ADVENTURES IN ACCIDENTS

It was Monday, Labor Day. At 6pm, I was sent to the Farm stand down the road to get tomatoes. I prepared to turn left into their driveway and then realized they were closed. I stopped for a second and tried to decide whether I should continue down the road, or turn into the driveway and make a 3-point-turn. After a few seconds I decided to make the left turn and go into the driveway. As I put my foot on the gas, an SUV came out of nowhere and passed me on the left. He just clipped me. We both pulled over and after determining nobody was hurt, the other guy asked if we could keep this out of insurance. I agreed and we exchanged info. I suggested I get it fixed and send him the bill. He said he owned an auto body shop and the part would only cost $60. He gave me a business card. It said "Chilly Willy Auto Body". Turns out I hit Willy himself. I still don't understand why hee's "chiily", though. If he was a refrigerator expert, i could see it. Anyway, after a few more minutes of me videotaping the damage and us talking, he said the whole job would be only $200. I balked and looked at him. I had understood that he would fix it if I paid for the part. I told him this and he offered to simply sell me the part and I could do with it what I wanted. I told him I’d call tomorrow at noon.

TUESDAY
I called at 11:45. I offered to pay for the part and let him take care of the work. He said he’ll find out about the part and I should call back in 15 minutes. I called back around noon and got an answering machine message for a dog groomer. The message had a cell number on it. I called that and get a woman. I briefly explained why I called her and the woman told me she’s Willy’s wife, Vicky. She assures me that Willy owns 3 shops and the message on his machine is the result of a borrowed machine with her old message on it. She gave me Willy's cell number and explained to me that he’s feeding the kids lunch, so he’s not in the shop. I finally reached him on his cell and again tells me $200. I tell him I won’t pay the $200, but I will agree to the $65 for the part. At this, he got really feisty and I had to assure him that this is fair. I explained that since he passed me on the left, crossing a double yellow line, he would be found in fault of the accident. So I was being very generous in offering to pay for the part. After 5 minutes of fighting, I told him to forget it, I’ll just go through the insurance. The fighting was getting nowhere. At that, he told me that if we do that, we’ll have to go to the “precinct”. I assumed this is his way of threatening me. I called his bluff and he folded. He decided that in the interest of getting this over with he’ll pay for the whole thing. So, I offered to split it, he decided he should pay NOTHING, and then does a complete 180 and offers to pay for the WHOLE THING. I immediately get really suspicious. Then he asked to meet me so he can get the paint color off the car. I told him to tell me over the phone how to find it. He did, but I couldn't find it. I reluctantly agreed to meet him at 7-11. Right before I left to meet him, Vicky, hsi wife called me, and wanted to know what the hell is going on and why the hell I won’t pay for the job when it was my fault? I assure her very firmly that it was Willy’s fault. We went back and forth for 10 minutes before she caved. She apologized to me and asked me to forgive her for calling, and also don’t tell Willy I called. I assured her this is all very impersonal and that I’m not mad at her or Willy, I just want this taken care of. I hung up and Willy called right after, asking why I’m not at 7-11. I decided not to say, “because your wife called me!” and limmediately met him. I was a little scared of a fight. I got there and Willy and another guy got out of his car. I got very nervous, but the other guy was clearly a grease monkey and decided he wasn't gonna beat me up. The two of them looked at the car and get the paint info. Willy called it in and ordered a pint. While on hold, he looked at me and asked, “Did my wife call you?” I reluctantly tell him that she did. He apologized for her and I waved it all off. “I told her not to call you!” he complained. The paint is secured and he told me that he can have the whole thing done by tomorrow morning and that he’ll call me as soon as all the parts and paint are in his possession. 4 hours later, at 6:00pm, I called him and ask what’s up? He apologized and said he wasn’t able to get the part today but he will tomorrow morning.
Right now, everything is fairly civil between us, but I was getting more and more nervous as this dragged out.

WEDNESDAY
I called at 9:30am. Willy tells me he’s dealing with his kids and school, but to call back in an hour. He will definitely have the fender by then. I called back at 10:30 and left a voicemail. I called back again at 11:00 and he tolds me he’s getting the part right now. I say great! When can I come by and drop the car off? He tells me he’ll call me back in 10 minutes. At 11:30 I go to call him back, but Kat tells me to wait until noon. I called at noon and got voicemail.
Not long after, Willy called back and tells me to come down. We all piled in the cars and found the house in Bay Shore. There’s a huge fance around the entire property and I can’t figure out how to enter. I called him on my cell and his assistant from 7-11 let me in. I dropped off the car and left. Willy told me “this time tomorrow” (2pm) the car would be ready to be picked up

THURSDAY
I called Willy at 2pm. He told me there was a problem he didn’t expect with the paint and he had to do more work to prepare it. He assured me it would be ready by 9pm that night. I told him to take his time and I’d call in the morning. He casually mentioned that he might not be there in the morning because he boxes. I decided that wasn't a threat, but it made me nervous.

FRIDAY
I called and left voicemail with Willy at 10am, 11am and 12noon. He calls me back around 12:15 to tell me that he’d painted the car, but it wasn’t a factory mix so it doesn’t look good. He said he spent all morning at the store getting the paint mix-up fixed. He assured me it’ll be done by 6pm or so. Again, I told him to take his time and I'll pick it up in the morning. Kat and I planned for a problem. We assumed he would ask for money once I got there, but I never brought the subject up on the phone with Willy. We decided we'd be willing to pay the original $65 mentioned on Monday but no more.

SATURDAY
Willy called me around 4:00pm and told me it was done. I couldn't believe it! We showed up quickly and I went into the "shop." Willy showed me the van and told me all the work he did on it and what a pain in the neck it was. I took the keys and thanked him. We shook hands and I drove away. Part of me wanted to hand him some money, but in the end I didn't.

So there's no real punchline to this story, sorry.