Darn shopping cart

gizmoii · 09-15-2004, 10:07 PM

I just got done shopping at my local grocery store chain, jumped into my truck and looked in the mirror to back up. Low-and-behold a shopping cart appeared to be resting peacefully against the bed of my truck. I got out to place it where it belonged and noticed it had scratched my bed from rear door to taillight. Well since I’ve only had the truck 2 weeks this aggravated the hell out of me. I went in and contacted the store manager and see what they could do. They promptly got some paperwork for me to fill out. After about 15-20 minutes of paperwork and the store manager taking pictures of my truck he stated I should be getting a call from there damage liability person. In the mean time I stopped by my dealer and got a quote on the damage and about crapped my shorts. $677 and change for the damage. I contacted the stores liability person and faxed her the quote. After a couple days for this to sink in I contacted her again and she stated there was a small investigation that had to be resolved and she would contact me in a day or so. Well I got the call today and she gave me the bad news, the store won’t take responsibility for the incident. She also stated the good news. “to uphold our great customer service we are going to take care of the damage. You will receive a check in about 10-14 working days for the full amount of the quote.”

Moral of the story, if you receive damage while in a private parking lot, ie tree, shopping cart or any other object owned by a business do what you can to get them to take care of it. Worked for me.

Potroast · 09-15-2004, 10:28 PM

I could see how they would be responsible for a tree limb or something, but how are they responsible for a shopping cart?

If anything I think a video camera of the lot where you could find the person that put the cart there would be better.

But yeah, that's amazing customer service that the store is cutting you a $677 check.

TriKKy · 09-16-2004, 06:29 AM

Yeah, holy crap, I can't believe that...you are amazingly lucky. I am 100% sure that if that happened in any store around me they would tell me where to shove the estimate.

gizmoii · 09-16-2004, 06:39 AM

I had my doubts, especially when the costomer service lady gave me the bad news, which really didn't matter too much to me after I got the good news. I also think I watch too much Judge Judy. They had a simular case on that show where a lady just put left the shopping cart and a gust of wind took it into the side of another car. The women in the car that got hit took the lady that left the cart to court and won. I'm just glad they flipped the bill because $677 from the deal is a little stiff for me to pay on my own.

IMADOGMAN · 09-16-2004, 06:41 AM

Every store in my area has posted disclaimer signs saying that they are not responsible for damage from shopping carts....
As for the store you were at, you should tell everyone that you know to shop there...they went beyond good customer service on this one. Also, let the store know what a great thing they did, and send them a letter thanking them.

wareagle · 09-16-2004, 06:45 AM

I had the same thin happen to me with my my old truck about a month after I bought it. I was at a kmart store, and It looked like someone slammed the cart into the driver side door and when i went in they said they wouldn't do anything about it. I was furiuos, b/c I was still in college and could not afford to fix my new truck. Like the story goes I told everyone I know and even people I don't know and Kmart probably lost more business from me and my entire family than it would have cost them to just fix my door. I still won't go there ESPECIALLY in my Titan.

SmokenTitan · 09-16-2004, 07:15 AM

WOW!!

Good Job! I'm one million percent sure this would never be my luck, this is why I rarely take my good cars out. I have a $750 Honda Civic for these small chores, still have to take the truck if I'm getting big items though, I'm thinking about finding a late hardbody nissan to replace the civic...

ben95m · 09-16-2004, 08:50 AM

No way the local grocery store around here would have done that. You were lucky that they had such great customer service!

wareagle · 09-16-2004, 08:56 AM

Taking And Old Car Around Kind Of Defeats The Pourpose Of Having A New Truck Doesn't It? When I Am Driving Anywhere I Want To Drive The Titan, Not Some P.o.s B/c I Am Afraid Of A Ding. Plus The Insurance You Pay On That Other Car Probably Exceeds The Cost You Would Have To Pay For Some Dings In The Long Run, doesn't it?

Not to be rude but I would rather enjoy my titan and get some dings than drive a civic and have a perfect truck at home.

40-Dan · 09-16-2004, 09:11 AM

Similar incident happened to my wife several years ago in a Target parking lot. She had actually not even been shopping at the Target, but had been working out in a gym that shared the parking lot. Came out of the gym and the rear quarter panel of her BMW 318 (about 2 mos old) had been smashed in HARD. The cart apparently had a good running start downhill prior to impact.

Long story short, damage was almost 1k, and the store paid her $500 deductible.

When you get good customer service like that, NAME THE STORE!!!

Dan

Chris M. · 09-16-2004, 09:15 AM

That’s why I make it a rule to never park close to the store entrance or any other parked cars. I was doing this before with my 5-year-old car because I wanted to get more exercise but now I get exercise and I am preventing such incidents from happening in the first place. Plus it’s easier to find the truck since the truck is not too hard to miss. Hence, stay away from other people, cars and moving objects like carts while parked.

gizmoii · 09-16-2004, 10:04 AM

I probably should give the store credit. It was Fry's grocery store. Pretty big chain in phoenix. I'm not sure if its nation wide or not. I also have to give them more credit as well. They helped out my brothers in the service by giving them and their families ten percent off groceries. They were timely and courtious about my whole situation.
I also left out their name because there a few people that may want to take advantage of the store. That was my only concern on why I left their name ou t in the first place.

KUDOS to Fry's

SmokenTitan · 09-16-2004, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wareagle

Taking And Old Car Around Kind Of Defeats The Pourpose Of Having A New Truck Doesn't It? When I Am Driving Anywhere I Want To Drive The Titan, Not Some P.o.s B/c I Am Afraid Of A Ding. Plus The Insurance You Pay On That Other Car Probably Exceeds The Cost You Would Have To Pay For Some Dings In The Long Run, doesn't it?

Not to be rude but I would rather enjoy my titan and get some dings than drive a civic and have a perfect truck at home.

No, you dont know the situation, let me explain...

I'm a 23yr old male, no accidents, no tickets (on my record

)... Insurance on this truck would run me about $1500 every six months if I didnt have a primary beater car. My $750 Honda Civic LX drops my insruance to $975 every six months. So in the long run the car will pay for itself and when I turn 25 I'll consider selling it and whatever I get(if anything) will be all profit from insurance savings...

I love to drive my Titan too, its sitting right outside work here, I drive it everywhere except when I go places that there are shopping carts, sans Lowe's when I have big stuff to get...

My G.F. (1/2 owner of the civic) drives the beater to school to keep her new `04 Civic from getting beat up. She use to work at the bank in Wal-Mart and would drive the old civic to work for fear of these shopping carts with their own minds...

Plus the more we drive the beater, the less gas we use and the more miles we save on our new cars which means less wear and tear, tires ect...

Trust me, the new cars get their share of being driven as we are about 500 miles from our hometown

, 1000 mile round trip...

The nissan dealer here has a shop truck nissan harbody that is that orange color, I'm really diggin it, maybe I can talk them into selling it to me dirt cheap...

keiffers · 09-16-2004, 10:51 AM

Most 'decent' stores that use shopping carts clearly post a sign that they are not responsible for damage from stray carts, which I can't say I blame them, since they provide them as a courtesy and for the most part it is careless usage that causes damage from people who don't take them back to a collection point or somewhere that would keep them from rolling into a car, BUT at the same time i think there is some responsibility only because they should be out collecting carts that have been left in the parking lot (i used to have to do that when I was younger and working in a grocery store - it was nice cause then I didn't have to stay inside and bag groceries LOL). Anyway, its gonna happen unfortunately....thanks to the people who are too lazy to take it to the designated collection point (or even popping it over a curb).

wareagle · 09-16-2004, 11:10 AM

I would definitley understand driving an old car if i worked anywhere near a walmart or something where poeple don't care, or to school b/c I saw so many people back into, hit, ding, you name it, the cars in the lot and just leave. If I am doing erands I usually drive my Titan but park far far away, and just listen to my wife b##ch when we have to walk