A while back – quite a while back, actually – the city garbage truck ran into my house. I am not joking. I posted about it here at the time. Lessee… ah, here’s the thread: back in July.
Well, the lawyers said go through the process and don’t worry unless the city balks at paying the estimate, in which case, give them a call and we’ll go to court. Okey-dokey then. We filled in the paperwork and sent it off by the end of July, and waited the requisite 4 weeks for reply. Nada.
So then my wife faxed copies of the paperwork (we’d kept copies) to the appropriate folks. Their secretary (?) said, yup, we’ve got them, so-and-so will get back to you shortly. Another two weeks go by.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat. They cannot seem to hang on to the paperwork, or claim they never got it. The people who have the power to approve this stuff claim they’ve never seen the paperwork; the people who are supposed to get those OTHER people the paperwork claim it’s on their desk. We can’t go down in person because, surprise! this department doesn’t work that way – we have to go through claims first before we actually get to speak to someone who can do something.
The lawyers are willing to get involved, but they’ve changed their tune: now, they want $$$ up-front and make no guarantees. This is different from what they said before, when their greedy eyes lit up with dollar signs at the mention of a claim against the city. Now they’re bored and uninterested… I can only assume this means they’ve decided our case isn’t worth it, or something.
Winter is coming, and I have no roof on a corner of my house. It is not my fault that the hole is there, but the people who did it are apparently immune to anything I can do.
This is fucked.
(Posted here because it’s too mild and whiny for the Pit.)
My sympathies. Also, if you haven’t already, you might find it works better to set aside a day or two and handle this in person. Bring several copies of the paperwork so nothing can vanish into the ether. If anyone can’t meet with you, say you can wait. If they are on vacation, meet with their superior. Be the PITA they need you to be to get their jobs done.
I would escalate it to the City Council or the Mayor. Don’t most City Council meetings have a time for citizen comment? I would raise holy hell there and see if that helps. City employees hate to look bad in front of the City Council.
I’d give your Councilman a call and explain (very calmly and business-like) exactly what has taken place. Have dates, times, names of people you’ve spoken with, etc. He/she will be able to cut through the tape and get you some assistance. Don’t do it at a public comment periord first - give the council person the opportunity to handle it behind the scenes. If that doesn’t work, then go public.
You have my profound sympathy. I would also consider escalating. If you don’t want to speak at a City Council meeting, you could take a shot at writing to, phoning, or visiting your City Council member. They’re supposed to be your representative, after all.
How that turns out will depend on the particular member. Some can be quite protective of their constituents.
My mom is the executive secretary to the mayor in a medium-ish city. (about 50k) I’ve heard plenty of stories of crazy kooks demanding to see the mayor for reasons ranging from the trains are going too fast to the tapwater being too cold.
If your city is the same (and I’m sure it is), you walking in there with a legitimate, actual complaint will be a breath of fresh air. Have no fear ^^
Your’s is a situation perfect for the attention of the nearest television station that likes to help consumers. Give them a call about this situation, they’ll probably air it.
My garage eave encroached onto the alley and was only 9’ above ground. Trash truck took out the gutter and some woodwork. I am an inspector and found myself at fault with city ordinances.
That’s not the case here. The garbage truck drove over the curb, scraped a utility pole, then clipped the corner of my house with that huge hump-looking thingy on the back. They had to drive onto my property to hit the overhang.
It was the regular driver, too. He apologized profusely, and I’m not mad at him, exactly – accidents happen – but I’m getting really pissed at the city avoiding me.
Harriet the Spry: we’ve tried that, in a way. See, everyone we talk to – in person, on the phone, via mail, whatever – says that it must be handled by the claims department before we can do anything else. Most of them sound really sympathetic and have helped us make sure the paperwork is in order and so on. But the claims department doesn’t have an address that I can find (hell, I can’t find the department in the first place!); nobody knows what offices in City Hall they work out of (or IF they’re in City Hall, for that matter); and the people on the phone for that department insist that it has to be handled by mail or fax, you can’t come down in person. “We’re not set up for that, sir.” All you get is this pre-printed form that you fill in and send to the standard City Hall address, with attached paperwork (estimates for repair, statements, etc).
Bah.
Everyone else: thanks for the suggestions. We’re giving it one more round, since we just sent off another set of faxes yesterday; if they haven’t at least called by the end of the week we’re going to our council-person (I’m ashamed to admit I have no clue who he or she is, but we’ll find out). And then the TV station; I don’t watch much TV (especially local TV), but it appears we have a “Problem Solver” segment that sounds like it’s right up our alley.