More England stories

So this morning we woke up as usual... DADDY! DADDY! ITS WAKEY WAKEY TIME. That was normal, although sometimes its MOMMY! instead of DADDY! Anyway, we got ready and were all set to go. Andrea went to get the car. However, she came back to the house without it. I thought this was a bit strange. I mean, when one goes to get the car, it is expected that they in fact drive it back.

The problem, as I quickly learned, was that someone had tried to steal it. When she got to the car, the door was open, the window down and the steering column was taken apart. Apparently someone had used something like a crow bar to pry the door open. They then must have been really hot so they rolled the window down. I am sure the night time January air helped them cool off and relax a bit. They then must have set out to hot-wire the car. They did this by pulling at things, jamming things into the ignition, and otherwise destroying the steering column. Thankfully, our 1996 Ford Escort proved to be more formidable then must have been initially thought. The result was that our car was unable to be stolen. The bad news was that it is completely disabled.




(Notice that not only the cars, but also how bright and sunny it is. Well, I am sure it's bright and sunny behind all those clouds)

As you can see from the pictures, our car was clearly the nicest one on the block. And why wouldn't it be? After all I am a social worker and Andrea works at a college. Just look at the other cars - BMW, Mercedes, Honda. They passed those up for a beautiful, white Ford Escort with missing molding and moss growing in the window seals!

We then called the police. They were quite helpful and sent out an officer to take a statement. They asked if we had touched anything, which we had. They said that we should not touch anymore as a crime scene investigator is going to come out. We said that we did not know that as we did not normally watch CSI. Had we watched, as we will now do, we would have known that they could find out who did this by using all sorts of high-tech gadgets and sprays and lights. They would then take all the things that were collected and photoed while placed next to numbers on yellow stands and go back to the lab where they could use their high-speed computers and ultimately match the evidence and fingerprints to a known criminal. It is all very exciting really!

Then we called the insurance company, ahhhh... the insurance company. Now, for anyone who has read out blogs, you will remember that we think customer service in this country is, how shall we say it, total crap. Thankfully the insurance company was no exception. At first they were fine, it was not until we asked what our premiums would go to after we filed a claim that it got a bit weird. We already knew that if we filed a claim we would lose our introductory 35% discount (to be fair, we would lose that after the first year anyway). We also knew that it would go up a further 30% or so. However, they were unwilling to tell us what the final cost would be. They stated that they could not tell us this number. To which we were a bit surprised. It was pointed out to them that if we called in asking for a quote for the first time, they would in fact be able to give us one. Their response was that we would not be doing that as we are already customers. I stated that if I called up using a different name they could give me a quote. They answered back stating that would be fraudulent. They told me that I could go on the Internet and ask for a quote and get an idea what it would be. I asked what the difference was between the Internet and the phone and since I was already talking to someone would it not just be easier to give me the quote now. She stated that the computer does not know who I am and she does. I pointed out that it seems the system does not seem to work. She stated the system is fine as I could go on the Internet. I said that is the point, that I can go on the Internet but I cannot get that information from her. I pointed again that the system seems to failing and asked if she didn't agree with me. She said she didn't.

Wait, here it comes, the giant scream of frustration... that's better.

As you see, this became a circular argument. And of course I asked to speak to the manager and was told no I could not at this moment and would have to wait 48 business hours. Of course I used the old ploy of threatening to cancel my insurance. This had zero effect on her. She simply informed me that I could do that at end of my term; however if I did that prior they would charge me for the rest of said term.

And there we have our life in England so far this morning. I am exhausted just thinking about this. The up-side is that we will probably have to pay more in repairs then the car is actually worth. We only paid £300 for the car after all.