Did anyone happen to see...

[VWGirl]

The towtruck that destroyed the new Thing I picked up down in Newnan yesterday? It blew a tire when we were coming home with it on 85... so i called AAA to have it towed... I assume the guy must have been hauling ass with my Thing on the flatbed as when I got home the top was destroyed... and those aren't exactly cheap to replace... so since you guys saw my other car that got hit in the parking lot last week... thought someone may have seen my Thing being destroyed on the back of a flatbed heading up 85/75 yesterday around 5pm... please let me know if anyone saw this!


blowout


said tow truck


how I found my Thing when I got home

[Ed]

the tow company isnt taking responsibility for it?

[VWGirl]

the tow company isnt taking responsibility for it?

I hope they will... I called AAA when I got home and they said the driver had not reported anything happened... They said it would be 3-5 business days before someone would contact me about it...

I JUST bought the car... I was looking forward to driving it... then blew the tire... tires are no big deal... but a top is several thousand dollars... So I am expecting they will try to get out of it... I already spoke to my insurance company and they agreed the tow truck co should pay for it... but if not then I can pay my $200 deductible and they will fight the battle for me.

It just seems like it's going to be a hassle already since they didn't even report it I was completely livid when I got home and found that

[EJ25RUN]

wow, that really sucks.

All your luck is bad huh?

[Total_Blender]

Did you buy the Thing from a guy in Athens? I've seen a similar orange Thing around town.

[VWGirl]

Did you buy the Thing from a guy in Athens? I've seen a similar orange Thing around town.

It was from a guy in Newnan... and he never drove it, thus the sale... Things only came stock in 4 colors... I think orange was the most common... both of mine are orange... green is the least common

[ej6kidd]

DAM THATS MESSED UP HOPE IT ALL WORKS OUT FOR YA

[tdurr]

hey at least u got a pic of the truck so u can say u did have it towed!

[VWGirl]

Thanks guys, I hope it all works out too... I am going to go ahead and ask the insurance adjuster about it tomorrow when he is out here for last weeks mishap...

[koukis14]

Fucking sucks dude, I hope the tow company does the right thing. Where did you get the green westfalia?

[VWGirl]

Fucking sucks dude, I hope the tow company does the right thing. Where did you get the green westfalia?

I bought my green westy from the original owner in FL back in 05

I certainly hope that the tow company does the right thing too... but had they done the right thing in the first place they wouldnt have to worry about it now!

[vinayak]

blowout


loading up thing


after towing


Plan and simple the damage happened on the tow truck. The pictures do not lie. Expect a nice cheque in the mail.

[VWGirl]

AAA called me today... completely unsympathetic that anything happened to the car... the conversation went something like this:

AAA: Mrs. Bailey
Me: Yes?
AAA: This is Mr. @$$hole from AAA, I just wanted to let you know that in regards to your claim on your VW Thing, we determined the driver to not be at fault.
Me: How so? I was told by several people in the towing industry since this incident that convertibles should be towed backwards on a flat bed to prevent exactly this from happening, and had you actually looked at my car you can tell where the metal top was ripped that he left the top flapping in the wind for quite some time, not to mention that he did not even bother to report it, I did
AAA: I am sorry I cannot hold my driver liable for your defective top, had your top been in good condition this would not have happened
Me: Had my top been in good condition? How do you know the condition of my top, you didn't even bother to look at it, and why did no one contact me to tell me this happened to my car?
AAA: Your top was not in good condition or this would not have happened. Cars are not made to be towed backwards, you and the people you have spoken to have no idea what you are talking about. The driver tried to contact you after this occured but was unable to reach you.
Me: He called me just fine when he came to get the car... my phone never rang after that so I assumed everything was fine... I also have voicemail and there is no message, can you show me his phone record where he tried to call? I think his lack of calling and reporting it also admits fault. You do know I have pictures of my car before and how it sat on the tow truck don't you?
AAA: Our driver is not at fault, we have nothing further to say
Me: Can I speak to your supervisor?
AAA: Our driver is not at fault, your top is defective
Me: I heard you, can I speak to your supervisor?
AAA: We will not be paying anything out on this, our driver is not at fault
Me: I already took this to my insurance company and they saw the pictures and said they would be happy to pursue this if you did not admit fault as you are clearly at fault.
AAA: Our driver is not at fault, you can take them to court if you wish, have a good day

so i called back to complain about his rudeness and actually speak to his supervisor

Me: I just wanted to put in a complaint about your representative that I tried to speak with about my claim. He was not at all sympathetic, told me i didn't know what I was talking about, kept talking over me and determined without looking at my car that my car was defective, how do you determine this? and what are these lies about the tow truck driver trying to contact me?
AAA: I heard the whole conversation, he sits right next to me and we are not liable for this, I do not know what you are talking about lies, the tow truck driver said he tried to contact you and that as soon as he heard a noise from the car that he pulled over to check everything out. He is not liable for your defective old car
Me: again, how do you know it is defective if you didn't even look at it? There is evidence on the top where the metal was slowly ripped from flapping back and forth as if you had left it that way for some time. Why was my car fine being towed behind my truck, being towed behind the previous owners truck, and yet it wasn't okay on your flatbed, your driver must have been speeding
AAA: (I really wish I had this on tape) Any car should be fine being towed at 75-80 mph, if your top was in good shape then there wouldn't be any problem
Me: Whoa! Wait, 80 mph? I wasn't aware that my car was meant to cruise at 80mph... what is the speed limit?
AAA: I have nothing more to say, we are not accepting liability
Me: What is your supervisors name and number? And the tow truck company's info? You will be hearing from my insurance company to collect the money due to me for your damages.

[Mad Mike]

Wow that sucks.

I would definitely sue the tow truck company or AAA for the damage to your car. It was damaged on he back of there truck there for its there responsibility to repair it.

[VWGirl]

Wow that sucks.

I would definitely sue the tow truck company or AAA for the damage to your car. It was damaged on he back of there truck there for its there responsibility to repair it.

apparently tow trucks are not responsible for any damage to your car according to AAA... I'd be really careful when using them... I have been a customer of AAA for ten years now and this is the only problem I have had with them... but what it is going to cost me is going to far outweigh what I have saved in tows.

[Master Shake]

its pretty clear from teh first pic the top was in good condition. so with that stated, the company should be holding all responsibility for what happened.

seems like the company just sucks at what they do.
hope it all works out in your favor!

[RutRoe]

There was an email that was being passed around when I was in school at UGA that was a powerpoint presentation put together by someone who went to a DoubleTree Hotel somewhere and was really mistreated. He authored it, then emailed it to the company, every media outlet he could find and even all his friends and family.

It was a total recap, and just destroyed them as far as their image went. But, they apologized to that guy, and made changes at that hotel.

I think you need to basically copy and clear up what you've written, with your pictures, and then find as many people who work for AAA as you can and send it to them with a nice note saying how they live up to their reputation of taking care of people and why you'd recommend them to anyone for their great customer service.

There have to be other people at AAA you can speak with, and if it's a national customer service manager, then so be it. If you spend enough time on the phone, you can find them. I'd want them to fix it if I was you hoping that you could avoid any chance of your insurance going up from that.

The clear points here are that you drove your car, at the speed limit, until that point...assuming he drove up I-85 all the way to some where on the north side, the speed limit would never have gotten over 55. 65 maybe somewhere, but I don't know exactly where you live...

Those two people you spoke to both approved of the driver's negligence....80mph is too fast for that, and frankly, as a representative of AAA, that driver is putting their name and reputation on the line at the time.

And like you said, no call, no voicemail, and AAA didn't attempt to contact you either, and all of those parties should have called to clear up any incidents that would have taken place, which clearly did.

I'd say there was negligence on the part of the driver, representative #1, representative #2, and AAA as a company.

Be calm, be cool, and let it rip at the right time. I'd omit the part about hearing they should have towed it backwards, because it doesn't really help. The real test is that you drove it that far with no problem with the top at a safe speed. They did not have those same results, and it's most likely because of the high speed towing.

Good luck

[koukis14]

Sue

[VWGirl]

still working on it... letting the insurance handle it... driving me crazy waiting to be able to drive it