Blasted People, Aarghhhh

[65284]

We came home from a grocery run to town yesterday evening to an expensive mess. Someone had turned a trailer around in our driveway, snagged the chain link drive gate.......and drove away. No way they could have not known what they did, yet not a word out of them.

Completely wrecked the gate, bent and ruined the corner post bent the hinges, pretty well destroyed the gate, very little salvageable. And, this is the second time this has happend in the last 5 years.

It's going to take $125.00+ and a 2-3 of hours labor to build a new gate and replace the corner post.

Makes me wonder about folks.

[BothFeet]

grrrrrr. that would get me pretty mad! Is there any way you could put something in front of the corner post that people would hit before they hit the gate? A small concrete pillar or rebar with reflectors on it?

[Scavenger]

People just don't have any respect for themselves or anyone else anymore, and if they don't have any respect for you...they surely don't have any respect for your property.

[PNP Katahdins]

Will your property insurance cover the repairs? Could you put big landscaping-type rocks in front of the posts? You know there will be a next time. Maybe talk to any neighbors to see if they saw anything, and file a police report too. The trailer will have damage. Could be from a long way away though.

I hope you find out who did it, and they pay for the damage. Wouldn't hold my breath over that, though.



Peg

[buffalocreek]

You think you had a bad day.

The guy I was selling my property on time decided to stop paying. I told him I would foreclose on him. He moved out, totally trashing the trailer, and stole $8000 worth of equipment from me. Said he was a "good christian". Sure wouldn't want to see what a bad one was like.

[bluemoonluck]

Originally Posted by buffalocreek

You think you had a bad day.

The guy I was selling my property on time decided to stop paying. I told him I would foreclose on him. He moved out, totally trashing the trailer, and stole $8000 worth of equipment from me. Said he was a "good christian". Sure wouldn't want to see what a bad one was like.

IME the people who feel the need to harp on what a "good Christian" they are usually are the ones to be wary of the most!

Kind of like when someone says "would I lie to you?", the answer is usually "yes".

[buffalocreek]

Ain't that the truth.

[mama2littleman]

Goes hand in hand with that old saying "If you keep having to tell people you are in charge . . . You aren't!"

Nikki

[nobrabbit]

What happened to the days when people damaged property and would leave notes with their contact info so they could make right with the owner?

We had a couple of kids on ATV's take the curve in front of our house too fast one night and went through our pasture fence. All they had to do was come up to the house and give us a hand to patch it. Did they do that? Heck no. Luckily I saw them do it or else we might have woke up to cows wandering around the neighborhood.

[GoldenCityMuse]

Sad, sounds like you might have to get a gate for the drive, and lock it closed most of the time.

[BothFeet]

There is a road that comes to a T near me. Every so often someone misses the stop and plows into the field across the road. That guy finally quit replacing his fence.

[Wayne02]

That is very frustrating, these are likely the same folks who think nothing of tossing all their garbage out of the car window while traveling down the road.

I would use some caution with regards to making a claim against a home owners policy as it may very well trigger a rate increase that would wipe out any savings you obtained by having the insurance company pay for the damage.

[Darren]

"Said he was a "good christian" That's huge red flag for me too.

[FarmboyBill]

Heck, its always been that way. My uncle had a couple F-20 tractors. He lived RIGHT on the road. He was gone once and the roads were muddy, Somebody came and borrowed his tractor to pull themselves out, when he got home and looked around, he saw that they had lost his crank. Thisa was way back in the late50s

[Joshie]

Originally Posted by Darren

"Said he was a "good christian" That's huge red flag for me too.

One should identify a Christian by their actions not their words.

Could you put large rocks or something else to block this from happening? Can you put some sort of barrier to prevent people from turning around? I wouldn't pay to turn this into insurance as it's likely lower than your deductible and would likely raise your rates for years to come.

[texican]

I had a sign up at the beginning of my private road for years.... general no trespassing yada yada yada... also a no turnaround, no 18 wheeler warning. Twice, I 'caught' two different companies that'd sent someone foolishly down my road, instead of making the correct turn.... I caught em cause they were buried up to the cab in mud. I held both of them "hostage" till the owners came down, and we negotiated damages.... usually a dozen or so loads of rock and gravel. Signs won't stop everyone... amazing how many ----------s can't read. They do understand speed bumps, and mud holes, though. My speedbumps have eliminated driving past a crawl on my road.

[unregistered65598]

Awww sorry you have to deal with that. I once hit a car in a parking lot, it was a parked car. No one saw what had happened I could have drove off, but I did what was right and went into the store and had them page the owner. Turns out that the only damage there was, was to my car.

Moat and a drawbridge

[tiogacounty]

Originally Posted by PNP Katahdins

Will your property insurance cover the repairs?


Peg

There are a lot of folks that have to learn the hard way that you DO NOT contact your insurance agent about a claim, unless you have no other choice. Some companies will up your rates for even asking about filing a claim, and others will file a claim, without your knowledge, if you call and ask, "is it worth claiming ........" There are data bases for claims on residential property. They work kind of like a credit report. They can be used against you as a homeowner, and hurt you when selling, depending on a state's disclosure laws. I have friends in the socialist dreamland of California, who own significant amounts of rental property. They will absorb pretty big dollar hits, like up to $20K before they are willing to file a claim. In the end it's cheaper, and doesn't create a paper trail of a property being "defective", just because some idiot tenant flooded the place. If you are of the mindset that you should be calling the company over a few hundred bucks, you are going to get burned.

[Laura Zone 10]

Originally Posted by Nimrod

Moat and a drawbridge

Don't forget the alligators. Every moat needs gators!!

I also second the comment about calling the INS. co. Unless it's HUGE MAJOR multi thousand dollars in damage, just fix it and say nothing.