My boss just hit my car

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Nah, there's a labor shortage. The fact the boss came back and acted like nothing was wrong speaks volume regarding character. I'd get the most expensive shop to provide a quote, then once I had cash in hand it'd be interviewing everywhere. Not because it happened, but because of how it was handled. An NA isn't a 1500 E36 M3box anymore...

Put a big nail under his back tire.   You'll feel better.  

It worked for me in 1978 when I was 15 years working for a dick.  

Sounds like our bosses are cut from the same cloth. Time for a resume update. 

He did come out near the end of the day & say to go to a few body shops for estimates (Rt 42 in West Chester is lined with garages and body shops.)

My plan is to stop at two closest to work tomorrow morning (before work, on their dime) & get estimates.  He supposedly didn't know he hit it, he thought he was close and stopped in time.  Yeah that's why my little car shook back and forth, and 99% sure you felt it hit and why you pulled forward.

It's been piling up over the years (23 total as of Sept), small shop with 2 other co-workers and the bosses.  Was ready to leave for various reasons just before the pandemic started so I held off.  Then the shiny happy person gave us all COVID around Thanksgiving 2020 because he couldn't stop going out to play tennis.  I think it's time to dust off the resume and see what I have listed on LinkedIn, haven't visited in a long time.

I wanted to say "bring your new Vette tomorrow, it's my turn."

In reply to Jerry :

Rt 42 in West Chester!  You're in my neck of the woods!

You probably wouldn't, but don't go to Crawford's in Downingtown. 

Really surprised by the number of people that think damaging someone else's property and not doing anything to make it right is okay if you're the boss.

Gimp (Forum Supporter) said:

Really surprised by the number of people that think damaging someone else's property and not doing anything to make it right is okay if you're the boss.

It's not just the bosses of the world! The sense of entitlement is appalling. The whole idea of revenge is justified if you don't get your own way. I have eight grandkids all good kids but sometimes the things they find funny or cool amazes me. 

In reply to dean1484 :

He was parked next to me, had to walk past it. Your concern is duly noted...

Stopped at 3 shops. One said they were backed up till late Feb but ballparked $1000 or more to do it right. They recommended a mom and pop shop that said yes for removing trim, repainting whole side, much work, etc it would be that. But he wrote me up a $175 estimate for sand/buff/paint that made sense to me. Third place said come back later.

I'm going with the $175 estimate, it's roughly what I expected for the repair. If it were the Crosstrek I would have gone with the full deal repair.

(I work near Montgomery Cyclery in W Chester for reference. )

dean1484 said:

What was he driving when he hit your car?  A Miata is not exactly the pillar  of size and mass in the car world. My DD (a sedan) has 1500-2000 lbs on a Miata. I bet I would not know I taped one if I did that.  
 

Also. You keep railing the boss.  He has kept a company going for 23 years. Put up with you for 23 years.  Being a boss is a thankless job that every employee thinks is all honey  and rose's and they can do it better.  Very few have a clue as to what it really takes to own/run a buisness. 
 

I am sure to you the door ding is the end of the world.  I am sure to him it is way down the importance list.  As in it is just one more annoyance he has to deal with.  I am not saying he could not have handled it better but before you condemn him as the worst boss ever try walking a mile in his shoes.  

Nonsense.  I'm "the boss" of a pretty well established company and I've started three different businesses.  The obligation on me to treat people well is MORE than anyone else in the business, by far.  When employees even perceive a slight (whether it's real or not), word of it spreads like fire through the whole team.  Every action I take or don't take is under a microscope... it's the heaviest part of the lift, and if you do it wrong you wreck morale.  A company is just the people that work in it.  If I got this part wrong I would have never had the opportunity to start businesses #2 and 3.  Probably 3/4 of my employees have worked for me in at least one other company.  If I were the one who hit one of my employees' cars, I would personally be calling the body shops to make sure that it was done correctly.

I assume this was on private property, is a performance driving environment.  Insurance will likely not cover any claim so get what you can from him.   Get it fixed right, long after your boss has forgotten about it you will still see that scratch every time you get in the car.   Either way you lose, even if repaired correctly you will notice the non matching red paint after the local buffing wears off.  Red fades.  Scratch that, get paid for proper repair then buff as best you can and try to forget.

Our boss one time backed into an employee beater, it wrecked the E36 M3 out of hour shop truck.  He hit the other car just right, on top of the bumper mount frame horn, didn't even scratch the paint.  He did offer to pay for any repairs immediately. 

Wow unsolicited advice is fun when it is solicited.

triumph7 said:

In reply to Jerry :

Rt 42 in West Chester!  You're in my neck of the woods!

We went to ABRA on Bomar Street in West Chester. They do all of the local Volvo dealer's work and they took out a ding and deep scratch from a deer hitting us.  They blended out the paint so perfectly you'd never know it was hit.

In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :

Yup.............I'm a mere supervisor but all that applies. 

With that said I worked for years in an industry where I could see one of the execs doing this; they were really bad about boundaries............which is why I'm no longer in said industry.   

This is a off on a tangent but my favorite example: the company president (who I knew from vintage racing) had a Ferrari 250 which he never ever talked about or brought to work, he drove his 3/4 truck everyday...................his brother in law was the CEO. The CEO had two of the engineers (they were friends and there from day one) work huge hours to secure a deal, when the deal went through CEO shows up to work in a new Bentley............engineers got nothing. The two engineers now have their own successful firm.  

Looks like a $500 deductible on his policy to me.  He can just call and file a claim and you both go your separate ways on this one. 

Many years ago I had a 1996 Miata M-edition in Starlight Blue Mica. Not a perfect car, but a really nice driver. I had it parked at my old shop and the landlord pulled in drunk/stoned/both and hit it with his Chevy 2500 pickup. It scuffed the rear bumper but cracked a taillight and the center filler/license plate panel. I didn't notice it until I got to the shop the next day but saw the red color on the bumper and had an idea what had happened. I drove to his business, took a look at his truck, measured the bumper height just for fun and then approached him about it. He admitted to hitting it and proceeded to tell me that since we had a bunch of Miata parts cars around, just throw the parts on it. Now, I did have spares since we were racing Spec Miata, but certainly didn't have anything in that particular color. I decided to leave his place of business rather than get into a fight. Instead, I went to a local bodyshop and got an estimate for painting a bumper and filler panel, my own parts. When I went back to his business after getting the estimate to discuss a solution, as soon as I brought up him paying anything, he told me that I had until the end of the month to vacate my shop space! Nice guy. I decided it was time and packed up everything and moved on down the road. I ended up eating the repairs because karma has a way of making good on these situations. I may have been out a couple hundred bucks, but he ended up losing his business, is still a drunk and his reputation around town from his business practices sucks. Karma!

ddavidv said:

You probably wouldn't, but don't go to Crawford's in Downingtown. 

You're no fun....  I think I was kicked out of that place circa 1999 and told never to come back.

z31maniac said:

Aspen said:

Try to buffilate it yourself, then only get an estimate if it is there and you really care about it.

Protip for everyone else, I was curious what "buffilate" meant. It's not a real word and a google search turned up a bunch of porn links on my work computer. 

YAY!

Sorry not my intent, it's just a Vice Grip Garage colloquialism 

In reply to Aspen :

I learned a long time ago to search new words from GRM on my personal phone.

ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) said:

dean1484 said:

What was he driving when he hit your car?  A Miata is not exactly the pillar  of size and mass in the car world. My DD (a sedan) has 1500-2000 lbs on a Miata. I bet I would not know I taped one if I did that.  
 

Also. You keep railing the boss.  He has kept a company going for 23 years. Put up with you for 23 years.  Being a boss is a thankless job that every employee thinks is all honey  and rose's and they can do it better.  Very few have a clue as to what it really takes to own/run a buisness. 
 

I am sure to you the door ding is the end of the world.  I am sure to him it is way down the importance list.  As in it is just one more annoyance he has to deal with.  I am not saying he could not have handled it better but before you condemn him as the worst boss ever try walking a mile in his shoes.  

Nonsense.  I'm "the boss" of a pretty well established company and I've started three different businesses.  The obligation on me to treat people well is MORE than anyone else in the business, by far.  When employees even perceive a slight (whether it's real or not), word of it spreads like fire through the whole team.  Every action I take or don't take is under a microscope... it's the heaviest part of the lift, and if you do it wrong you wreck morale.  A company is just the people that work in it.  If I got this part wrong I would have never had the opportunity to start businesses #2 and 3.  Probably 3/4 of my employees have worked for me in at least one other company.  If I were the one who hit one of my employees' cars, I would personally be calling the body shops to make sure that it was done correctly.

You wouldn't be looking to hire an industrial electrician, would you?   To work remotely?  From Chicago??

Otherwise, I am willing to consider adoption.

In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :

I agree with all this as a boss myself.

And really it doesn't have anything to do with being a boss, it's just being a decent person. I worked with the people I hired before the company was a thing, one I've worked with for 24 years. Boss that treat their employees like the OP don't deserve good help

Stampie said:

In reply to Aspen :

I learned a long time ago to search new words from GRM on my personal phone.

So you'd have them in your history so you can peruse the results at your leisure?

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Shhhh don't tell all my secrets.

I'd get it fixed right.  If I hit one of my employees cars, I'd ask them to take it to the shop and then give me the shops number.  I'd call them at that point and pay them directly.  That way the employee doesn't have to deal with it or wonder if I'm going to give them the money to fix it.

SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:

ddavidv said:

You probably wouldn't, but don't go to Crawford's in Downingtown. 

You're no fun....  I think I was kicked out of that place circa 1999 and told never to come back.

That doesn't make you special.  I have a few funny stories about that place. The owner is the very definition of a Shiny Happy Person. He thinks he is doing doG's work by making adjusters lives miserable, like his efforts will actually have an effect on the insurance business. I can't imagine how dismal one's life must be to go through life as miserable as he is.