So, on the night of the full moon in February, I decided to brighten my spirits by going for a mani-pedi in Santa Monica. The street traffic was really heavy that night, due to a backup on the 405...yes, it was a Friday night, but I hadn't seen the traffic that bad before.
Anyhoo, I'm headed down 5th street, and am almost at Wilshire, when a white compact car appears out of nowhere and smashes right into me. A guy was trying to turn left out of a parking lot and decided to get aggressive and gun it across traffic. Too bad he wasn't looking where he was going. Anyway, it happened at low speed, so we were both ok. He apologized profusely and owned up to his own stupidity. Then, he said he was driving a rental, so there was no insurance info to exchange. I got his driver license number and cell phone -- he told me he was a commercial director who was constantly between London and L.A., and that he was eager to pay for the damage to my car out of pocket.
The next day, I went to my mechanic and got an estimate for $1400(!). I let Michael know, and he told me that sounded about right. He was off on location but promised he'd wire the money to me.
Until, that is, he realized he was having some sort of financial crisis. Seems he was waiting on a client to pay him, blah, blah. This continued "I want to pay you and will as soon as I can." And, the fucker had the nerve to keep text messaging me instead of just sending email or calling. Note to everyone: please do not assume that everyone pays for the monthly "unlimited text message" feature with their cell phone. I don't.
Just before I hit the two month mark, I let Mr. Holt know that I was giving him a deadline to pay me before I notify my insurance. This is what he emails me back:
"I definately understand your concern.
Truthfully, I want to take care of this on my own
because I was not carrying liability insurance for the
U.S. at the time and had stupidly only purchased
insurance to cover the rental car.
I'm still struggling but expecting some income any
day. I'll keep you posted and will contact you in the
next few days again regardless.
Do what is best for you but I promise, I won't not pay
you for the damage. I just need a little more time. I
haven't been in this kind of money crunch for 10 years
and it really bites but I will be back in the black
soon with some new lessons learned. I'm so sorry.
Michael"
Just my luck that some broke-ass guy would hit my car. And no, he didn't get back to me.
So, on April 2nd, I notified my insurance company. Who notified me that I would be responsible for paying my deductible until they can successfully get the money from the rental company's insurance.
Of course, when I email Mr. Holt asking for the name of the rental company I get nothing. So, now, I'm calling each rental company with the info I have on him to try to narrow them down. What a fucking nightmare.
Anyway, lesson learned. No matter how reputable or cognizant of karma anyone seems, get every bit of information you need at the accident site. Call the cops if needed. And, if someone driving a rental car hits you, for goodness sake, get the tag number of the car in question.
Michael Holt, wherever you are, I hope you get what you deserve.
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