Where I've been for the past 3 months...
Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 6:50 pm
Oh god, where to even start.
As many (or most) of you all know, I had a ton of problems with my Cobalt since around September. The clutch went out, I took it too some hack-ass shop to get fixed, 2 months later it was more fucked up than when I handed the keys over.
That situation ended with me deciding to come to 2gn for help. I was going to tear the car back down to stock and use the money from the aftermarket parts to get the transmission fixed. I received donations and was offered the help of several to come out to Toledo to tear everything off the car. Well, the week the tear down was going to happen, the car was stolen from my apartment complex at somewhere between Midnight and 2 am. The story goes like so....
I was awoken by knocking of two Lucas County Sheriffs on my door at 3:30am asking where my car was at. I drearily said it was right behind them... then as my eyes began to focus, I noticed it wasn't there. They seemed a bit surprised and asked if I had known it was stolen. I replied that I did not, and they informed me Ann Arbor PD found it ablaze about an hour north of me, west of Detroit. I was absolutely shocked and stunned.
I invited them in, they made comments of my snake, tarantuals, the hooks on my walls, pictures of me suspending, etc, and took my statement. They gave me a few numbers to call and they were off. I proceeded to call Ann Arbor PD, Ann Arbor fire department, and my insurance company to inform them what happened.
Without going into extensive detail, I essentially had to give those 3 departments all the info about my life. Where I was, where the car was, my financial situation, if I was ever late on payments, etc etc. I only ever heard from the Ann Arbor PD once, and that's when I called them that night to do a quick over the phone statement. I talked to the fire marshall twice, answering the same questions multiple times. I never went to either place to talk in person, and I never spoke with the Lucas County Sheriff department either.
The insurance company asked I fill out mounds and mounds of paperwork detailing everything about the car and my living situations. I had no problems filling anything out, as I've never missed a payment on a single thing in my life, and always paid my car payments OVER the monthly balance. I admitted to keeping a key in the glovebox at all times (something NO ONE ever knew about) and turned over the rest of my keys to them as well.
Now, about the key. I live in a nice neighborhood. I've been here for a year and a half now. There's never been any crime or cops out here. I left the key hidden in the car so I wouldn't be running in and out of the house as I worked on the Cobalt trying to fix the shit Jeremy fucked up. Looking back, it was a terrible idea, but convenient. My car doors were ALWAYS locked at all times.
Now, moving forward with the insurance company. I had to give a verbal statement on everything in the paperwork. I kept in contact via e-mail with my agent. 2 months later she told me I would have to talk to an attorney of theirs during an Examination Under Oath. Apparently these are VERY common during theft and arson cases. On February 15th I had my meeting.
He asked that I bring with me every bit of financial data from the previous 3 months prior to the loss (bank statements, check stubs, credit card statements, etc), my previous years tax information, and a credit report. I supplied all of this no problem. There isn't a single bit of bad in my entire financial history. As I've said, I have a bad ass credit score, I've been employed since I was 14, and have never missed payments or overdrawn an account.
We went over all the info. He asked me a few questions about it. We went off the record a lot and chit-chatted about the car modding scene and various other things. All and all for an attorney, he was a pretty OK guy. He begins to ask me questions about that night, everything leading up to that night. I told him all about the clutch situation, how I threatened to sue Jeremy, every tiny bit of detail I could possibly think I told him about. I noticed in his files he had some pages printed from a website. It was 2gn. What.the.fuck.
Turns out, they've been investigating me this whole time. (I already assumed this, but at this point it was already confirmed.) He questioned a few things I said on this forum. Then he pulled out a page from the WHORES! thread.... In the beginning of November I had said "this fucking car just needs torched." Shit. Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit. I thought I was completely fucked. I immediately explained how I was just frustrating and venting. That I had a plan to fix my car and in no way ACTUALLY wanted my car torched.
I thought the insurance company was going to latch onto that statement, try to pin this against me, and deny me. I continued going into more and more detail how it was just a horrible coincidence. He questioned why I seemed to of just "disappear" from 2gn. I mentioned I just wanted out of the car scene this was all over. Shortly afterwards, out meeting ended. He told me off the record, he didn't think I had anything to do with it, but wasn't sure what the insurance company would do because of what I said.
2 days go by. I get a phone call from a new agent from my insurance company. They approved my claim. They sent me a check for my aftermarket parts that were covered, and were contacting my bank to send a check to pay off the car. I was beyond relieved. It was finally over. After 3 long months of hell, I was finally approved for my claim. I read SO many horror stories online how insurance companies CONSTANTLY try to fuck people. How to pin things like this against them. I was afraid they'd somehow say I was involved and I'd end up in jail. Thank god nothing ever went that far.
Now, present day. After the check got to my bank, I owed a balance of $320 on the car. Instead of going through GAP insurance, I just paid it out of pocket to be done with this car. Today, I did so. I am now 100% free of my Cobalt. The car is gone (RIP) and the loan is as well. I set here 100% out of debt and ready to make this a much easier year on myself.
I just want to say thank you to the people of 2gn that helped me. I sent out PMs today to those who donated money asking if they'd like it back or would like it donated to the forum under their behalf. I refunded anyone who asked of it, and gave the rest to Jason, with a little extra out of my pocket. It's the best way I can think to show my appreciation to a bunch of strangers that have stood by me from the day I came to this forum. Every here really is quite the amazing bunch.
Now, a few lessons to learn from my story:
1.) Never, ever EVER say shit on a public forum that you wouldn't tell an attorney. You accounts CAN be linked and things CAN be held against you. Even if you think it's something joking, think hard before you post. You just NEVER know what can come back to bite you in the ass.
2.) Things will suck in life. They'll continue to get worse and worse and worse. You'll even hit rock bottom, but god damnit eventually things work out. 5 months of hell and I'm in one of the best situations ever in my life finally.
3.) Never leave a key in your car. You'd think it'd be obvious, but no matter how well-hidden it is, or how nice of a place you live, someone still might find it and steal your shit.
I know this post is a long read, but I wanted to catch everyone up. I know a few people were asking questions, so there it all is. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll answer anything about the theft, insurance process, what I've been up to, or where I'm heading in life now. I'm an open book.
As many (or most) of you all know, I had a ton of problems with my Cobalt since around September. The clutch went out, I took it too some hack-ass shop to get fixed, 2 months later it was more fucked up than when I handed the keys over.
That situation ended with me deciding to come to 2gn for help. I was going to tear the car back down to stock and use the money from the aftermarket parts to get the transmission fixed. I received donations and was offered the help of several to come out to Toledo to tear everything off the car. Well, the week the tear down was going to happen, the car was stolen from my apartment complex at somewhere between Midnight and 2 am. The story goes like so....
I was awoken by knocking of two Lucas County Sheriffs on my door at 3:30am asking where my car was at. I drearily said it was right behind them... then as my eyes began to focus, I noticed it wasn't there. They seemed a bit surprised and asked if I had known it was stolen. I replied that I did not, and they informed me Ann Arbor PD found it ablaze about an hour north of me, west of Detroit. I was absolutely shocked and stunned.
I invited them in, they made comments of my snake, tarantuals, the hooks on my walls, pictures of me suspending, etc, and took my statement. They gave me a few numbers to call and they were off. I proceeded to call Ann Arbor PD, Ann Arbor fire department, and my insurance company to inform them what happened.
Without going into extensive detail, I essentially had to give those 3 departments all the info about my life. Where I was, where the car was, my financial situation, if I was ever late on payments, etc etc. I only ever heard from the Ann Arbor PD once, and that's when I called them that night to do a quick over the phone statement. I talked to the fire marshall twice, answering the same questions multiple times. I never went to either place to talk in person, and I never spoke with the Lucas County Sheriff department either.
The insurance company asked I fill out mounds and mounds of paperwork detailing everything about the car and my living situations. I had no problems filling anything out, as I've never missed a payment on a single thing in my life, and always paid my car payments OVER the monthly balance. I admitted to keeping a key in the glovebox at all times (something NO ONE ever knew about) and turned over the rest of my keys to them as well.
Now, about the key. I live in a nice neighborhood. I've been here for a year and a half now. There's never been any crime or cops out here. I left the key hidden in the car so I wouldn't be running in and out of the house as I worked on the Cobalt trying to fix the shit Jeremy fucked up. Looking back, it was a terrible idea, but convenient. My car doors were ALWAYS locked at all times.
Now, moving forward with the insurance company. I had to give a verbal statement on everything in the paperwork. I kept in contact via e-mail with my agent. 2 months later she told me I would have to talk to an attorney of theirs during an Examination Under Oath. Apparently these are VERY common during theft and arson cases. On February 15th I had my meeting.
He asked that I bring with me every bit of financial data from the previous 3 months prior to the loss (bank statements, check stubs, credit card statements, etc), my previous years tax information, and a credit report. I supplied all of this no problem. There isn't a single bit of bad in my entire financial history. As I've said, I have a bad ass credit score, I've been employed since I was 14, and have never missed payments or overdrawn an account.
We went over all the info. He asked me a few questions about it. We went off the record a lot and chit-chatted about the car modding scene and various other things. All and all for an attorney, he was a pretty OK guy. He begins to ask me questions about that night, everything leading up to that night. I told him all about the clutch situation, how I threatened to sue Jeremy, every tiny bit of detail I could possibly think I told him about. I noticed in his files he had some pages printed from a website. It was 2gn. What.the.fuck.
Turns out, they've been investigating me this whole time. (I already assumed this, but at this point it was already confirmed.) He questioned a few things I said on this forum. Then he pulled out a page from the WHORES! thread.... In the beginning of November I had said "this fucking car just needs torched." Shit. Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit. I thought I was completely fucked. I immediately explained how I was just frustrating and venting. That I had a plan to fix my car and in no way ACTUALLY wanted my car torched.
I thought the insurance company was going to latch onto that statement, try to pin this against me, and deny me. I continued going into more and more detail how it was just a horrible coincidence. He questioned why I seemed to of just "disappear" from 2gn. I mentioned I just wanted out of the car scene this was all over. Shortly afterwards, out meeting ended. He told me off the record, he didn't think I had anything to do with it, but wasn't sure what the insurance company would do because of what I said.
2 days go by. I get a phone call from a new agent from my insurance company. They approved my claim. They sent me a check for my aftermarket parts that were covered, and were contacting my bank to send a check to pay off the car. I was beyond relieved. It was finally over. After 3 long months of hell, I was finally approved for my claim. I read SO many horror stories online how insurance companies CONSTANTLY try to fuck people. How to pin things like this against them. I was afraid they'd somehow say I was involved and I'd end up in jail. Thank god nothing ever went that far.
Now, present day. After the check got to my bank, I owed a balance of $320 on the car. Instead of going through GAP insurance, I just paid it out of pocket to be done with this car. Today, I did so. I am now 100% free of my Cobalt. The car is gone (RIP) and the loan is as well. I set here 100% out of debt and ready to make this a much easier year on myself.
I just want to say thank you to the people of 2gn that helped me. I sent out PMs today to those who donated money asking if they'd like it back or would like it donated to the forum under their behalf. I refunded anyone who asked of it, and gave the rest to Jason, with a little extra out of my pocket. It's the best way I can think to show my appreciation to a bunch of strangers that have stood by me from the day I came to this forum. Every here really is quite the amazing bunch.
Now, a few lessons to learn from my story:
1.) Never, ever EVER say shit on a public forum that you wouldn't tell an attorney. You accounts CAN be linked and things CAN be held against you. Even if you think it's something joking, think hard before you post. You just NEVER know what can come back to bite you in the ass.
2.) Things will suck in life. They'll continue to get worse and worse and worse. You'll even hit rock bottom, but god damnit eventually things work out. 5 months of hell and I'm in one of the best situations ever in my life finally.
3.) Never leave a key in your car. You'd think it'd be obvious, but no matter how well-hidden it is, or how nice of a place you live, someone still might find it and steal your shit.
I know this post is a long read, but I wanted to catch everyone up. I know a few people were asking questions, so there it all is. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll answer anything about the theft, insurance process, what I've been up to, or where I'm heading in life now. I'm an open book.
