OK, background info first:
I go to Ohio State, and live in a duplex with 9 guys, total. Four of them live on one side with me, but we all get along. Anyway, we had the idea of selling parking spaces behind our house on home game days. The stadium only seats 100K, so parking is pretty tight, and we are getting $15 for a spot, on the grass in our backyard, triple to quadruple parked. We usually fit 12-14 cars in here. We take our profits, and have Kegs and Eggs prior to every home football game.
So, anyway, we park 13 cars/SUVs last weekend. One of them is a Chevy SUV with the side mirrors that fold flat along the sides. This is driven by a lady, who has three passengers, one female, 2 male, all of them, driver included, look to be 25-30. They park, pay their $15, no problems... until they go to leave. Now, they had folded the mirrors on their own, according to the "lady", when they went to unfold the drivers side, the mirror had been knocked out of its place, and was dangling by a wire/cable (our backyard is not well lit, and I was not there when the flashlight was brought out). So, she immediately starts threatening to sue. Seriously, its the first thing out of her mouth. My first reaction is to tell her to go pound salt, but, as I have aged I have matured, so I attempted to reason with her. This is difficult, because she reeks of beer, and is visibly drunk. But, I am nothing if not hardheaded, so I go at it a few rounds, staying calm and sticking to the facts. She wants the license plate number of the guy next to her, who was driving a Pontiac Grand Am, saying that he obviously hit her mirror, with his car. Now, the Grand Am is, at no point, as high as her side mirror, unless you include the antenna on the Grand Am. I point this out, and she sits there, with this priceless look on her face. After about 10 seconds, she just continues on in rant mode like that part of the arguement never happened. Its important to note, we saaw her pop the mirror back into place prior to driving off.
Anyway, here are the basic arguements:
Her: You are responsible for damages, you didnt say you weren't, its implied. (rant continues, something about how she is a replublican, she "pays taxes to keep the roads in order", and how "she was just trying to help some poor college students out" by paying $15 for parking [apparently the fact that there is no other option for parking never crossed her mind... also reported absent was the phrase "fair market value"])
Me: we never said we accept responsibility for your car's condition on our yard. When it comes to the law, NOTHING is implied.
So, anyway, we gave her our house phone (mainly to shut her up), and havent heard from her since. If she does call wanting restitution, I'm going to ask for an invoive or a reciept, to check if she is trying to scam me. Once/If provided with one, I'm going to tell her where to shove it, unless its shown that I am liable.
P.S. On a side note, the guys with her (both drunk) almost managed to pick a fight with me, and later, after I just walked away, with my housemate. The funny thing was, there were 6-7 of us from the house out there at all times, all of which were bigger than either of them. I kind of regret not allowing them to start something (I just walked away), but then again, not fighting was probably the smart move in this case.
I go to Ohio State, and live in a duplex with 9 guys, total. Four of them live on one side with me, but we all get along. Anyway, we had the idea of selling parking spaces behind our house on home game days. The stadium only seats 100K, so parking is pretty tight, and we are getting $15 for a spot, on the grass in our backyard, triple to quadruple parked. We usually fit 12-14 cars in here. We take our profits, and have Kegs and Eggs prior to every home football game.
So, anyway, we park 13 cars/SUVs last weekend. One of them is a Chevy SUV with the side mirrors that fold flat along the sides. This is driven by a lady, who has three passengers, one female, 2 male, all of them, driver included, look to be 25-30. They park, pay their $15, no problems... until they go to leave. Now, they had folded the mirrors on their own, according to the "lady", when they went to unfold the drivers side, the mirror had been knocked out of its place, and was dangling by a wire/cable (our backyard is not well lit, and I was not there when the flashlight was brought out). So, she immediately starts threatening to sue. Seriously, its the first thing out of her mouth. My first reaction is to tell her to go pound salt, but, as I have aged I have matured, so I attempted to reason with her. This is difficult, because she reeks of beer, and is visibly drunk. But, I am nothing if not hardheaded, so I go at it a few rounds, staying calm and sticking to the facts. She wants the license plate number of the guy next to her, who was driving a Pontiac Grand Am, saying that he obviously hit her mirror, with his car. Now, the Grand Am is, at no point, as high as her side mirror, unless you include the antenna on the Grand Am. I point this out, and she sits there, with this priceless look on her face. After about 10 seconds, she just continues on in rant mode like that part of the arguement never happened. Its important to note, we saaw her pop the mirror back into place prior to driving off.
Anyway, here are the basic arguements:
Her: You are responsible for damages, you didnt say you weren't, its implied. (rant continues, something about how she is a replublican, she "pays taxes to keep the roads in order", and how "she was just trying to help some poor college students out" by paying $15 for parking [apparently the fact that there is no other option for parking never crossed her mind... also reported absent was the phrase "fair market value"])
Me: we never said we accept responsibility for your car's condition on our yard. When it comes to the law, NOTHING is implied.
So, anyway, we gave her our house phone (mainly to shut her up), and havent heard from her since. If she does call wanting restitution, I'm going to ask for an invoive or a reciept, to check if she is trying to scam me. Once/If provided with one, I'm going to tell her where to shove it, unless its shown that I am liable.
P.S. On a side note, the guys with her (both drunk) almost managed to pick a fight with me, and later, after I just walked away, with my housemate. The funny thing was, there were 6-7 of us from the house out there at all times, all of which were bigger than either of them. I kind of regret not allowing them to start something (I just walked away), but then again, not fighting was probably the smart move in this case.
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