Monday, April 5, 2010

Southern Gentlemen

On our way back from taking Mom back home, we stopped at a Walmart in Perry, Florida.

We always park in the farthest part of the parking lot to avoid shopping carts hitting our car.  (now didn’t that work out well?)

We came out of Walmart and noticed the front drivers side window was shattered, with only the window film keeping the glass together.

There was a small hole which indicated something hit it…a rock, bullet?  We weren’t sure what happened, but before we had a chance to do anything , a man walked over and handed me 2 metal objects that he said had caused the damage to the glass.  He apologized and said his employee hit something while mowing the grass and it flew into our window.  He apologized several times.   I explained I was was just thankful that he bothered to own up to it and take responsibility and it certainly was not his fault.  He offered to pay for the damages and didn’t want to file it with his insurance company.   We had no idea what it would cost, so he called a friend who owned a body shop and got a ball park quote of $200.  That didn’t include the window film though.

He then gave Al $300 cash, and his business card.  He said to let him know if it cost more and he would pay the difference, but if it cost less to go out to dinner with the rest!

Now technically he would owe us for a rental car while the vehicle was not safely drivable, but we certainly will manage with our other car until it can be repaired.  We were able to drive home, but it is definitely not safe, because you cannot see out of the drivers window, and I’m not sure how long the glass will hang on!

On the way home I called a body shop we had dealt with before and got an estimate for $211, not including the window tint. 

Wow, what a southern Gentleman he was!  Thanks John “Tater” Padgett of Padgett Lawn Care!

If you ever spend the night in the parking lot in Perry , Florida you might see Tater and his crew!  They do the parking lot cleaning at night as well as mowing! 

It restores my faith in mankind!

3 comments:

Margie M. said... [Reply to comment]

What a nice post. So many times people only write about the "bad stuff" and I always enjoy reading about the good in people. It always helps to restore my faith in humankind everywhere.

Have a great week!

Kathy said... [Reply to comment]

Hi Karen & Al,
The best part of traveling through the south is Southern manners and hospitality! Great post!

There's a link on our blog with the interior photo gallery of our new rig, it was at the bottom of the text. Here's the short cut:
http://keystone-montana.com/index.php?page=snapshot-gallery&model=3400RL
Kathy and Grant
Birdingrvers.com

Margie and Roger said... [Reply to comment]

Sorry you had a window broken, but it was great that the man was honest about how it happened and paid for it. Hope it is fixed correctly and that the door works right.