My claim with the City of Toronto - some thoughts

[Soul Surfer]

As some recall, I went over a waste pipe in early July and damaged the Roger black plate, so I filed a claim. The adjuster and I communicated over the phone and by email. I was notified of the contractor and given their details. As you would imagine, this company has denied all responsibility and just stopped short of calling me a liar. The contractor is called Drainstar Contracting and their director is quit the character. Manners and professionalism are the last thing this person has and I could not get as word in edge-wise and he would not shut up. He kept insisting that there was proper signage indicating the damage and I should have immediately had pics when it happened - as it was happening even!. I did. He did not feel the pics were adequate and claimed that so many people file claims just to get their cars required. What a wanker. I had to hang up on him and escalate back to the city. I will fight this in small claims if needed.

It's not about the money as the repair was $499, just $1 less than my deductible which I would have not made a claim anyway. Just this guys really burns my toast. Then enter Teslacam! I pulled the videos from my drive and sent them. I think the vids cannot lie. Let's see what happens.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Lon12]

Great video. Someone like that needs to be taken to court. Although I suspect he wouldn't even show. Hope you are successful.

 

[cdswm3]

Why you would cross something that obvious is a complete mystery. Driver responsibility.

 

[UncleCreepy]

Probably not what you want to hear, but since you asked for opinions: I don't think it was a good decision to drive over the tube. From the pictures, it is pretty obvious that you wouldn't be able to clear the obstacle. You knowingly drove over a stationary object, your car got damaged and now you are blaming the company that put it there. If you take a risk and things go south, you should just accept the fact that you made a bad decision. The company's bosses attitude has nothing to do with what happened.

I think you're fighting a battle that you can't win. You're probably better off sucking it up and calling it a learning experience.

 

[Soul Surfer]

Why you would cross something that obvious is a complete mystery. Driver responsibility.

To pick up my son. It seemed fine at the time.

Probably not what you want to hear, but since you asked for opinions: I don't think it was a good decision to drive over the tube. From the pictures, it is pretty obvious that you wouldn't be able to clear the obstacle. You knowingly drove over a stationary object, your car got damaged and now you are blaming the company that put it there. If you take a risk and things go south, you should just accept the fact that you made a bad decision. The company's bosses attitude has nothing to do with what happened.

I think you're fighting a battle that you can't win. You're probably better off sucking it up and calling it a learning experience.

You’re probably right. I think what happened was that it felt like the ground slipped from under. I paid for the repair already and only filed a claim on the advice of a colleague. I would have probably dropped it but the contractor’s attitude just ticked me off so much. So rude.

 

[xcyber]

To pick up my son. It seemed fine at the time.

You’re probably right. I think what happened was that it felt like the ground slipped from under. I paid for the repair already and only filed a claim on the advice of a colleague. I would have probably dropped it but the contractor’s attitude just ticked me off so much. So rude.

Understand your frustration but law is not going to side with you because someone talked rudely to you. Your colleague is out of touch with reality. Going thru small claims process is very frustrating and time consuming. Think of all those lost work hours.

And the worst part is, even if you are awarded damages, the company can simply not pay and you can't do jack. Been thru this and am much wiser now.

 

[Soul Surfer]

Thank you for your honest comments. Yup, I agree with the general consensus. The contractor person was without a doubt, the biggest “Richard” I had ever dealt with. I literally had to hang up on him because he would just not shut, let alone let me speak.

I’m kinda “grudgy” that way. Anyhow, repair was made and now, I just gotta move on. Thank you.

 

[xcyber]

Just wondering why you "Reported" my post?

 

[Soul Surfer]

Just wondering why you "Reported" my post?

???? The “I” means I found it informative. I never reported your post.

 

[zoomer0056]

You saw it but drove over it anyway. Lesson learned. You're upset about a jerk. Small claims legal action is not the way to go. You're not gonna get money for this guy's bad attitude. But making your complaint loud and strong about his attitude to who hired the contractor may help. My wife would not have hung up on him. She would've ripped him a new arsehole.

 

[Soul Surfer]

You saw it but drove over it anyway. Lesson learned. You're upset about a jerk. Small claims legal action is not the way to go. You're not gonna get money for this guy's bad attitude. But making your complaint loud and strong about his attitude to who hired the contractor may help. My wife would not have hung up on him. She would've ripped him a new arsehole.

Roger that! I already did. Cutting my losses and moving on. Life is far too short to deal with “Richards”.

 

[siamnet]

Interesting to know that small claims court process in Ontario is a bit different than the US. Personally, it's not about the money but the principle.
Many years ago, I've sued my city in Georgia and the contractor (hired by the city) that did a terrible job of paving (e.g., not leveling) the road in my front of my driveway at the time. The damage to my vehicle (not a Tesla) was less than a grand but the principle of it all. I took time off work just to go to court.

Your lawsuit's cause of action would be negligence (i.e., negligence act by the contractor/whomever). The common law would use a reasonable person standard for negligence. I would probably have done the same thing as the OP (viewing the video that is shown from his dashcam and photo).
Would a reasonable person drive over that pipe and think nothing of it?

If the pipe didn't have all of those black asphalt material (in addition to having 2x4 boards next to the pipe) over it then most people would reasonably conclude that it would be "safe" to drive over. Now, if it was a just a bare pipe then most people wouldn't try to drive over it. Additionally, if the contractor/whomever owns that entry way didn't want someone to drive over the pipe then they should have put cones/something to indicate otherwise.​

Like some other folks stated that it's not a hassle to deal with time lost, etc. etc with going to court. For someone who works from home with flexible schedule, I would have done it (assuming that I wasn't at fault or a reasonable person would have done what I've done in that situation).

 

[Soul Surfer]

Interesting to know that small claims court process in Ontario is a bit different than the US. Personally, it's not about the money but the principle.
Many years ago, I've sued my city in Georgia and the contractor (hired by the city) that did a terrible job of paving (e.g., not leveling) the road in my front of my driveway at the time. The damage to my vehicle (not a Tesla) was less than a grand but the principle of it all. I took time off work just to go to court.

Your lawsuit's cause of action would be negligence (i.e., negligence act by the contractor/whomever). The common law would use a reasonable person standard for negligence. I would probably have done the same thing as the OP (viewing the video that is shown from his dashcam and photo).
Would a reasonable person drive over that pipe and think nothing of it?

If the pipe didn't have all of those black asphalt material (in addition to having 2x4 boards next to the pipe) over it then most people would reasonably conclude that it would be "safe" to drive over. Now, if it was a just a bare pipe then most people wouldn't try to drive over it. Additionally, if the contractor/whomever owns that entry way didn't want someone to drive over the pipe then they should have put cones/something to indicate otherwise.​

Like some other folks stated that it's not a hassle to deal with time lost, etc. etc with going to court. For someone who works from home with flexible schedule, I would have done it (assuming that I wasn't at fault or a reasonable person would have done what I've done in that situation).

Great points. I guess what really p'd me off was how adamant the d-water was about the proper signage in pace. I uploaded my Teslacam footage to DropBox® and it clearly wasn't there. Should I have driven over it - definitely NOT, but here we are. As mentioned, I've already had the repair done and pretty much "bit the bullet" on it.

 

[siamnet]

Great points. I guess what really p'd me off was how adamant the d-water was about the proper signage in pace. I uploaded my Teslacam footage to DropBox® and it clearly wasn't there. Should I have driven over it - definitely NOT, but here we are. As mentioned, I've already had the repair done and pretty much "bit the bullet" on it.

I feel like all the roads in "downtown" Toronto (surrounding the CN Tower, etc.) are terrible (e.g., potholes, road resurfacing, etc.) for sedans. I wish I still had my SUV but stuck with my model S for a while. I cringe everytime I have to drive down to that area.

 

[Soul Surfer]

I feel like all the roads in "downtown" Toronto (surrounding the CN Tower, etc.) are terrible (e.g., potholes, road resurfacing, etc.) for sedans. I wish I still had my SUV but stuck with my model S for a while. I cringe everytime I have to drive down to that area.

We used to joke that there were two seasons in Toronto - Winter and Construction. Now it seems we are down to just "Construction".