Mean People Suck!

[jayhkr]

Ok, not sure really where to post this so I'm putting it here. This post will also be on several other forums so forgive me if you see this somewhere else. Ok, first my rant. MEAN PEOPLE SUCK!!! As some of you may have remember from last year I fell victim to an unfortunate vandalism with an egg. Not to big of a deal, just minor chips that were fairly easily taken care of with a color matching paint pen. Recently this spring/summer I got into a great hobby of detailing my truck using all the "good" stuff like buffers, sealants, waxes making it look GUUUUUD! I take a lot of time and tons of pride in making my truck look good, even if it is a daily driver. I haven’t been able to wash or polish it recently due to the rainy weather and my day's off haven’t been coinciding with nicer weather, but this weekend was going to be the weekend I was going to go over her in great detail right before the winter months came in (not to mention my wife and I are leaving for our anniversary trip in a few weeks. Always like traveling in a clean, sharp looking ride!) Well all that came to a screeching halt this afternoon when I got off work and started getting in my truck. (insert psyco music/sound here) I go around my truck and start to open the door when I see this:



Now I first think someone got sick or spilled milk on my truck, or a VERY large bird pooped on it. Then I got a little closer and I started to fume. This is a more detailed shot of this:









Someone had poured a very thick liquid paint removing agent on my truck. I had to of been fairly thick as whatever it was barely reached the bottom of the truck. There was no pool of liquid on the ground so I couldn’t really tell you what it is. What I can tell you is that my blood is boiling right now. I mean, what kind of person does this? I haven’t pissed anyone off, or wronged anyone at my job, home, or in my personal life. This was just a random act of stupid.
So now starts the questions of where do I go to get it fixed? Do I turn this into my insurance company? Does anyone recommend a company that they have had good results with? I’ve heard good and bad things from Maaco, but I want to hear from others who have had their vehicles painted. I’d LOVE to find a place that could take care of the whole truck and maybe get rid of the orange peel in the process! Maybe make a positive out of the negative. I just don’t want some company to paint that section of the truck or even that whole side of the bed and not have it match the rest of the truck. The paint pen that I got for the other scratches was semi-close in color but noticeably off (in my eyes). Any and ALL help, comments, suggestions is appreciated and thank you for listening to me rant. Here is a link to the rest of the pictures I took:
http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l129/jayhkr/Vandalism/

[snowking724]

holy s__t!!! i'd flip.

[Mindflux]

File a claim and find a reputable shop in town (not maaco)

They'll do a good job blending the paintwork on the panel with the rest of the bed.

[CEE DOG]

That is not normal! I'm so sorry for your trouble. Some people are just ____less. I would be unhappy with that. As bad as it felt for you to have this happen.... Imagine what it must be like to be the type of person that would do this. Being "that guy" would really suck!

What the heck is that crap! Crazy....

[purgeofdarkness]

that's pretty brutal. permanent damage like that is cossing the line

[Grizzly]

Whoever did that is a POS.

[toxygene]

That is absolutely disturbing! There is no reason for this to happen to anyone, whether someone is upset with you or not. I am afraid I don't have much advice about the insurance part of it, but I would suggest you file a police report at the very least. Whether you ultimately submit a claim with the insurance probably depends on the repair estimate versus your deductible.

As much as I hate to say it, though, I can relate to your story. A few weeks ago I ordered my first PC, pads, polishes, and variety of other things (and have the Autogeek banner to prove it!) and excitedly set to work on my girlfriend's car. In total I probably spent about nine to 10 hours outside polishing and waxing the car. For my first time with a PC, I thought it came out excellent. That same night someone smeared the windows and the paint of the whole car with some type of white deodorant. Note that we live in a large apartment complex with many cars parked around her's, and this was the only car targeted. Obviously someone saw the hard work I put into this and thought it would be funny to play a prank on me.
Fortunately in this situation it did not cause any permanent damage, but I can imagine your frustration.

I hope everything works out for the best for you!

[jayhkr]

Yeah, I went and filed a report with Progressive. They've been VERY helpful in the past so I'm confident they will come through for me this time. Like I said the suck part is that my wife and I are to leave for our trip in a few weeks so my money is all tied up in that and won't have the cash until after we get back. It's either that or I say, "Honey you bought me a new paint job for our anniversary." I don't think that will go over well. In the short time, if I can't get a body shop right away, is there anything "I" can do to keep it from rusting. This may be a good opportunity for me to try my hand at sanding! (look a possitive in this negative situation) I just want to protect it from the elements until a shop can fix it properly. Thank you everyone for your support and suggestions! You all are the best!!

[Mindflux]

Dont do anything until Progressive documents and photographs it.

[kvnkst]

I am very sorry for the damage that some idiot did to your truck! I feel your frustration as well. Six days after I bought my car someone backed up into me in my credit unions parking lot with a with a trailer hitch and cracked and tore up the front end of my Impala. I was furious! No note, no nothing just drove off. I went back into the credit union to see if they had any cameras viewing the parking lot, unfortunately they did not. Maybe they had a camera in the lot you were in. I thought about claiming it on my insurance under no fault accident, but really didn't want my rates going up. It wasn't nearly as bad as what happened to you, but i feel your pain. I am going to attempt repairing the damage myself, the way I look at it, it couldn't make it look worse. I will learn something new and if it turns out great the feeling of satisfaction will overwhelm me. Maybe you can tackle this project yourself if you put your mind to it, just think, could it look any worse? I don't know how close you are to your insurance agent, but maybe run it by them on how much it would be to fix it. Let em know you might try and fix it yourself but if it turns poor then you can fall back on them, that's why we pay those big premiums. I hope I have helped you even just a little.