Building a Wagon Queen Family Truckster.

Just got on here to catch up a bit. Sorry the '80 wagon didn't work out, that sucks. I can keep my eyes peeled for anything you think you may need, as I frequent the salvage yards around here often. Found a '79 sedan a few weeks ago that had the sail mirror and door glass, but didn't get it because I already have a spare one.

 

I am resurrecting this thread from the dead with another update. Tomorrow makes 6 months since the Truckster was totaled. I really hope no one else has to go through the nightmare this has become.

I have not given up on building a car. Quite the opposite, I have been gathering parts and pestering celebrities about a car that they don't remember so well.

Also..

I had finally reached an agreed settlement amount and everything should have been concluded 2 weeks ago. The amount allows me to replace my car. But instead of waiting on a car hauler I get another another roadblock, we will call her Jane, name changed to protect this €~■+ just incase.

Let me frame this situation, I was on the clock when my car was hit that makes it a workers comp case. In the ER my management was unable to get the people in our corporate office to give me a work comp authorization number to be seen, they couldn't get anyone on the phone in that dept. I had to use my regular medical insurance. I had the same situation for my x-rays, prescriptions and specialist visits. In fact this authorization number that should have been given to me within 15 minutes of the accident took 3 weeks to get! The people that handle work comp for my company won't return calls, are always out of the office and won't return emails. It's a joke. Everything was put on my regular ins and paid out of pocket other than the physical therapy. Workers comp paid that. So my employers workers comp dept put a lean on my settlement with the insurance company so no one gets a dime until they are reimbursed in full.

Ok I get that. Well, the guy handling my work comp stuff finally sent the letter stating what they paid out and the reciepts to prove it so they could be reimbursed. They got reimbursed but he left out 3 important words, "final lean amount" on the release letter. That was 2 weeks ago and the lean remains and I can't get a dime.

It literally took 2 weeks but I got them on the phone and have a 3 way call with the insurance lady and my company's workers comp dept. Now a new lady (Jane) is handling my workers comp stuff. This womans a real b*t*h, just a nasty attitude and rude. She refused to release the lean until she gets the hospital bills. We explained the situation, there already paid, you don't need them. I paid out of pocket and my insurance picked up the rest. You have been reimbursed for everything you paid out, no more bills are coming. You are done. All we want are 3 words " final lean amount" and the amount you were paid. That's it, do that and we are done! A check will be mailed out to me for pain and suffering, lost wages, mileage, medical bill reimbursement and the money to reimburse my medical insurance company. It's that easy, it's legal and it's common sense to do this. She refused and actually had the nerve to berate me for paying stuff when the only reason I had to was they refuse to do their job.

So I had to do it her way, I had to send her all the bills and proof I paid them so she can go through the doctors, hospital and medical ins comp to get everything swapped onto the workers comp claim and them she can pay them. Once all that is settled she will reimburse what I paid out. Only then after all that, will she release the lean on the settlement. This will take months.

After Jane got off the 3 way call I could hear the frustration in my insurance ladys voice. Legally she can't send me a dime and to quote her "32 years in this buisness, I have never seen this. This has taken way to long to settle. This is rediculous". She sympathized and said all I can do is wait on Jane.

I literally went from having a check in a few days so I could get the '79, get back on track and get to work on the car. But no, instead I am back at the starting gate. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

 

Gawd. I saw this thread come up and I was afraid to read it. This “Jane” sounds like a real piece of work. This has a lot of similarities with a dispute my wife and I had over her 07’ Camry. We came out on top but it was over of year of back and forth finger pointing between corporate Toyota and dealership Toyota. Apparently they’re two separate entities that have nothing to do with each other. Especially if one of them owes you a good amount of moola. I have thought about posting the situation on this thread but I haven’t found the time or the nerve to recreate the B.S. I went through. It’s all coincides with the age old problem with people’s condition to either be too lazy or incompetent to do their job. “Jane” sounds like she gets off bossing people around. Have you politely, yet passively aggressively asked to speak to her manager?

 

She is the boss in that dept. The guy I was dealing with before is her assistant. I have never delt with her so I wasn't expecting this. Today I have had coworkers tell me horror stories of dealing with her. "Oh she's a piece of $#!+" was utteted by a few people I work with. One guy ripped his knee up pretty bad and lawyered up at another location. She drug it out so it just breached the GA statute of limitations and they didn't have to pay a dime. That should be criminal but unfortunately it happens a lot. This is a major corporation, not some mom and pop operation. Somehow that makes it more dispicable to me.

In my case it makes no sense to delay anything since they are not responsible for a single dime. They were/will be reimbursed 100%. If they drag it out to the extreme they just screw me.

At this point I think I need to sell a car or 2 or get a few side jobs and raise the money that way. I feel stupid like I should have come to this conclusion months ago. I keep getting strung along like it is about to be resolved any day so I wait. Right now I am welding up a friends 66 Country Squire with butt cancer. The car has butt cancer, not the friend. As soon as that's done I have to shoot some paint on a 76 Gremlin. After that I would like to be starting back on a Truckster.

 

Man, I am sorry to hear about this. As Grizz said, it sounds as though Jane enjoys being bossy.
It's situations like this that make sensible people go crazy.

You might as well laugh. Ultimately life's better that way.

 

That's all I can do is laugh. Next time I will have some good news. I may start a new thread for the next Truckster. The old one is stripped halfway down. I won't waste any parts. I don't want to see the ol' girl crushed I wish I had the room to let her rot with dignity in a pasture somewhere.

It still bugs me all this started because some idiot couldn't stay off his phone. The car would be done and I would be building the 83 Country Squire from Revenge of the Nerds by now. That's next on my list. I already have the right interior. The dark blue deluxe vinyl interior with the flight bench. That wasn't easy to find. I have the suitcases as well. I need to build the crate and get some Lamda Lamda Lamda vest.

 

Wow you got some bad luck, hopefully some good news comes your way soon.

 

Unfortunately, it won't be Jane's dismissal and subsequent arrest for embezzlement.

 

Sorry to hear about all the troubles, you cant seem to catch a break. Hopefully it will get better soon.

 

You never know. It's usually only the bigger fishes who are able to swim through the net. Case in point: A certain former presidential candidatess of whom the F.B.I. continually drag their feet on filing charges pertaining to charity fraud on a massive scale. One woman who has done similar on a miniature scale has been locked up for a rather long time. The further up they are, on the pyramid, the more untouchable

 

Any updates?

 

this was looking awesome. sorry to see the accident.

 

Not much exciting to update. But here is my progress.

I am still in red tape hell with the accident. In August it will be a year! Until all the medical bills are paid they can't pay me. I still have 2 bills that are in colletions and several have hit my credit report. All the others have been paid. I had to get a lawyer involved if you can believe it. My place of employment sent out an email requesting the bills and that's about the extent of the "give a darn" they have. The lawyer said the hospital had stuff filed wrong and is recalling bills from some collection agencies. This is a pain in the butt I hope none of you go through.

As for car progress I'm still selling parts and saving where I can to get the new car to build. I think it will be faster than waiting for a settlement. I'm pretty close to having what I need to get the 79. I scored 2 parts cars! I got them very cheap as he didn't see any value in them other than scrap. They were used for parts storage for an old car collector. Both have the sand interiors and are white. One is an 86 country squire, it was rolled and is in bad shape. I doubt the driver walked away from that crash. The other is an 84 and it looks really nice but it had a rusty bottom and the roof is beat to death as it was a drive shafts holder for a dozen cars. I have also been gathering parts and some of the items that were in the car as they come available. This stuff is so obscure these days. I have not given up. I think it will all come together quick once I get everything in place.

 

Just out of curiosity, are nust going to stick with a carbed engine? I have something in mind....

 

Yeah, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Most of my stuff is carburated.