It all started yesterday night. I was still stuck at work and Ababa went to get in the car...it wasn't there.
It was parked in a legal spot and had no tickets.
He looked around the block, called 311, checked online, and wasn't able to find our car anywhere.
For hours he called different numbers talking to the police precincts, towing companies, impound lots, 311...then it popped up in the system as "towed".
So he made all those calls again, trying to determine why our legally parked car with no tickets was towed from the street right next to our building.
The amount of rudeness, hostility, condescension, and disrespect he encountered was shocking. We will be drafting many letter of complaint next week but suffice it to say, I don't think that even in the rudest New Yorker's mind it is ok to treat people the was Ababa was treated.
Today he followed the instructions from 311, the police, and the impound lot. Went downtown to pay the $205 towing fee--which took over 3 hours of waiting in line, came back uptown to get the car out of the lot (you can't get it until you have your receipt from downtown) and learned that indeed our car had been stolen and abandoned. It had been towed from the spot where it had been abandoned and accumulating tickets over the past two days...now minus a radio, with a broken steering column, dents in the body, out of gas, and with hoses and misc. items in the engine disconnected (it was obvious they tried to steal the engine and somehow got interrupted).
The tow lot made Ababa reconnect the engine and drive it off the lot. He called the police to file a stolen vehicle report and they said that since it was towed from where it was abandoned it was "criminal mischief" not "grand theft auto" so Ababa had to go to the precinct where it was found to file the complaint.
Ababa went there and they told him that indeed the other precinct should have done the paperwork and that it was grand theft auto (once something is stolen it is stolen...the fact that it was recovered doesn't negate the fact that it was stolen!).
Then Ababa filed the insurance claim. They were very kind and helpful and said it may actually be a total loss given the extent of the damage. Their adjuster will contact us tomorrow.
We will have to go to traffic court in person to get the tickets the car incurred while stolen waived and to get our $205 back.
Now we are home...with the car parked on the street...waiting to hear from our insurance company.
Good thing Ababa is not working right now, b/c between the adoption paperwork and stuff like this he practically has a full-time job! I just got home from work (at about 10:15 pm) and there is no way that I could have taken care of this today.
To NYC, the NYPD, 311, and the various towing companies and impound lots you contract:...you need some serious customer service training, some major IT improvements, and a general examination of the process for retrieving stolen cars.
To USAA insurance: you have the best customer service in the world!!! Maybe you can help NYC/NYPD/311, etc.
To whomever stole our car: WTF!?!?!?!?!?!
Go buy your own car or car parts and keep your sticky fingers off of ours!!!!!! What on earth makes you think you can just take someone else's car?!?!?!?!?! That car may be a piece of cr*p 1995 H@nda Civic, but that is OUR piece of cr*p 1995 H@nda Civic. We worked hard for the money to buy that car, have put a lot of money into the car, JUST had major repairs done 2 weeks ago, and need the car for the next five weekends. We may call that car "Tool" b/c it is a purely utilitarian vehicle, but that is OUR purely utilitarian vehicle. Keep your grubby hands off of OUR Tool and so help me, if you steal it again from our street...well...I don't know what I would do about that, but if we ever figure out who you are we will prosecute you to the fullest (FULLEST) extent of the law and if we don't well...I may just have to freak out if I see any suspicious looking person loitering near a parked car.
Oh yeah--apparently Hybrids are some of the least stolen cars in NYC and H@ndas are the most stolen cars. Our next car (which probably won't be for 5 years) will be a Hybrid for many reasons, including this one!!!
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