BADBLOWN572
06-19-2006, 09:13 AM
Here is how the situation went down. My father inherited a mint condition 1959 Corvette from his father when he passed away. The car was a beautiful show car back before it was put into storage at the time of my grandfather's passing. We took the car out of storage on Saturday so we could start the father/son restoration on the car (just as it originally was). The car had been sitting in storage for the past 10 years under a cover. When we took it off, it was as clean as it was when it was put away. We figured that we had a terrific candidate for a resto. Yes, the suspension has to be gone through as well as the fuel & brake systems, but overall it was very nice. Paint is still flawless, all of the chrome sparkles, etc...
Here is where it gets interesting. We took the car out of storage to move it over to our shop so we could start on getting the car road worthy again. After 10 years, the suspension bushings are gone, brakes need to be re-done, motor freshened up, etc... Nothing major, but still a nice project. When we got to the place where it was stored, we called AAA to have them bring a tow truck out. When the driver showed up, he was obviously in a hurry. No care was taken in making sure that the car didn't get bumped, banged, etc... When we voiced our opinion, he said "we have insurance." That was sign #1 we should have called it off, but we didn't.
Finally we got the car loaded up on the tow truck and on the way to our shop. When we got to the shop, the guy wanted to drop it in the alley. We asked him to back it in (plenty of room), but the guy said he was late for a wedding. After giving him a water, he agreed to back it in. Once we get all of the straps undone, he put the bed into the shop and starts trying to lower the car. It wouldn't do it. It turns out that the front brakes locked up some how. He tried "jerking" it off of the truck. My father had an emergency and sent me by myself to get the car off the truck. After about 15 minutes, the tow truck driver basically said "f*ck this" and started twisting on the car. The pictures below show what he was doing. I kept saying "stop," "wait," "hold on," etc... He just kept saying "I am late for a wedding."
First he took a floor Jack and started jacking from the front body panel! I told him to stop immediately because it would screw up the car. I said my father is about 10 minutes away and he will make the decision on how to get it down. The driver wouldn't listen.
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1636.JPG
After that, he re-positioned the jack under the steering tie bar. I flat refused to let him lift off of that. So, he decided to lift the car off of the lower A-Arm.
Again I asked him to stop 2-3x and wait for my father. Also, notice the position of the tail ramp from the floor. He said it was the only way to fit the jack in.
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1640.JPG
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1641.JPG
So, he starts lifting off of the passenger side A-Arm. Then he starts pulling on the car to get it off the ramp.
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1638.JPG
The one tire started to slip off and look at the jack.
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1645.JPG
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1637.JPG
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1639.JPG
At this point in insisted that he stop. He would not. I called the tow company that he works for and spoke to the supervisor and informed them how I have instructed their driver to stop. He said that "we are taking up too much of the driver's time and that the driver needs to proceed." At this point I am PISSED. I tell the driver to wait, and he said "I am doing it my way." I told him, if you don't stop, no matter what, you won't leave for 45 minutes. He said "how you going to stop me." So, I pull my truck in front of his so he cant leave. GET THIS, THE F*CKER THREATENS TO CALL THE COPS ON ME. I said, just stop! The jack is twisting, the car is ready to fall, etc...
So, what does he do, he breaks out the another jack.
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1648.JPG
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1644.JPG
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1647.JPG
At this point in time, I told him to leave our shop. I said that he is tresspassing and that he needs to leave. He exits our shop and called his supervisor. He informed him that he couldn't leave because of where my truck was parked and that I have kicked him out of our building. The supervisor finally said to wait until my father showed up. About 5 minutes later, he shows up and luckily he had furniture moving dollys in the back of his truck. One under each front tire and it moved just fine. After that, just pushed it into the shop and put it back up on the jackstands.
The only aparent damage to the car was a blown out tire. This came from him pulling on the car and since the tires, were old, it blew out the sidewall. We are not worried about that because new tires are allready on the way. I was just really pissed because 1) they wouldn't follow my directives, 2) the supervisor didn't care, 3) he obviously did not care about the car, 4) he told me that I was not allowed to photograph him or his truck even though they were in MY shop, and 5) because he threatened to call the cops on me. I called AAA and informed them of how poorly the tow company handled this mess, but I didn't get the warm fuzzy feeling from them that it would be handled. They did say that they would get back to me in a week, but won't be happy until it is resolved.
Sorry for the rant, but I am STILL pissed about this. It happened 2 days ago and every time I think about it I get all fired up again.
Here is where it gets interesting. We took the car out of storage to move it over to our shop so we could start on getting the car road worthy again. After 10 years, the suspension bushings are gone, brakes need to be re-done, motor freshened up, etc... Nothing major, but still a nice project. When we got to the place where it was stored, we called AAA to have them bring a tow truck out. When the driver showed up, he was obviously in a hurry. No care was taken in making sure that the car didn't get bumped, banged, etc... When we voiced our opinion, he said "we have insurance." That was sign #1 we should have called it off, but we didn't.
Finally we got the car loaded up on the tow truck and on the way to our shop. When we got to the shop, the guy wanted to drop it in the alley. We asked him to back it in (plenty of room), but the guy said he was late for a wedding. After giving him a water, he agreed to back it in. Once we get all of the straps undone, he put the bed into the shop and starts trying to lower the car. It wouldn't do it. It turns out that the front brakes locked up some how. He tried "jerking" it off of the truck. My father had an emergency and sent me by myself to get the car off the truck. After about 15 minutes, the tow truck driver basically said "f*ck this" and started twisting on the car. The pictures below show what he was doing. I kept saying "stop," "wait," "hold on," etc... He just kept saying "I am late for a wedding."
First he took a floor Jack and started jacking from the front body panel! I told him to stop immediately because it would screw up the car. I said my father is about 10 minutes away and he will make the decision on how to get it down. The driver wouldn't listen.
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1636.JPG
After that, he re-positioned the jack under the steering tie bar. I flat refused to let him lift off of that. So, he decided to lift the car off of the lower A-Arm.
Again I asked him to stop 2-3x and wait for my father. Also, notice the position of the tail ramp from the floor. He said it was the only way to fit the jack in.
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1640.JPG
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1641.JPG
So, he starts lifting off of the passenger side A-Arm. Then he starts pulling on the car to get it off the ramp.
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1638.JPG
The one tire started to slip off and look at the jack.
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1645.JPG
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1637.JPG
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1639.JPG
At this point in insisted that he stop. He would not. I called the tow company that he works for and spoke to the supervisor and informed them how I have instructed their driver to stop. He said that "we are taking up too much of the driver's time and that the driver needs to proceed." At this point I am PISSED. I tell the driver to wait, and he said "I am doing it my way." I told him, if you don't stop, no matter what, you won't leave for 45 minutes. He said "how you going to stop me." So, I pull my truck in front of his so he cant leave. GET THIS, THE F*CKER THREATENS TO CALL THE COPS ON ME. I said, just stop! The jack is twisting, the car is ready to fall, etc...
So, what does he do, he breaks out the another jack.
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1648.JPG
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1644.JPG
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3216/1598IMG_1647.JPG
At this point in time, I told him to leave our shop. I said that he is tresspassing and that he needs to leave. He exits our shop and called his supervisor. He informed him that he couldn't leave because of where my truck was parked and that I have kicked him out of our building. The supervisor finally said to wait until my father showed up. About 5 minutes later, he shows up and luckily he had furniture moving dollys in the back of his truck. One under each front tire and it moved just fine. After that, just pushed it into the shop and put it back up on the jackstands.
The only aparent damage to the car was a blown out tire. This came from him pulling on the car and since the tires, were old, it blew out the sidewall. We are not worried about that because new tires are allready on the way. I was just really pissed because 1) they wouldn't follow my directives, 2) the supervisor didn't care, 3) he obviously did not care about the car, 4) he told me that I was not allowed to photograph him or his truck even though they were in MY shop, and 5) because he threatened to call the cops on me. I called AAA and informed them of how poorly the tow company handled this mess, but I didn't get the warm fuzzy feeling from them that it would be handled. They did say that they would get back to me in a week, but won't be happy until it is resolved.
Sorry for the rant, but I am STILL pissed about this. It happened 2 days ago and every time I think about it I get all fired up again.