Repair (Part Two)

With all the doom and gloom regarding getting my car repaired, it ended up being relatively pain-free, though most of that was on the mechanic's end rather than the insurance company.

I went to the insurance company to drop off my car, even going as far as having my wife drag the kids over to that part of town to pick me up. I had to wait in the office for a few minutes and when it was my turn I realized that...wait for it...I had forgotten a document that I needed. This document which was meant to replace another document that they took from me had the accident report on it. There was little chance that they would be able to find the paper and even though my name, information about my car and photos of the damage were in the computer, the police report, unfortunately, was not.

I told them that I could go home and call back with the number. Because it was 10 minutes before closing on the weekend, they didn't like that suggestion. I didn't like the suggestion of coming back the following Sunday. After a few minutes, they looked harder and found the number that they needed. Since the mechanic's shop was closed for the weekend and the parking in that area is paid parking, they gave me the number of the mechanic and told me to go home and call him on Saturday when his shop would be open. The mechanic would then come to pick up my jeep from in front of my apartment.

It wasn't until I got down to the car where my wife and kids were patiently waiting that I realized that everything in that transaction could have been done when the car was assessed or, better yet, over the phone. What a waste of time! I wasn't looking forward to having to deal with the mechanic.

I couldn't have been more wrong about that whole interaction. I called on Saturday and the guy came out a few hours later when he said he would. I asked him if he could give me an estimate on some work on the interior that I want to get done and he said sure. I was slightly nervous giving my keys to some guy I didn't know at all with no receipt, but really, what could go wrong? A few days later he called me back with a reasonable price for the work I asked for and told me the repairs for the accident would be done by today. About 45 minutes ago I got a call saying he was a few minutes away and I should go downstairs to get the car. Sure enough, the car looked good and all I had to do was sign a paper completely in Arabic which I'm assuming was saying that the work was done, but who knows what it really says?

I thought that the mechanic was great and I'll be sure to have him do the work I had him give me an estimate on. It's funny how after the past week, my expectations of getting things done had sunk so low, I couldn't imagine how this would turn out well. In the end, everything worked out great.

While this picture really has nothing to do with my story, I noticed this truck parked across the street from my apartment. I don't think the mechanic understood the humor when I told him that was his next project. I had to explain to him that it wasn't mine. It jumped out at me because I'm not used to seeing cars so smashed up here. Seeing it parked two feet away from the curb, it's no wonder it got smashed if that's how the guy usually parks.