Sams Club nightmare

[joutlaw]

I was at Sam's Club getting new tires for my 2000 Millenia L. We went shopping and came out and I was amazed that my tires were already off my car. I was like nice this might not take long. Then all sudden the car drops with no tires/rims from about 3 feet in the air onto the suspsension and brake components on all 4 at least. Apparently one of techs had a issue and was tryin to lower the car, but must have used a button that completely drops the lift b/c it fell fast under all the weight.

I was livid to say the least. It left indentions in the concrete ground where it fell, so I know it hit hard. Nothing visible appeared broken, but I didn't look real close b/c I was in utter shock.

So I ask for the manager and he comes over says I need to file a claim and they would fix the damage. I then called my insurance company and they said they are getting an adjuster to look at the car. They advised not to drive the car b/c they could say damages occured after.

They finished and put the tires on the car. The tech did a service drive and it looked ok from the parking lot, he pulls up and tries to give me the keys and I said no way ... you park it.

So we file the claim and give a statement, then they try to get me to move the car to different parking... I said I've been advised not to drive the car. They said its not well lit and you car could get broken into... I said thats fine.

So what do you think... I would bet the alignment is severely off, and probably have bushing and control arm damage. I bet the struts didn't like it too much either. Possibly frame damage, but I don't know.

Any insight or suggestions.

 

[Darth Konvel]

Something like that would leave me absolutely speechless. At the very least, I'd take it to a mechanic you can trust to get it looked over.

 

[joutlaw]

I filed a claim(comprehensive) with my insurance company and they are towing it to a body shop. I didn't feel like waiting on Sam's claim person to call, and they still havent yet. I didn't have a way to work so I got a rental through my insurance. I'll be out of pocket the deductibe, but I'll get it back. I imagine the insurance company and Sams will go to court, but they have in store video so its pretty much open/shut case.

I was speechless... in utter shock when it happened.

I went there this morning after getting a rental and took pictures of the car. I found a nice new baseball sized dent in the door. So this is going to end up costing a bit I'm afraid. I also took pictures of the shop where the indentions were in the concrete from the fall.

I will say Progressive, my ins co, has been great through this.

 

[anthrobe]

I use Progressive and have been very happy with them. You probably have a whole lot of damage on your brake system, wheeel bearings, upper/lower ball joints and such. You did the right thing by not touching the car. Good luck to ya. Just make sure progressive does not hit your policy with points for the claim. Make sure that they keep on top of sams club.

 

[uglygoat]

too bad the mechanic wasn't underneath it when he decided to drop it onto the ground with no wheels on....

you 'prolly don't need to hear this, but never take your car to walmart/sam's for service. i manage a car rental for a living, and we have put countless people in cars that sams/walmart has destroyed by not properly servicing them, usually it's not putting oil back into the engine after an oil change, or not putting the right oil filter on etc...

 

[Genghis77]

I knew someone who bought 8 gallons of paint from Walmart, custom blended. All of them had loose lids and paint all over the interior of the car. Turns out the damage was total, they couldn't make it look decent again. Cause, the clerk's first day on the job and incomplete training.

 

[BlightyBrewer]

I can't believe this story! There are some right cowboys out there! Hope you get it sorted joutlaw

I have a similar story about a chain tyre / exhaust outfit. I had to get my exhaust changed about a few weeks after the car had been MOT'd (annual government safety check). After they fit the exhaust, they told me the front drive shaft boots were split. My reply was, "that's amazing, cos it has just passed an MOT". The guy looked a bit shocked, like he had chosen the wrong person to dupe. After inspecting the boots, I found the split was axial across the concertina, rather than circumferential...an obvious knife job! I went ape at them. Couldn't prove anything, but a few months later the whole outfit went bust...justice!

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

man, joutlaw. it had to do some damage. that weight falling from 3 foot, w/ no rubber on the wheels? good luck with it. i know wal-mart/sam's can be a beeee--aaaattcchhh when it comes to law suits or settlements.

stick it to 'em for the rest of us little guy's!

 

[Darth Konvel]

I don't think the wheels were even on, DeRoux Fell right on the suspension by the sound of it.

That's pretty shady, Blight. Glad to hear they aren't doing business anymore.

 

[joutlaw]

I'm afraid there could be frame damage. It's a 2000, but the wholesale is probably around 5K. I don't know how they determine if its a complete loss, but I'd figure wholesale value is involved.

Thanks for the input guys... I'm just trying to make sure I'm thinking of everything in terms of settling this.

BTW, no word from Sams yet.

 

[joutlaw]

I don't think the wheels were even on, DeRoux Fell right on the suspension by the sound of it.

That's pretty shady, Blight. Glad to hear they aren't doing business anymore.

Exactly it fell on the rotors. I'm worried about transmission and engine as well. That car sits low to begin with.

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

I don't think the wheels were even on, DeRoux Fell right on the suspension by the sound of it.

That's pretty shady, Blight. Glad to hear they aren't doing business anymore.

what i get for eating tuna fish and trying to read/type at the same time!

 

[david_42]

My dad was at Sears once and they said the shocks were shot and the van was dangerious to drive, so my dad told them to put new shocks on "The best they have". When they were done, he pulled out an old invoice from the same Sears shop and the lifetime warrenty for the shocks they had just replaced.

He gave them three choices: Leave the new shocks on, replace them with the same quality shocks that had been on the van, or "see him in court". Putting the old ones on was not an option as they were "worn out and dangerious". He kept the new shocks.

 

[uglygoat]

sears earned a lifetime ban from my wages after they sold me a gas range/oven for top dollar that broke when i used the self cleaning feature. the repair would have been almost as much as the entire thing cost. it was just a week after the warrantly was up.

i told em to stuff it, and bought el cheapo from best buy... only 800 left on the sears card, then never again will they get me money

 

[joutlaw]

I just got off the phone with representative from Claims Management Inc and he was going over the incident. He said "So, I understand your car was at Sam's Club on the lift with all four tires off when a worker accidently hit the lift release button." I said yes, but that’s not the story I got. I was told they were having problems with the left front tire and someone tried to "lower" the car. Anyways... I'm even more outraged because I was lied to yesterday by both the service manager and the on-duty store manager.



I told the guy I filed a claim with my insurance company because I had to get to work and wasn't driving that car after a fall like that. He then asked for the claim number and the adjuster contact information. He said they could longer handle my claim and it would be between Progressive and their company.

 

[Genghis77]

They should be furnishing you with a rental car while ironing out the details of a settlement.

 

[joutlaw]

They should be furnishing you with a rental car while ironing out the details of a settlement.

Yep I agree. I think I am going to get advice from an attorney and see what can be done. The fact they basically left me stranded and the fact I had to go out on my own to file a claim with insurance is rediculous. They said there company wasn't open yesterday is their excuse though.

I hate to do it, but do you think I should get lawyers/attorneys involved. Do you think I have enough grounds.

 

[Genghis77]

And that is why people have to get attorneys. The insurance companies stall and just add to the cost and frustration. Just once I would like to hear of an insurance company actually treat the person like a human being. They seem to think all claims are fraud and wonder why people get attorneys to get restitution.

 

[Orfy]

I'd set the dogs on them.

A company like that figures it is more profitable to pay unskilled inexperienced staff to extract as much money as possible from customers than to get decent staff and treat customers fairly when a problem arise. It's more profitable to pay out on the odd law suite than to do the job correctly.

Is it worth going to a company who deals in auto accident consequential loss claims?

In the UK we have the option to pay for legal assistance on our policies; this means we have free access to a lawyer for such matters.

 

[cowain]

Yep I agree. I think I am going to get advice from an attorney and see what can be done. The fact they basically left me stranded and the fact I had to go out on my own to file a claim with insurance is rediculous. They said there company wasn't open yesterday is their excuse though.

I hate to do it, but do you think I should get lawyers/attorneys involved. Do you think I have enough grounds.

I wouldn't talk with an attorney if I were you unless I had to. If you can find one who will handle the claim (it's pretty small), they'll take a third to 40% of any recovery you get, so they'll probably result in you getting less out of the deal.

Also, they have no legal duty to provide you a rental car during the negotiation of a settlement regarding the damage to your car. It would be a nice thing for them to do, but they don't have to do it.

The only way you can try to make money on this situation would be to try to establish punitive damages (by either showing intent to cause damage to your car or such a reckless disregard in their hiring/retention pratices that malice could be inferred) which would be quite difficult and time consuming even if such information existed. Without punitives, all you've got are compensatory damages, and that's not going to be much.

I'd just try to keep everything civil. It sounds like the Wal-Mart claims adjuster person isn't trying to b.s. you, regardless of whether or not the repair people at the shop were. Don't piss the adjuster person off and be nice to them and you'll probably get taken care of.

If anything nasty happens, you can send me a PM and I'll see if there's anything more that should/could be done legally.

 

[joutlaw]

I took a look at some of the pics and noticed the oil pan was dented up a good bit as well the front bank of headers/manifolds. Leads me to believe the engine took a decent hit. I still haven't heard from the body shop though.

Meanwhile, my adjuster at Progressive calls and says that the rep from Sam's insurance co said they would be handling everything... complete opposite of what I was told. They wouldn't eve let me open a claim with Sam's. I'm giving them until this afternoon to sort it out. Obviously Sam's isn't taking me seriously though.