A less than enjoyable experience today.

[Rams]

Went to see a man today that had something for sale that I could use.   We agreed on the price via text and he gave me the address and time to be there.   I arrived at the location and time as prescribed, rolled down my window and asked if I was at the right place and if he was who I needed to see.  His two Australian Shepards greeted me also, both jumping up onto me.   While I do love most pets, I don't appreciate being jumped on and pawed.  But just pushed them back down.   He never said a word.

Yep, he answered.   We had a nice conversation, and I bought the item.   He then wanted me to see other things he has for sale so, what the heck.   He opened his garage door and we both stepped inside.

Remember, I said I rolled my driver's side window down, I didn't roll it back up.

Just as we entered his garage, I heard a noise and turned to see what it was.   Turns out one of his dogs has jumped up onto the side of my pickup, has it's front paws through the window and is using it's back legs and paws to climb into my truck (which he did accomplish) all the while I'm yelling at the dog.

Again, the owner of the dog never said a word.   He walked to my pickup, opened the door and told the dog to get out (which it did).   I pointed out the scratches the dog had left in my door paint.  He then said, yeah, sorry about that and turned to go back into his garage.

I asked him what he intended to do about it and all he said well there's a detail place in town that can probably rub or polish that out.   But didn't offer to pay for the damage his dog did.

I responded with yeah but how much will that cost, his response was well, maybe a hundred or so.   He then turned and walked away.

Maybe I'm being too harsh but, 1) he should have better controlled dogs, 2) he would not take responsibility for his animals and 3) didn't seem to give a damn that his animals left those deep scratches in my door paint.

Yeah, I left PO.  

Rams

[Jess from VA]

Some people act like their pets can do no wrong and and any problem you have with them is YOUR problem, not theirs.

You can get one or two estimates, and mail (copies of) them (certified/registered means business) with a polite demand for payment or tell him you'll otherwise take him to small claims court where you will certainly win (and all your court expenses, filing fee, postal, process service too).  Now I don't know what the cost to repair will be, and I don't know how high your local small claims courts will go (they have limited/lower maximum damage limits)  (40 years ago in MI the maximum you could get in small claims court was $2-300; it's certainly higher now).  But you can easily look this up on line (small claims courts, and state of TN and/or county).  If you live in different counties, you may have to file and appear in his county.

Even if you don't really want to go through the headache of it, you can still threaten it for leverage on him paying you.  And even if you don't get the money, you will worry him.

And this is a slam dunk in court.  One minute of facts, and hand the judge the estimates (and pictures, before any repair), and a list of your expenses with receipts.   Think of it as an adventure.  

Edit:  https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/tennessee-small-claims-court-32193.html

And if you are thinking this might be something you would do, you could drive/ride over to a Tennessee General Sessions Court and spend a little time watching a few small claims cases being litigated.

Tennessee small claims can now be up to $25K. 

 

[cookiedough]

simple, call 911 and get a police report on the spot. take that police report to the owner of dogs, his home insurance must pay for damage.  If not, go to small claims court and easily win your case.  I had to do that once is annoying and takes time, but must be done.

[Hook#3287]

Good advice cookiedough 

In my employment I visit many residential properties.

If a dog, or other pet, is running free, I will not get out of the car until the owner has restrained them by leash or lock-up.

I have called people that are in the yard, with their pet, looking at me waiting for me to exit the vehicle and instructed them to put the pet up.

I can't remember how many times I've heard "Oh, he's harmless" or "His bark is worse than his bite".

If I'm going to a site that the owners are not home, if I hear a dog barking, I leave.

I won't enter a house if the pets are not restrained.

I've only been bit once and it was more of a nibble, but that was enough.

Owners that don't train their pets correctly are idiots and should not be pet owners.

I'm not afraid of pets, just pet owners.

[scooperhsd]

Good advice cookiedough 

In my employment I visit many residential properties.

If a dog, or other pet, is running free, I will not get out of the car until the owner has restrained them by leash or lock-up.

I have called people that are in the yard, with their pet, looking at me waiting for me to exit the vehicle and instructed them to put the pet up.

I can't remember how many times I've heard "Oh, he's harmless" or "His bark is worse than his bite".

If I'm going to a site that the owners are not home, if I hear a dog barking, I leave.

I won't enter a house if the pets are not restrained.

I've only been bit once and it was more of a nibble, but that was enough.

Owners that don't train their pets correctly are idiots and should not be pet owners.

I'm not afraid of pets, just pet owners.

I've got a neighbor with 3 very annoying pitbull mixes. These dogs bark constantly whenever thy can see OR HEAR US FROM INSIDE HER HOUSE !. I now carry pepper spray in case they get out and come to attack me. I have considered  getting a gun, or cattle prod, or other such annoying devices. Electric fence to keep them in their yard isn't out of the question.

[Serk]

IMHO while you'd be righteous in seeking damages, it's a hassle and work on your part and you've just made a potential enemy who might be unhinged and bent on revenge.

The greater loss to me is the lack of common decency and willingness to step up and take responsibility willingly for one's wrongs (And the wrongs of one's property count as those of the person themselves.)

Sucks man.

[GiG]

Spot  on, Serk  
Guy should have at least given his additional item to Ron.
Doesn’t sound like he was well-hinged from the start.
 

[six2go #152]

simple, call 911 and get a police report on the spot. take that police report to the owner of dogs, his home insurance must pay for damage.  If not, go to small claims court and easily win your case.  I had to do that once is annoying and takes time, but must be done.

I agree with calling the police, but 911 is supposed to be for emergency matters of life & death.This situation is neither. Call the police non-emergency number instead.

[Timbo1]

Similar happened to us a couple years ago shortly after we bought our new car.  We were out and about and came across a garage sale and decided to stop.  Pulled into their drive way and out runs a big dog jumping up on the driver side door scratching all over the upper part of the door panel.  The owner seen and called their pet and I pointed out all the scratches.  He didn't apologize or say much at all really, but I immediately thought I would be out a lot of money to get the damage repaired so I told him I needed his information to file on his home owners insurance.  He went in the house and came back out with a paper with his information on it and that was the end of that.


Now the car is gloss black so pretty much shows any imperfections.  Before I took it to professionals I decided to try buffing it out myself and used Meguiar's 105 with a random orbit polisher I have from Harbor Freight, and in no time the scratches were gone.  Scratches gone and I didn't have to deal with estimates or insurance claims so I think it saved me a lot of time in the end.  I cant say enough about Meguiar's, it's a really good product and I use it for scratches on any of my vehicles.

[Jess from VA]

911 is supposed to be for emergency matters of life & death.  This situation is neither. Call the police non-emergency number instead.

Yes; NOt 911.  In my County, if I told them a dog scratched my car paint, they'd tell me it's a private civil matter, and never come.

I didn't think about homeowners insurance.  But you'd need the dog/home owners cooperation to discover it to make a claim.  He might be cooperative to get them to pay instead of himself, but he might not be cooperative at all. 

But I'd still do a letter with repair estimate copy, threaten small claims, but ask him to contact his homeowners insurance co to see if they will pay.  If they don't, or he won't contact them, then it's small claims court. 

[John Schmidt]

If you have a nearby dog that barks constantly, try what I did some years ago in Florida. It was next door and I tried talking to them but got that "hey, it's a dog" excuse. That mutt also barked half the night as well so I simply recorded him when he started in the morning. Then throughout the day and night every time it started to bark I would turn on the recording with the speaker I had mounted in the window facing their house. The dog would stop and look around, looking rather confused, and if he started again...on with the recording. Took about a week and it stopped, I often wondered what was going through the dog's head when he heard himself.

[scooperhsd]

If you have a nearby dog that barks constantly, try what I did some years ago in Florida. It was next door and I tried talking to them but got that "hey, it's a dog" excuse. That mutt also barked half the night as well so I simply recorded him when he started in the morning. Then throughout the day and night every time it started to bark I would turn on the recording with the speaker I had mounted in the window facing their house. The dog would stop and look around, looking rather confused, and if he started again...on with the recording. Took about a week and it stopped, I often wondered what was going through the dog's head when he heard himself.

I've thought about that option as well....

[Jersey mike]

Some things, situations and people are just better left alone, let sleeping dogs lie so to speak. Be the bigger person. Unfortunately your truck did get scratched up a bit but they *should* buff right out with a good paste wax unless the dogs nails got through the paint.

[Jess from VA]

IMHO, putting up with a sh!thead and his dog is not being the better man.

Now if Ron decides it's not worth his time and aggravation to try and collect damages, I completely understand that.  Trying to collect will take time and aggravation.   

He described them as "deep scratches" in his original post.  That doesn't sound like a buff out will make them disappear. 

[TTG53#1717]

With regard to the original post…

It’s called Autism SPECTRUM Disorder for a reason. Some folks are mentally unable to recognize their responsibility in situations.
We had a very knowledgeable Operator at the refinery who could retain and process routes, flows, valve line-ups, systems temp ranges and pull our @$$es out of major upsets while explaining everything in real time.

He threw out both of my single cup coffee makers, stole a company jacket with my name embroidered on it and trashed a guys iPod dock because a Boston song  ;)was playing on it when he walked back in to the control room from his tour of the units. He never acknowledged any responsibility for his outbursts.

He wasn’t always a super hero but his success rate buried his foibles and he was “tolerated” by management and union and pretty much anyone who had a complaint was told to “build a bridge and get over it” “We spend 12 hours a shift together here and we all just need to get along.”



It’s like that comic of God sprinkling the planet with the pepper shaker full of A$$holes.

I hope it all works out.

[Jersey mike]

IMHO, putting up with a sh!thead and his dog is not being the better man.

Now if Ron decides it's not worth his time and aggravation to try and collect damages, I completely understand that.  Trying to collect will take time and aggravation.   

He described them as "deep scratches" in his original post.  That doesn't sound like a buff out will make them disappear. 

Yeah I did miss that deep scratch part of the story.

I’ve had friends and relatives dogs jump up to greet us in a couple cars over the many years and those scratches are typically just white scuffs on the surface. I was never happy about how some people think it’s just ok for their dogs to do this type of greeting and have said hey get you dog off or shoved the dog’s snout down and away.

Sometimes it’s not easy where to draw the line of getting mad at a friend, neighbor, or relative who is clueless on certain things and social norms, like controlling your animal from damaging other people’s property. Some people out there just see cars, trucks and things of that nature as things designed to be used and abused, think nothing of some scratches with little regard and respect for property of others.

As for some guy who let his animal do this, it might be hard to get restitution for the scratches, video would help. I guess small claims would be the only possibility and then it’s up to the mediator first.

[Rams]

Simply to put this thread to bed, I will not be going after the guy that owned the dog.   Yes, the scratches are deep enough in some places that metal shows.   At some point when it won't strain my finances too much, I'll get it fixed.

I simply needed to bitch about it and get it off my chest.   Had that been my dog, I would have done everything I could to make the truck owner good but, the positions are reversed.   

The dog's owner has some real money in real estate (per his own words), he lives on forty acres of prime real estate in a home much nicer than my own.   My guess is a million dollar property and has several rentals homes.   So, he's not hurting but, as I said, I won't pursue this any farther, I don't need the hate in my life.   But yes, it does burn inside of me every time I look at that door.

Rams

[Jess from VA]

I've been waiting for you to come back and tell us what you decided after all the crosstalk on remedies.

And your decision is what I expected, though one quick estimate and a simple one paragraph letter to the guy asking for payment (and nothing else) wouldn't be that much work.  If you will eventually get it professionally repaired, you'll want an estimate anyway.

My 2017 Ram Promaster 2500 has nearly flawless paint except for the inevitable few rock chips in the little hood (and a stupid rub with my lawnmower).  I went down to the auto parts and looked up my paint code and bought one of the little touch up tubes and did my best to fill the rock chips and buff up the dried results.  I'm not very good at it and they still show, but it's better than it was.  Maybe that's something you might do (to keep you busy and out of trouble) pending a professional repair. 

[h13man]

Took a rock from a lawnmower along the side of US 231. Property owner fessed up to being negligent and submitted the claim to his insurance company with no issue. I would pursue this avenue before giving in to having it repaired on my own but...