A Little Levity

I've been going through a very rough period this year, a lot of stuff going on and really, no end in sight.  Even some people at the parish where I work have noted that I seemed down. I used the excuse that I was just recovering from bronchitis, but that excuse can only go so far (and it was only partially true at the time!).  

But all is well, I don't want anyone to worry; we all have times in our life that seem crushing, and yes, we have to deal with them, and they come and go and I'm grateful to have friends who notice and who care and have expressed that they're available to talk if I need them.  

All that said, tonight I want to write about something a little more fun, and hopefully inspire some discussion in the combox.  Because it's something we've all experienced!  

That's right...embarrassing moments!  And so, tonight, I'm going to share with you one of Adoro's Embarrassing Moments. I may link to the others I've written about, if I can find them!  

GIVE ME BACK MY FAX!  

Intrigued?  Here's the story: 

Back when I was working as a Claims Investigator, I had a really stinky claim that we HAD to pay even though it had fraud all over it and I even had the smoking gun. But it was out of Arizona that has terrible terrible laws that basically forces the company to pay fraudulent claims.  Well, the "stolen" car showed up, the NICB (National Insurance Crime Bureau) helped to ID the VIN, and I got the call to look at it, document it, and take it to our storage area for salvage sale.  

We'd paid off the title on this leased vehicle a few weeks before, but hadn't yet received the Lien card, so the fact that the car was recovered just then was a bit problematic. 

As it was,  a lot of problems surrounded the payment of this claim to the lien holder, and even when it was recovered, the guy at the tow yard couldn't seem to get it through his head that the PLATE did not match the car (being "stolen") and so when I had to call to deal with some tow yard issues, he could never find it and insisted it wasn't there!  Even though I'd seen it, the NICB had seen it, the Auto Theft unit had seen it and towed it there...this dufus INSISTED that the car wasn't there!  

And so it went, problems like that ongoing. 

Well, we were told we'd have to produce the title in order to get the car out of storage and take it to our own free storage until it could be sold. 

So I called the lien holder. As it turned out, they claimed they hadn't received payment. I provided proof.  Honda, after doing some research, realized that they'd applied the payment to another account, and at least were able finally to apply it correctly to the fraudulent customer's account instead. 

But they STILL refused to send the Lien Card! 

As it turned out, they wanted documentation from my total loss workup, wanting the car's actual mileage and condition, etc.  I couldn't provide that because, at the time we settled the claim, the car was still missing in action.  I had to estimate mileage and condition based on what the customer reported and average condition for a car of that year and mileage.  

They wanted hard evidence, so in effect, they were asking me to create and falsify a document. 

I refused, my Manager agreed. 

I explained that without even a "Guarantee of Lien Release" I could not even MOVE the car from this expensive police impound yard, and each day, charges were mounting. 

They didn't care...they wanted the false document. 

This is the good part: 

So I wrote a very terse letter explaining our position and their obligations, as well as the consequences to THEM for not providing what we needed. In effect, the letter stated that as long as they would not send the lien card, the car still belonged to them and thus we were not responsible for charges. I provided the name of the tow yard, phone, address, etc. and told them the current charges  and MN law pertaining to when the yard could assume title for themselves. 

I took the letter to my Manager to be reviewed, he made a few changes so I took it back to my desk and edited the letter per his suggestions.  I hit "PRINT" and went to the printer to pick up the copy. That evening I was in a rush, it was nearing the end of the day and I was SWAMPED, this problem on top of it all.  

I still had the edited version in hand so that I could compare the hard copy before I sent it in case I'd missed something.  After comparing the two, I crossed the office and went to the fax machine, wrote up a cover sheet to the rep I'd been dealing with at Honda, placed the paper on the scanner, and sent the fax. 

As the last flash of paper passed into the machine and I heard the tones indicating that it was transmitting to Honda, I glanced down smugly at the paper in my hand, realizing that this was the end; either they would have to acquiesce to my request for the Lien card or realizing we would do nothing more and the stupid car was their responsibility.  

And then it hit me.  The paper in my hand was the edited version that I'd just printed off. 

In horror, I stared at the fax machine which was then spitting out the two pages it had scanned...the cover sheet...and the letter. 

The very  business-snotty letter I'd just sent was not the proofed and approved copy;  it was the one with my Manager's editing marks and suggestions. 

And it had already been received at Honda. 

All smugness left me.  I quickly re-faxed the letter, the correct one, hoping mightily that maybe someone at Honda would lose the letter. 

But I have a feeling it's likely framed and hanging on a wall there somewhere, and honestly, I'm surprised it hasn't been posted to the Internet....

Yes...it was THAT BAD....

Business-snotty FAIL! 

Other published tales of Embarrassing Moments of Adoro's Life:

BAD COP!  NO DONUT!

Slip of the Day

Embarrassing Moment in the Life of Adoro