roofies.

[swingchickie]

first of all, i hope everyone at state farm insurance gets eaten by wolverines. i am so pissed at them right now. they are not covering the repairs to my roof, because the crack in the shingles is due to "poor workmanship" and the 50-year-old rotting plywood underneath that has to be replaced is due to "poor workmanship" (um, 50 years ago?) and "old age". basically, if my roof leaks for any reason other than a meteor crashing through it, they won't pay. *seethe*

funny thing is, they'll pay for the repair of the water damage to my kitchen. sooooo... they'll pay to fix the problem inside... even though, if i can't afford to fix the outside, it's going to leak again and they'd have to pay again? yeah, that makes sense.

jack has been an amazing help through all of this. he told his next-door neighbor (who used to be a roofer) about my problem, and that i don't have thousands of dollars to fix it, and the neighbor came over with him last night to go up there and take a look. he's going to do the work for free, as are jack and his best friend (who also happens to be his neighbor)... the only thing i'll have to pay for is the cost of the materials, and about $500 to a guy the neighbor knows who is still a full-time roofer and can oversee all the work to make sure it's done well. so, it was going to cost me $1000 to patch the roof (estimate #1), or $4200 to replace that whole side (estimate #2)... now it'll only cost me about $1000 to replace the whole side.

i'm overwhelmed by the guys' generosity, and i'll admit, a little freaked out by it. two guys who barely know me are going to spend their entire weekend up on my roof, in the cold, doing hard labor. and they don't want money for it. i don't know what to do, i'm grateful but my brain can't handle it. i'm used to paying people for their services, and this is a service worth SO much money that they're doing for free... i've been really stressed about it since last night, feeling like i'm taking advantage of some really nice people who care about jack a lot. i asked jack if they'd be cool with me getting them a big gift certificate to a restaurant in the area, or something like that, as a thank-you, and he said that'd be a good idea... but a $100 gift certificate to outback steakhouse is just NOT enough compensation for an entire weekend of grueling work. ugh.

Comments

Same issue

[jeremym.livejournal.com]

I also have state farm. And I had the same problem.

When the side of my house leaked and it was raining *IN* my office, I got the exact same response.

Repairs are only covered if say, someone crashes into your house, or a crane hits it, or something flies out of the sky. A "single impactful act" or somesuch.

Their logic (dumb as it is) is that if you choose to use paper towels and paper macche as a roof (or a side of a house) that's your own dumb fault.

Clearly, it's not; but, that's their deal.

So, been there, done that, got the T-shirt and the repair bill to prove it.

[swingdoc.livejournal.com]

any chance there's someone in their lives who doesn't realize how much they'd love a hula-hoop?

my (unsolicited) advice is to enjoy this wonderful outpouring of humanity because it seems so rare nowadays. cook them a nice meal, bring them drinks and give them the warm-fuzzy feeling of seeing how happy and grateful you are. maybe after you meet these guys, it'll come to you in a flash just what the perfect thank-you gift is (i.e. maybe you'll find out they love NASCAR or something. . .)

what swingdoc said

[katehaney.livejournal.com]

Be the sweetest non-customer ever. Supply food & drinks & tunes (if they want). Act as general dogsbody/step'n'fetchit. Gift certificates are nice, too.

Also, offer to be a reference to "real" customers if they'd like. Offer hula-hoops, dance lessons, babysitting, whatever.

[opadit.livejournal.com]

When I worked for a personal-injury lawyer, the phrase "State Farm" was never uttered without the word "fucking" in front of it.

It may be worth your while to spend half an hour or so writing and sending a (paper, not e-mailed) letter to them to complain, maybe Cc'd to the state insurance commissioner (http://www.ins.state.pa.us/ins/cwp/view.asp?a=1277&Q=526760). In the meantime, I'm glad you've found some folks to help fix the roof!

[mrlich.livejournal.com]

Having done a wide range of manual labor jobs in the past, and more than one for family member/friends either for free or way on the cheap side, I have to agree with the comments by swingdoc and katehaney. The simple act of making them food will go a looong way. It demonstrates an inexpensive, but heartfelt response to their work. In fact, while gift certs are nice, they almost seem counter to the "I don't have the money to pay you." thought process.

I also really like the idea of offering custom hula-hoops to them if they have someone who would enjoy one. I'm a big fan of the barter system when it's do-able. Then you find yourself trading skill and work for skill and work rather than cold hard cash.

[occhi-cinesi.livejournal.com]

This is great and I don't have much to offer in addition to what everyone else said would be appreciated by your personal roofers. I always hope and dream for free/steeply discounted services but have never gotten them so I can imagine both the relief as well as the stress of feeling like you're taking advantage of a good deed. But everyone else's suggestions sound good.

That said, I think we should start our own Insurance Agency. Honestly, it doesn't seem too difficult: just charge a premium, even the cheapest in the industry, keep cashing those checks... then deny all claims. Progressive denied my claim last year when a woman hit my car and I needed a new bumper. Because I hydroplaned backwards into the front of her car on 95/128 in the rain? Riiiiiight.

Enjoy your new roof! Yeah!

[notshakespeare.livejournal.com]

I saw that title and instantly wondered what kind of "bad night at the bar" story you were going to tell.

This story is much better.