Bush BMW/Volkswagen if you happen to need service in Jacksonville. I will be filing a complaint with VW national, because this is honestly the worst service experience I've ever had.

Unfortunately this whole ordeal overshadowed the holidays, because I actually had a nice Christmas. As I already said the Nutcracker was a great experience, and it was nice seeing the whole family on Christmas Eve, and I got everything I wanted from Santa Claus. My dad even showed up at the family get-together - I hadn't seen him for any significant amount of time in over 2 years. There have been no serious arguments or crises. I certainly got some heavy reading done, evidenced by the fact that I just posted 4 book reviews. I even got to have lunch today with an old high school friend that I don't get to see very often. For the most part, despite being trapped in a small condo for 12 days, it's been a relaxing holiday. Now, if I could only get my car back from these blundering idiots...

OK, that's enough ranting for the evening. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and, for those I won't see soon, have a great New Year...