{I need some suggestions}

You ready for this??  Longest flippin’ story in the world, but my sister suggested I put it on here and see what people think.    The past two weeks have been CRAZY and I honestly can’t say I’ve gotten any work done.  I’ve done shoots- but editing, emails, phone calls, etc.   Not so much. 
Wanna know why???  Here we go………………….. 

So back in March of last year I bought a car from a place in St. Louis.   The place I bought it from doesn’t have a service station that is licensed to do Suzuki repairs- so I have to take it to a different dealership to get all the warranty work done.  We’ll call that place WEBSTER GROVES.   Well, it March of this year, I took my car in for an Emissions test so that I could get my plates renewed, but I also wanted my oil changed.  I took it to a place we’ll just refer to as GRAY’S.   They said it didn’t pass because the Timing Chain needed to be replaced.  I’m not going to even go into detail on what that is.  Anyway-  they changed my oil and told me to take it to a licensed Suzuki repair shop so that I could get it covered under warranty.  

So this is where I go to WEBSTER GROVES for the first time.  I take my car in, they order the parts and I take my car back in at the end of the month.  They have it for a few days, fix the timing chains, the warranty covers it and I’m on my way.  

Now we’re in July.  My car starts making a funny noise and a number of other things.  On a Wednesday I take it back into WEBSTER GROVES because of these issues and they end up keeping it for a VERY long time.    I call them every day for the first few days just to check in and see when they think it will be done.   I have to keep calling because they never call me AND they can never give me an answer because they’re always “waiting on a phone call from the Suzuki rep” or waiting for some guy to look at it.  Honestly- they never really give me any answers, they act like they could care less that I’m having to rent a car and they appear to be in NO hurry.  I tell them I have to leave town the next Wednesday and I need my car.  I ask them what I need to do to make it happen.  She tells me that I can pay to have the parts overnighted and then the car should be ready by either Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning.  I said let’s do that.  So they overnight the parts (or at least I think they did)  and the following Tuesday rolls around.  Car still isn’t ready and now it won’t be ready till Wednesday at the close of business.  I said that’s fine- I’ll just leave town Wednesday night.   So Wednesday comes and I have to run out to Chesterfield to do a shoot for 2-month old triplets.  This alone takes a HUGE chunk of time in getting ready for, but also doing the shoot.  Plus it’s exhausting.  So I get done with the shoot and call the dealership at 3:30 to check on my car.  Still not ready, but it should be ready by the end of the day.  PLEASE NOTE that I am the one making ALL the phone calls, they have yet to CALL ME.    SO I rush home, get packed to head back to Kirksville, clean all my props out of my rental car (this take like 5 trips to and from my apartment to do), take the car and clean it, fill it up with gas, take the car back, wait for my friend Audrey to come pick me up in rush hour traffic, fight rush hour traffic to get to the dealership, walk in to get my car and………………………………….

IT’S NOT READY IT NEEDS A NEW ENGINE!!!!!   Are you freaking kidding me???  Seriously????  You’ve had my car for  a WEEK and you find out like 2 hours before I’m supposed to pick it up that it needs a new engine???  REALLY?????  So again- this was done with a  very “we don’t really care” attitude and have a nice day.   No, “oh we’ll get you a rental car” or “we’ll see what we can do about paying for some of your rental car”   NONE OF THAT.   She also claims they had the wrong number and that’s why I never heard from them.    Ummmmmmmmmmmmm here’s an idea…………….you know how I’ve called you like 50 times???  Maybe, during one of those conversations, say “we’ve been trying to call you, do we have the right number??”    Seriously- what if I had just told Audrey to head on home after I got out of the car???  Not kidding- these people probably would have pushed me out the door, closed shop, locked up and said “good luck!”     Here’s the best part- she wouldn’t give me ANY sort of time frame as to how long it would take.  Cheese & Rice!  

So now I’ve returned my rental car and I’m without my car still.  PLUS all the rental car places are closed, expect for the airport locations.  So off we go to the airport in rush hour traffic.   Here is a good tip to know about airport rental car places- you can’t rent a car from them unless you have a Major Credit Card that is NOT attached to a checking account.   I don’t do credit cards, so no I don’t have one that’s not attached to my checking account.  FINALLY we find out that Avis will do it, but other stuff popped up and long story short……..my Godfather had to drive up to the airport from MANCHESTER in order to put the rental car hold on his credit card that was not attached to a checking account.  It doesn’t mean they actually charged him, they just held it.  SO FINALLY- it’s 8:00 and I have a car (thank you Mark, my godfather, and Audrey!) .  I race back to my apartment, re-load all my props and luggage and finally head back to Kirksville after 8:30.  

So the only thing I’m not happy about at this point is having to pay for a rental car for God knows how long.  A new Engine???  How long does that even take??  So on Friday, while I’m back in Kirksville we decide to call my insurance and see if they can get something added QUICKLY to my policy that would cover my rental.  I explained my whole situation and they said for $20 bucks more a month- I could have rental car coverage for $40/day or up to $1200.   AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

So I spend the rest of the weekend feeling SO much better because my car is under warranty and my insurance will cover my rental car.   By then- the only thing annoying me was my parents internet.  Ha :-)  

So I don’t get much work done in Kirksville because it’s always crazy when I’m back there. 

I drive home Monday night and spend Tuesday trying to get things organized and figure out where I need to start in order to do my mountain of editing and return my inbox FULL of emails.    I was also trying to figure out stuff for the newborn shoot I had the next day.

Then Wednesday rolls around and I need to be in O’Fallon, IL by 10:30 AM for a newborn shoot.    As I was going to bed the night before, I started freaking out because I realized my rental car was under Mark’s name and I just knew my insurance was going to say they wouldn’t cover it because I wasn’t listed as the primary driver.  So in the morning I called them first thing.   The lady on the phone sounded confused and said she would have to do some research and call me back.  Then I decide to call and check on my car because it’s been a week and AGAIN they haven’t called me to update me.   Keep in mind I wanted to do this all quickly because I needed to get things organized, get ready & head out by 9:45ish.  So- I call the place that has my car and the same lady answers and for some reason she is actually nice to me this time and acts like she cares.  She says, “well we found out it wasn’t your engine.   There was a piece of rubber blocking the oil supply line and that’s what kept making the Lifters collapse.  So whoever put on your last oil filter, put on an “after-market filter” that was defective and caused the piece of rubber to fall off and clog the oil-line.”   THEN she goes on to tell me that Suzuki is saying it’s not covered under the warranty……………………………………………..this is were PISSED Lissy enters.    She tells me she’s been fighting with Suzuki all morning and she thinks they should pay for it.   She also tells me to bring in all my oil change receipts, which she had never once asked for.    Throughout our whole conversation she sounds like she feel’s so bad for me.  She gives me a number to call, tells me to keep pushing them to pay for it, etc. etc.  

So I leave to go do this newborn shoot.  As I’m driving in downtown (which is always a zoo), I get a phone call from my insurance lady in Kirksville saying my rental car was never covered because the coverage only applies if I was in a CAR ACCIDENT!!!!!!!!!!  SERIOUSLY????  So I’m REAL happy by this point.   Then I get my phone call into the Suzuki headquarters  and what they do there is put you on hold, call whatever place has your car and then do a call with everyone on the line.   So she is telling me that Suzuki is not covering it because back in March when I brought my car in, it had OEM Spec filter on it that was up to grade with Suzuki and that’s why it was covered under warranty.   But when I brought my car in this time it had an “after market filter” on it and that is why Suzuki is not covering it.  Because it was the defective after-market filter that caused the problem and it wasn’t a OEM Spec filter that Suzuki prefers.    NO WHERE in my warranty or in Suzuki specs does it say my car has to use a OEM Spec filter, but Suzuki is saying they won’t cover it because it’s the filter manufacturers fault.  

By this time, I’m at my newborn shoot and it all has to be placed on hold.  So I do my newborn shoot and head back to St. Louis. 

Once I get back to my apartment I dig up all my oil change receipts and call my most recent one, which was GRAYS (from back in March) and I call them.  He sounds completely taken off-guard and confused.  He said he’s never heard of that happening and he honestly thinks it sounds made up.  He was really nice and said he would help me in any way he could.  He asked for the name & number of whoever had my car.  He calls them and then calls me back later.   He was like, “I feel so bad for you because I think you’re going to end up paying for this.   It sounds like they’re not being very honest with you and not giving you the whole truth.”   Then he goes onto tell me that he thinks she might have put her foot in her mouth and said something she shouldn’t have.  He told her that they had put an OEM Spec filter on my car so he doesn’t understand how it could have been switched to a after-market filter if they (Webster Groves) were the only ones to have had/worked on my car between now and then.   This is where it get’s sneaky.    Then she said, ” well our filter was the last filter because we changed it when she brought it in in March.”   So the Gray guys was like “so you’re telling me that the OEM Spec filter that I put on was only on there for a day because you guys put on an after-market filter when she brought it in the next day??”  She said yes.   So then he said, “So the last filter put on her car, the one that you guys are saying caused all the problems and is not a OEM Spec filter, is the filter that you guys put on there???”   and then he said she got quite for a few seconds and said, “well we don’t know if it was the filter we put on that caused the problem.  It could have been any one of the oil filters that’s been on her car.  There’s no way to prove it was the one we put on that caused the problem.”   

This is where I about passed out because I was so furious.  I had NO idea they (Webster groves) even changed my filter.   She neglected to tell me that.   Now it all starts coming together.  She was being so nice to me because she knew they were stuck.   The reason Suzuki wasn’t covering it was because of the “after market filter” that was put on BY THE LICESNSED SUZUKI REPAIR SHOP.    BUT now they’re saying there is now way to prove it was their filter.  EVEN THOUGH that morning they told me this was all caused by whoever put on my most recent filter.   Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.    

So I don’t even call the Webster groves place because I’m so angry.  I call Suzuki headquarters and get the same lady I’ve gotten the last two times.  I explain to her what I just found out and I also say I just want to file a general complaint against this repair shop.  Please keep in mind that this repair shop is one of TWO places in St. Louis that are licensed to do Suzuki repairs.  The other one is clear out in St. Charles.   My complaint was that they were very slow, never once offered to give me a rental car or help me find one, could have cared less how long I had to rent a car and how much that was going to cost me, NEVER EVER placed a call to me and could never really give me an answer as to what was wrong with my car.  They were always “waiting to hear back from someone” and I think that if they are licensed to work on Suzuki’s then they should KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING!!!!   They do all this because they know it’s one of the only places I can take it  because it’s under warranty and they’re also not going to get any money out of me because it’s under warranty…..so why give me the time of day, right??    Well- now that they’ve got themselves in a pickle by putting on an after market filter (and not telling me about it)- now they’re “trying to help me” and they’re “fighting for me.”    So I’m telling all this to the Suzuki headquarters lady and she’s like, “miss- I will file your complaint but you are going to end up paying for these damages, so let’s just set up a payment.” 

WHAT IN THE HELL?!?!??!!??!    I flipped out on her.  I screamed, “I JUST TOLD YOU I’M NOT PAYING FOR IT!!!!!!  SO NO I’M NOT SETTING UP A  PAYMENT!!!!    I don’t care if I have to call more people, I’m not paying for this.  Goodbye. ” 

BY this point we’ve reached the point where I need to go return my most recent rental because I’m sure as hell not keeping it another day since I just found out my insurance doesn’t cover the rental unless I was in an accident.   You know what I want to know………….WHAT IN THE HELL DOES MY INSURANCE COVER??????   Because they last few times I’ve needed it to cover something- it hasn’t covered anything.    Insurance just sucks.   Simple as that.  

Anyway- we go and drop of my rental, Christa (my godparents daughter who lives by me) takes me to dinner because she thinks I need wine and a break……she knows me too well :-)   We get home, I’m return phone calls from everyone in my family trying to figure out/help with my whole car situation.   My dad has taken down every name, number, conversation etc and is going to call this dealership in the morning and get to the bottom of it.  Todd (my brother-in-law) is ready to help me in anyway he can.  He’s going to talk around and see if any of his colleagues have any suggestions.   Ryan (my other brother-law) is ready to do a conference call with me and the Suzuki people and he said we were just going to keep demanding to talk to a new person until we got someone that realized how unfair this all is.   Andrew (my other brother-law who is a lawyer) is willing to make phone calls and threaten them in any sort of legal way if I need him to.    SERIOUSLY…..BEST family ever :-)    So I got all those phone calls returned and I started answering emails.  Before I know it I can barely keep my eyes open and I had to go to bed.  I think just all the emotions from the day are what wore me out.  

So this morning my dad talks to the Webster Groves lady and once again, she’s all of a sudden really nice to my dad.   She said that she talked to the Suzuki people again and the guy finally got so angry with her and said, “you tell them it was an after-market filter and we’re not paying for it!!!!”  and then hung up on her.   This was an actual rep for Suzuki.   Professional, right???    So then I decide it’s time to do a conference call with Ryan.   I call him up and I start telling him the latest update and then I was like “is this even a good time for you???”  and he paused for a second and said, “actually- I think I might call you back because my car just broke down on the side of the road.”    ARE YOU KIDDING ME????????????????????????????   Seriously???  I think my luck just rubs off on everyone.   Ugh!  

So that is where we are now.    Suzuki isn’t paying for it because they blame it on the after-market filter (even though they don’t specify ANYWHERE that you HAVE to use an OEM spec filter) .   Webster Groves isn’t paying for it because even though they put on the most recent filter (which they keep trying to hide and skip over) they now claim it could have been any one of the oil filters that has been on my car that caused the damage.   SO I think they know it was their filter they put on that did the damage, but they think Suzuki should pay for it because they never specified that you HAD to use a OEM spec filter.     Since no one is paying for it- it goes to me since it’s my car.  Even though I did what I was supposed to do, I took it to all the right people, etc.   Even though I’m not the one changing my oil, I’m no the one picking out and putting on the filter…..I’m still the one paying for it because no one will take the blame. 

Sucks, right?  

SO this has been my life lately.  This is why it’s taking me weeks to return emails, this is why I’ve gotten NO editing done in the past two weeks and this is why all I want to do is cry.  I’m SO sick of constantly being on the phone, running here, running there, draining my account on rental cars, etc.   I JUST WANT TO WORK FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Now I’m open for any and all suggestions.  Anyone have this problem??  Anyone have thoughts on what I should do???  Anyone?