This morning my co-worker and I parked next to each other at almost the same time. When I opened my door, I hit the body of her car right above the wheel. Once I rubbed some residue off with my thumb, all that remained was a slight notch probably about a millimeter wide and three millimeters long. You have to lean in really close just to see it.
To my bewilderment, my co-worker insisted on taking down my insurance information and is considering taking the car into the shop to have it fixed. I accept the blame for it, but if you ask me it isn’t worth the gas it would take to drive to the shop, much less the time dealing with the shop and the insurance company. I think it’s especially uncalled for considering that we work together. You would think that she would let it slide just for the sake of our working relationship. Am I wrong?
As a side question, how much would it cost to repair something like that?
If it were a mint condition car then I’d fully support her view - you dinged it you pay to fix it.
But your photo shows a number of scratches and marks on the car as it is - so I think she’s being a bit precious here. Make sure you don’t end up paying for all the other marks to be removed.
Let her insist all she wants. I understand taking care of your stuff, but if you want your car to stay perfect, don’t take it on the road. Even if it were mint before the ding, you should not feel responsible for any damages. If you want to be nice, split the cost of getting it buffed out. If it were me, I would do it myself for free.
I’m not refusing to pay - I’m cooperating with her on getting it fixed. I’m just asking whether it’s reasonable for her to put us both through so much trouble for something so insignificant.
I agree on this. The whole car panel is full of scrapes and nasty. Don’t get stuck with paying to restore the whole panel. Your ding is a miniscule part of that panel’s problem.
It’s not insignificant to her, and that opinion is all that matters. I think there is an underlying story between the two of you driving her insistence.
Yes, in one aspect her opinion is all that matters. I damaged something, she wants it fixed, I am obligated to repair the damage, so I will fulfill my obligation.
That doesn’t mean that, in light of the incredibly small size of the damage, her insistence on having it repaired isn’t petty. The time and money she is wasting, for both of us, strikes me as being totally out of proportion to the damage I caused.
Let me offer an analogy. If someone had a container of blueberries on a table and I knocked into it, causing a few to fall onto the ground, and the person asked me to pay him three cents for the costs of the blueberries, would it be just? Yes. Would it also be petty? Yes.
She’s batshit fucking crazy. A $10 bottle of matched touch-up paint would be the most I’d ever expect to pay for such a minor scratch, from a colleague no less.
She’ll get an estimate and offer to settle it outside of insurance for less than the deductible. You’ll give her some cash and she won’t get it fixed. You’ll seeth with anger every time you see the unfixed ding for as long as she owns the car/works with you. If you don’t pay, she’ll send to insurance and you’ll be out your deductible. Trust me, it’s how these little shakedowns go.
Thirds this. She is probably wanting everything to be fixed, so be sure that your insurance adjuster knows just what damage you did.
If you had done that damage to my car by accident and apologized with chocolate and words, that would have been all that was needed to make it better.
Back when I was young and innocent, I used to park next to a black truck owned by someone who worked at a different business. One day, the wind took the door of my white car out of my hands. I grabbed the door, didn’t feel it hit the black truck, so thought everything was OK.
The next day, I saw a white mark on the door of the black truck. I thought about it for a while. I was really sure that my door hadn’t hit his truck…but what if I was wrong. At lunch, I wandered around the complex and found him. I told him that I might have done the damage and that I’d make it good.
He looked surprised, which surprised me. Do remember I was young and stupid. I thought that anyone who damaged someone else’s property would step up to the plate.
He was really nice about it, he came out and looked at the damage, then opened and closed my door a couple of times to show me that it wasn’t possible for my door to cause that damage.
Its been more than half my life ago. Now I know why he was so surprised.
If she takes it to a body shop and submits a claim, give your agent that exact photo. You might even want to call your agent ahead of time and give them a heads up. You damaged exactly that one ding and are not liable for anything else. Any reputable shop will give your coworker a “F - you” quote that will say “the ding will cost their insurance $xx to fix, prep on the rest of the panel will cost you $xxx out of pocket.” Do not argue with your coworker about it at all - let your insurance handle everything. If (when?) your coworker gets infuriated over not winning the frivolous claim lottery, immediately report any harassment to human resources.
Considering the rest of the damage in evidence, I’d be willing to bet that she’s going to try to get your insurance to pay for a full resto on the fender.
Offer her 50 for the damage whether or not she has it fixed. If she pushes it, let your insurance agent beat her up. They’re quite familiar with the scam and won’t even consider going for it.
ETA: and get a receipt for the 50 stating paid in full if she takes it.
Since it would appear that she’s been content to let the other damage on that fender go without repair, her insistence on fixing this seems highly suspect. My suggestion is to contact your insurance company and provide them with the photo(s). I think the concept of betterment could play a key role in how the insurance company (hers and/or yours) handles this. Get her insurance info to give to your company*, and ask your company for their advice on dealing with this.
*If she balks at this, don’t cooperate any further. She’s not dealing in good faith.
ETA: What several others have said. I suggest do not make any deal with her at all, let your insurance company handle everything.
This. No repair shop is going to fix just the little itty bitty ridiculous ding you did, they’re going to have to refinish the whole fender. The fender that was already jacked up with dings and scratches that are definitely not done by another car door and instead by someone’s asshole dumbass stupidass driving skillz. Your coworker is a jerk, and stupid, and her fender was already fucked up. Sheesh, I’d be pissed if I were you!