Tales from the Lost Months: Jury Duty Ice Road Trucking/Subaruing Blues (PART 6)

The next day, December 23, shortly after 9 a.m., I gathered my strength and called King Subaru again. They’d still heard nothing from the insurance appraiser. I sighed. More calls to the insurance company would be required and I could already predict the sort of delays inherent with the process. It was at that moment I decided that no matter which side was right or wrong in the matter (which I’d never ever be able to determine anyway, since both sides were blame-shifting like champions) it was time to pick a side in the fight and see if I couldn’t turn the tide of the battle in favor of that side.

So I picked King Subaru's side; not that I thought they were faultless by any stretch but ultimately because they were in physical possession of my car. My plan was to call the insurance company and if I was not immediately offered a satisfactory resolution to the matter I would begin showing as much ass as I needed to—in a verbal directional application of my ire sense—in order to get my car back in my possession before the day was out. It was already December 23, when most folks (including, I suspect, those working for the independent appraisal company) were already phoning in their jobs due to the proximity to the Christmas holiday weekend, so chances of getting anything done on the 24th were nil. This had to be finished today or I wasn't going to see the car until after Christmas. So I limbered up my ass and gave insurance a call.

After the whole explanation and agent researching the matter process, my new insurance rep phoned the independent appraisal company to find out what was up. She returned to the line shortly to say that my supplemental claim had still not yet been reviewed and the IAC had noted that it would likely take 24 to 48 hours for them to get around to it. She suggested I should probably think about calling back in about a day.

“Well, see, this puts me in something of a bind,” I said.

Then I took a super deep breath and in pretty much one long sentence reiterated for the record how even though my vehicle had been repaired for two full days now, I still couldn’t touch it because the independent appraisal company hadn’t approved the payment for it—independent appraisers who, I might and did add, had only initially approved $700 for a car that was SO VERY OBVIOUSLY going to be far more damaged than a dented bumper cover, a price differential which, I then suggested, had at the very least laid the groundwork for the price discrepancy issues the IAC was now having with King Subaru—a payment, which I had been assured when I first inquired about the lowball $700 figure two weeks prior, would be no problem at all and that insurance would pay for any and all other repairs that King found during their own inspection, and that said payments to be made directly to King Subaru; which now brought us to the matter of the IAC's assertion that they’d not received the supplemental claim until December 21st, when my dealership asserted they’d sent it on December 16th—a matter which seemed to be the crux of much of the blame-shifting going on, that was muddying the waters nicely but not getting me my car back any faster—a car, which, by the by, I hadn’t laid eyes on since December 6th, meaning I'd not had access to my own personal transportation in all that time, transportation that I required and which I could have very quickly if only the IAC would make the approval of the supplemental claim—a claim, again, that I'd been assured would not be a problem for them to make in the first place. *BREATHE*

The agent listened to my lengthy, calm-yet-firm rant and then said, “But, sir, they have to have time to review the documents. It takes at least 24 hours.”

“They’ve had the documents since December 21,” I said. “It is now December 23.”

The agent did the math, seemed a bit flummoxed at a response to this, but added that there was little she could do except mark the claim as one to be expedited.

“I was already told that my claim was being expedited back on December 21," I said. "It is now December 23.”

The agent had no real answer for this, but did seem annoyed with me—as well she should. She gamely tried another approach.

“Sir, if you like, I can call the appraisal company again and ask if they can tell me how long it should take them.”

“Yes. Please call and ask them that. I would really like to know so I can plan things here accordingly.”

Yeah, I’m an ass. But they started it.

Minutes passed on hold. Then the agent returned and sounded almost disappointed to report that the IAC had just approved the supplemental claim in full.

“Oh, that’s outstanding,” I said.

She told me next that it would take a couple of hours for the IAC and insurance to get all the details in order, but one of the appraisers would then call me to let me know the details and then they would send word to King Subaru along with a fax of the check they were writing for the full amount.

“Thanks so much for all your work,” I said, voice dripping with saccharine sweetness.

Of course, four hours later, at 1:30p, I’d heard from no one. My going theory on this was that the amount the IAC had approved and the amount King Subaru had billed were probably not the same figure despite claims of them approving the full amount. I imagined there was currently a quiet war of faxes going on along our nation’s phone lines. However, upon putting in a call, King Subaru said they had not even heard about the approval, let alone received any faxes of checks.

Motherpussbucket!!!

(TO BE CONCLUDED...)