March 18, 2009
My car is here!
Hokulele arrived today, a day ahead of schedule. Henry the hunky Brazilian stopped his car carrier out front, blocking our narrow country lane. Not a problem, since there’s no traffic out here. No one needed to get by during the half hour or so that Henry was here.
He fooled with some ramps and drove her traveling companion out of the way (blocking more of the street, but … oh well.)
He fooled with the carrier some more and bridged the gap between Hokulele and freedom.
She didn’t need exit signs to show her the way and was purring happily as Henry drove her into the driveway.
That’s when the trouble started. Poor Hoku did not make the journer unscathed. Her rear bumper is totally mangled.
There’s a scrape on her roof as well. A mud guard that should extend below the front bumper was torn up and only a small piece of it remains attached. There are various other scrapes, knicks and dents. Henry and I compared paperwork. An inspection was done in my presence when the car was transported from my house via a tow truck to the dock in Honolulu. The diagram made from that inspection shows a couple of small scratches and dings. Another inspection was done on the dock in LA before Hokulele was loaded onto Henry’s transporter. The diagram from that inspection is cluttered with damage notations. Henry is in the clear, but the transport company isn’t. I’ve left a voice mail for them and will find out tomorrow what they intend to do. The shipping documents and contract are so full of disclaimers and double-speak that I don’t know what to expect. I’m going to be highly dispeased if they offer anything less than complete repair.
[tags]car, car damage, car transport, Saturn, travel[/tags]
Posted by skeet @ 6:06 pm • Travel, Just stuff
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March 18th, 2009 at 6:29 pm, Anele Says:
Okay while I’m glad you have your Hokulele, the condition she’s in is COMPLETELY unacceptable!! I hope that you do a follow up post using the name of the company to let others in your situation know of your experience. (Well maybe after your stuff is no longer being held hostage!) Keeping fingers crossed!
March 19th, 2009 at 1:13 am, Denise Says:
This always happens, which is disappointing but true.
The more important issue here is… after exiting the carrier, where I see she purred happily… she’s still purring right? No coughing?
March 19th, 2009 at 3:18 am, allysther Says:
What a mess, but I’m happy that you have her back. Good luck with the latest tangle.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:40 am, skeet Says:
I’ve already been contacted by my customer care rep, Anele. Julie has maintained daily contact with me while Hokulele was travelling and has been a pleasure to deal with. She’s already started the claims process for me, so hopefully all will be well. Yes, I’ll blog it all with names and report cards once things settle.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:54 am, skeet Says:
I don’t really know yet, Denise. I only moved her in the driveway so she could have a bath yesterday. I have a list of errands to run and places to go today, so we’ll see how she’s running. I need to get my oil and radiator fluid changed (from tropical weight,) so I’ll get them to give her a check-up, too.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:56 am, skeet Says:
Mahalo, Allysther. I’ve got my fingers crossed that they’ll take good care of me and Hokulele.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:30 am, Laurie Says:
Gah! I hope they do fix everything! My insurance was quick to tell me that if there was any other damage to my car besides the front end they weren’t fixing it. I don’t even know if something like that happened to mine on the tow back from Waco. I wonder if I should go take a look?
March 19th, 2009 at 5:45 am, sassymonkey Says:
Yay for Hokulele arriving. Sorry that she apparently had such a rough ride.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:33 am, skeet Says:
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to check, Laurie. I took Hokulele for a long drive today. She’s running fine. I had the oil changed & asked them to check the undercarriage for signs that road grime was scraped away in any area, indicating they might have damaged something I hadn’t seen yet. Thankfully, everything looked good underneath. I don’t know if she was damaged by the tow truck operator, during loading on the boat, during the ocean transit or coming off in California, but I’m really glad they insisted that we document her condition before they took possession!
March 19th, 2009 at 11:33 am, skeet Says:
She’s mechanically sound, Karen, but I’m still waiting to hear whether or not she’ll soon be as pretty as ever.
March 21st, 2009 at 4:04 pm, hyphen eight Says:
Wow, I’m glad your ride arrived, but sorry to hear about the bangs & scrapes. Hope you can get her fixed up soon - and that you get a satisfactory resolution with the transport folks.
March 23rd, 2009 at 1:59 pm, valmg Says:
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that all is made right in short time. It’s good to hear they’re being nice so far.