"You asked for it, stupid!"

Last Tuesday morning, K had a minor car accident: a car behind him kissed his car's behind when K stopped for the red light. The driver was a white young man (let's call him S), who apologized and seemed very afraid that K would report it to the insurance company. As a compassionate person, K agreed to check the damage and probably settle it privately if there is no big cost. In the meantime, K got S's name, insurance policy number, driver's licence number and even address.

The next day, K went to a Toyota dealer and got estimation for the damage: two dimples on the rear bumper punched by the screws of S's license plate. The price? $650. Understandably, S thought it was too much when he heard this number. He then suggested we bring our car to another dealer where one of his friends was working. But the problem was: that dealer was far away and we did not want to waste our time and mileage to go there.

Guessing the damage was probably over-estimated, also in order to help this poor guy, we volunteered to get a second opinion from another dealership. On Thursday, I drove this car there and told the estimator my car was hit when parked in the parking lot, which meant I didn’t know who did it and I had to swallow the cost myself. This time, the estimation was much lower than last time: only $370.

To be honest, we didn’t think the dimples are a big deal, but we did want to get what we deserved. So, K called S again and told him he could either pay us $370 after we get the car fixed or pay us $300 upfront (which we might not use to fix the car). S said he was very busy and we could discuss it in the weekend.

Unfortunately, no call from S until Saturday evening. So I got a little bit confused here: he hit our car, and he begged us to settle it privately, and we spent extra time and gas to save money for HIM, and now we have to solicit him around? Hello! We are doing YOU a favour, remember?

But K called him anyway, more than once (I really admired his patience and mild temper), and eventually left him a message. Finally, S called back on Sunday saying he was still extremely busy and we could get the money on Monday. What? Is he thinking we are blackmailing him?

Still, no call until 10:00PM Monday evening. Suddenly, I became suspicious: what if this guy is playing game with us? What if there is a time limit before when we have to file our claim? With this fear in mind, I quickly went though the website of Insurance Bureau of Canada and found out that some policies require the clients to report accident within seven days. After realizing it was already seventh day, K phoned S. You guessed right, S was very busy the whole day and very tired. He was so tired that he refused to go downstairs even if we could go to his apartment building! He also sounded somehow upset about we pushed him so much.... Wait a minute: we are the beggars now?

Outraged by this guy's arrogance, I immediately urged K to call insurance right away (it was already 10:30PM). We would never ever talk to him again even if he offered us $2000 cash!

As everyone expected, things changed dramatically Tuesday morning. S called K five times and left several messages but K never answered him. Obviously, his insurance company was already bugging him. And suddenly, he had so much spare time to call us persistantly (maybe also desperately), but we are sorry, it was too late.

Let's count the final toll for him. The estimation provided by our insurance company’s designated garage is about $560, which almost doubles the money we asked. Considering the deductable, it is very likely that S has to pay it by himself. Besides, S’s insurance premium will go up considerably next year, which is even worse.

You asked for it, Stupid! (Yes, name S stands for "Stupid".)