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And a Claim Involving Myself
June 13, 2017
What you are about to read is the currently evolving story of a fraud involving RV Collision & Restoration, Inc., of Bushnell, but this particular shop is in Clermont, Florida, and myself, and possibly the Progressive Insurance Company. Actually, it’s more probable then possible. I started writing this a little late, so some of the facts may be out of time, but no matter what happened and are all truth. This claim was made in the middle of September, in Cannonball, North Dakota, stemming from the Standing Rock incident.
After calling in the claim I was forced to wait two weeks to see the adjuster to help get me back to traveling. I had to spend money ($210) at the Standing Rock Casino campground waiting for the adjuster to come. On October 3, 2016, he finally showed up. After he got me to where I could drive, I drove to a body shop in Bismarck, or Mandan, ND, where I was buttoned up even more. I was also to receive the estimate there, but got it via email that night. I continued my slow trip back to Florida.
The check was made out to me, however. I had no way of cashing it. I was told I could hold on to it until I found a shop to do the repairs, then sign it over to them. In April I was ready. The check was older than 90 days, so it was voided. No problem, the adjustment would have to be done over anyway due to the price charged by the shops here in Florida. I tried getting people to come out to look at the damage. After not getting any replies I called RV Collision and Restoration, Inc., of Minneola, Florida, and spoke with Armando Salinas. No website, but they are on facebook. They probably aren’t liking that too much these days.
At first, Armando Salinas, Vice President of RV C & R, was hesitant to come give me an estimate. He said it was a waist of his time because most people just wanted to get the check and run. I assured him that I had a desire to make the repairs, however, not all of them. I wanted the money I saved by not doing some of the work to go into other repairs that I needed more for functionality than cosmetics.
From the start I liked Armando. We talked about the adjustment. He was pleased it was Progressive. I told him of the crappy work done by Lazy Days, back in 2009, and showed him how the bus has been falling apart ever since. I showed him how they put the exhaust pipe from the furnace on upside down and how I never touched it because there was only one screw holding it on. He told me he would take care of that. He never did. He took some photos, plus others I sent him, and told me when and where to meet with him and the adjuster from Progressive.
We all met at the shop in Minneolia, at 8:30 am, the last week in April. I promptly arrived, but when I walked into the office it seemed that everything was already taken care of. The adjuster was making a beeline for the exit. When he came back in to give us the new figures I stopped him and introduced myself. He was like, “yeah, okay,” and left for good. It seemed he liked dealing with shop better then me. Armando and I agreed I would show up May 1, to complete the repairs and told me he already ordered the parts.
On Monday, May 1, 2017, I arrived to have the work done. As soon as I arrived, so did my check. They had me go into an office with some woman where I was given the check for $6050.85 in my name. They made me sign it over to them, which I did. (I felt apprehension from my experiences of the past.) Armanndo told me that I would be out in about a week. I figured two at most. I made my plans for the trip west. The parts were already ordered and due in that week. I was parked out front, under the awning over the garage doors big enough to drive a class A through. Within an hour of my signing the check and getting set up, I heard a bunch of banging coming from the damaged area that lasted maybe 20 minutes. Then, silence. They had torn off the damaged parts, down to the wood. I was then to sit and wait. Later, I noticed that I had a leak coming from where the black water pipes out. The crew placed a plastic container under to collect the seepage. It was that way for a few days and getting stinky.
On Thursday or Friday of that week, they moved me from the front of the business to the back. I was told to dump my tanks so they could fix the leaky pipe. I did, but they didn’t come that day. They didn’t come the next day either. I began to use the bathroom toilet again. A week or so later the pipe began to leak and they placed the plastic pan under it once again collect the sewage. The following week they fixed the pipe. They told me to dump, once again, where I dumped two weeks previous. That added task cost me my antenna; something that wouldn’t have happened if they had just fixed it the first time they asked me to empty the tank. It was fine; Armando gave me a new antenna, which I put on myself. I hope he understands how that incident could have been avoided.
During all this time, I was patiently waiting for the bodywork to begin. I had seen the door (number 4 [line item number 7 on the estimate]) that was to replaced the damaged one there at the shop before I had moved to the rear of the building, so by that time I figured I would be out of there any day. They had a list of things I wanted fixed to start with while I waited for the body work to be done, but they never started any, except the leaky sewage pipe. I could tell they were getting other rigs in and getting them out, so I figured he was working on them and my allowing it to happen, without complaint, would make getting what else I needed done more advantages to me. A couple of weeks in I asked the man doing my body work what was keeping me there. I had reservations in Texas that I kept shortening and wanted to know when that could stop. He stated I was waiting on parts, but once they got there the work would be quick. I saw the upper corner get fixed, but nothing else. Knowing that it would be at least one more week, I bought some peal and stick tiles to redo my floor with and did the work. When I had finished, I asked again why I was still there and told by the bodywork guy that I was waiting for the adjuster.
“The adjuster”, I asked.
“Yeah, I don’t know,” was his answer.
“I better not be being held up by an adjuster. There is no need for him to even be here,” I stated back to him. “I’ll call Progressive today and get that guy here if that is what is going on. I better not be getting ripped off here.”
I didn’t believe I was waiting for an adjuster. I let it go. A couple of days later, around the 24th of May, while out, I got a call from someone with Progressive. I have no idea who I was talking to as it was an unmarked number, but they told me the work on my rig would be done by Friday of that week. “Um, okay,” was all I could say. I thanked him, and hung up. When I got home I saw writing on the basement doors and paper taped to the body to catch any over spray from the paint they were about to do. They must have gotten what I was waiting for. I began to think.
The work was completed by that Friday. These guys took so long to do the work and never came around to tell me what was up, that I figured I would get the further work I wanted them to do, done out west. I loaded up my trailer to leave the next day, yet when that day came and went, I was still here. Armando said I was still waiting on a part, yet his man and progressive told me it was done yesterday; Friday. Whatever, I already canceled my Texas reservation, I can put back my Oregon reservation and leave next month. That was still one reservation I wanted to keep. Frustrated and not knowing what I was going to use this “letter” for, I stopped writing.
7/9/17
While writing the above, my grievances about feeling like I have been held here against my will was being heard by Progressive for the first time. They kept calling but I was too busy writing the above. But to continue now…
Every since Friday, May 26th, I had been asking Armando to write up the bill and asking him to lets go over it. I wanted to know how much of the work he didn’t do so I knew how much other work I could get done, or leave. He kept saying, “can we do it tomorrow” and “tomorrow”. But this never came to fruition. I was in the office later the next week, asking Vinnie, the receptionist, what was up with my invoice. All Vinnie ever says is “I have no idea, you’d have to take that up with Armando,” no matter what the question is; plausible deniability. I told him that I felt like I was being held there against my will and I wanted that invoice. There was a woman siting in the office, whom I signed over my check over too, with the door open, which I was standing in front of when I made that statement, which I’m sure she heard.
Just after they completed the bodywork, they began to take care of some of the other things I needed fixed. One was a simple task, all of two minutes to do. That was to attach a latch to the screen door. The man who did all the bodywork was assigned to the tasks. He couldn’t get the latch to work. After coming to fruition, he told Armando that he needed an opposite latch then the one that he was given. He moved on to do the door lock.
The door lock had broken a couple of years ago. I came home one evening and the key just wouldn’t work. To lock up, I would have to lock from the inside and enter and exit through the driver’s door. Armando came out with replacements. The first one was given to the body guy. He didn’t have the tool to undo the door’s lock, so I lent him one. The first one didn’t work and the second he thought was in and working good, however, upon further examination, I noticed that the dead bolt was not long enough to latch in place. The lock was taken out and a couple of days later a new lock showed up. (Armando’s guys told me I had nothing to worry about, that I was at Armando’s place.) This one was installed and seemed to work fine. I explained to Armando, as I did the very first time he took the original lock out, that I needed the old lock and especially the old key back, as it is used to open the driver’s and basement doors. Even though he was giving me a used lock, this was not a trade in my eyes, as I expected this expense to come out of the change he owed me. He could have just given me the lock and I could have installed it at my own leisure. So the lock seemed fixed, but a week later I noticed that the deadbolt was not extending past the door when the key was used or when locked from the inside. But when I went to show this to Armando, it seemed to extend out a little, enough to grab at the time. But what happened before, with me trying to lock the door, thinking it is locked, yet being able to open the door with just a push, makes me not want this lock and would rather get my old lock back until I can buy a new one somewhere else. It has been almost two months and Armando has yet to get me the old lock and key back.
I asked Armando if I could saw off a piece of base cap molding that had sprung a few years earlier. It was not big deal, but Armando said it would be no problem to put a new piece of base cap on it and he had his guy put a new base cap on. I’ll give him an hour for that, however, it was still only cosmetic to me and there was no real reason to have him replace that which I really didn’t need replaced. I, myself, should have just cut it off with my grinder.
Another thing they did for me was to get me a rubber ring for my toilet. The body guy and me put it on in less than ten minutes, but he didn’t really know how to do it, or at least that it how he made it seem. I later worked on it for a while to get it to work better and to stop the leaking. I was able to replace the rubber ring and reattach the toilet to make it perfect on my own.
I asked about other jobs as well. One was to fix the driver’s side mirror, which everyone there told me they could not do. Another was if they could replace a broken clasp on a basement door, to which the body guy said that they could not do that without taking apart the entire door. A week later a buddy was over and determined all I had to do was drill out the old clasp and rivet in a new one. The next day I asked Armando if he had any clasps lying around that I could have to replace the broken one. He gave me one (he recycled two from the old door they took off) and I did it in five minutes. They replaced a basement door piston and an electrical cover on the outside wall as well, but nothing major yet.
I had figured out that Armando’s shop would be doing around four thousand dollars (or less) of work, leaving me with a couple thousand or more. I wanted to know how much I had to spend.
May turned to June and gas prices went up twenty cents a gallon overnight. My trip just got that much more expensive to make. They have, however, come down in the past month. In the meantime I was getting conflicting stories from the guy that did my bodywork, now assigned to fix the little things I needed fixed. But I don’t think that was his forte.
One thing this man did do right was to repair a couple of pipes I had recently noticed had leaks. I had used Drano, a couple months ago, back in April and had no idea what it would do to my pipes. He found the first to be just an end cap that needed to be replaced, five minutes. Next he took apart the shower after discovering a leak at the elbow. He completed that task in a couple of hours. Even though it was two hours from start to finish, it is not as if he was there the entire time. He would disappear from time to time for some time. Good job though. However, another job he was told to do didn’t work out so great.
There is this strip of rubber under the main slide that is attached to the chaise that forms a seal when the slide is extended. That rubber had been falling off from the back corner and extending a couple of feet towards the front. This thing had large heavy-duty u-nails in it and the wood it was to staple into, the main sub-floor, was rotting. Armando put his body guy on it. A few nights later, after I returned from doing errands and visiting a friend, I noticed that this work was completed, only it looked funny. It’s funny how they seem to always do the work when I am away. First off, it was cut and a new piece was “stapled” in, using regular staples. Behind where I stood was a pile of trash, mostly auto parts and cables. There I found the end of the original rubber strip, which was thicker than the rest. It was cut out and discarded. Second, it didn’t appear that the rotting wood was removed and replaced. I entered the bus and began to move in the slide, then returned it to the extended position. I went to see how the job now looked and found the rubber hanging down, half way to where it began and with staples sticking out not even an eighth to a quarter inch.
It was on that same night that I started to disassemble the flooring on the slide to resurface it. As I pulled back the carpet in the hall at the point where the hall’s wall met the slide, I noticed a hole in the floor. This was the exact same place as where the rubber had detached and I saw the rotting wood. I brought all this to the attention of Armando the next time I saw him. I explained how I was disappointed in the job that was done. I explained to him that the reason the rubber had been like that for almost a year was because I didn’t have the tools, nor the know-how, to replace it. I told him it was “Mickey Mouse” and all he did was cut off this thick rubber, replace it with thinner rubber and use a regular staple gun that never took. I could have done that myself; not happy at all.
I was very nervous about the “hole” work being done and the cost. I asked Armando if they ever did anything like that, because I didn’t want it done half ass. He said yes. Of course he had, restoration is in the name. I asked him how many hours to do it and he said not to worry about it. A day or two or three later, I saw him in the office and again asked him how many hours replacing the hole would take. He said 14. To me he seemed serious. What did I know? And I felt that I had around 8-10 hours of work still coming to me. I told him to hold on until we figured out how much I still had left to spend. Again he told me not to worry about it.
June 9, at 9:26 am, I sent a text to Armando telling him that I would be gone for the day, but that I would be leaving the bus opened, because I know how they love to do the work when I am not at home. I texted him because he is hard to chase down. Seven hours later I sent him another text asking him how the job was going and if there were any problems. I still had an uneasy feeling that this could be worse than it looked. Forty-five minutes later he responded by telling me they would be finished tomorrow and that right now it was drying. Good, no problems.
Hours later I returned home. The first thing I noticed was that the slide seemed to be a quarter inch lower then when I left in the morning. The molding over the slide was detached and placed on the floor. I reattached it to get it out of my way. However, the molding on the left side of the slide that was just above the hole in the floor was totally missing. I dropped to my knees to inspect the new flooring and found a one-eighth to 3/16 inch piece of wood, held in place with an angle bracket and not level with the rest of the floor. That was not going to do as I planed to continue tiling from there. I would just wait to show it to Armando, tomorrow.
Even though it was the weekend, that never kept the garage doors closed or people there from not working, some up until seven p.m. I had gone out to the store that afternoon and returned around 1:30. There, I saw the body guy, who did the Mickey Mouse job days before, reattaching the rubber to the bus’ body. I jumped out and told him to wait up, that the job he did inside was not going to fly and it all had to be done over. He was quick to respond. He said he was told he had to get it done and it was almost two o’clock and that is when his day was over. I told him that it would just have to come off. He said, and I quote, “come on man, don’t make it hard on us”. Now that took me back. Is this the bum’s rush? I wasn’t sure if he was just fighting with his wife and taking it out on me, or if he was copping the attitude of the owner, which at this point is starting to appear like they just want to get rid of me. This was an unusual change in attitude. Not knowing which to be truth, I let the comment go. I waited to see Armando that afternoon and evening and even the following day. Even though it was Sunday, I had seen him in there working alone on RVs he needed to get out of the shop. By noon I was yet to see him. I sent him a text telling him that I thought I would see him but since not, I told him of how the hole job was going to have to be done over. Without knowing the grip, he quickly responded with, “No problem we will redo”.
Looking over this work, I became very upset. I was paying this guy $129 per hour and what I got was a job that probably took no longer than an hour to do and like it was ten dollar per hour work, not $129. I started to wonder what the heck was going on.
Again, Armando had lied to me. Just like he kept falsely telling me that we would go over the invoice tomorrow, he falsely told me there were no problems with the job when I had texted him, asking if there were any problems and he answered by telling me it would be completed tomorrow. I wondered if he had even seen the work? I know he didn’t see the work done on the rubber seal. What kind of supervisor is this guy? Did he tell his worker to just get it done, or did his worker decide to do a half-ass job on his own? If it was his decision, then why do the half-ass job? Well, there are two reasons. One, he doesn’t like me for some reason unbeknownst to me; Or two, he doesn’t like his boss because he feels he is underpaid, thus, the ten dollar an hour looking work. And, of course, the other reason, the one that he may have been told by Armando to just do a quick job, what does that say of him? In a couple of days I went from feeling like I was being kept there against my will, to being given the old heave-ho. It was great that the work was getting done, but that shabby? I started to investigate this company.
On Monday morning, Armando comes to the bus with two workers; the body guy and another guy that I see working there 12 hours a day (probably 10 with breaks), six, days a week. Now I know that guy isn’t getting paid much. I wonder if he is even on the books? Turns out, he is the one that did the work on the hole in the floor. Meh. All four of us can tell that the slide is a quarter inch lower than it should be. It is now resting on the floor, ready to scrape up the flooring if moved in. When we attempted to move it in, it took up the tile flooring just as I suspected. The aluminum flashing under the slide was buckled and wavy. It didn’t look good. Armando said a guy from Winnebago would be here on Wednesday and maybe he would have a suggestion. I waited for Wednesday.
I was wondering what was going on? These two guys that worked for Armando appeared to not know what they were doing, in which case Armando is just trying to get me in and out and without showing me the same care I have seen him giving a bus worth ten times mine. Either that or they are good at their job, they just don’t like me, or they have a problem with the boss. Or the boss just told them not to worry about it. I was starting to go insane. My PTSD was getting triggered. When I left on Friday my slide was fine, now it was messed up.
Wednesday came and all I could do over the two days was ponder what I was in the middle of. No one ever tells me the truth around here, and that to me is evil. I was going to contact Progressive and tell them what was going on. I spent the morning thinking what to say and just who to call. I had a feeling that the adjuster may have been in on some kind of scam that Armando may have been running on me. He did write the estimate. I remembered what I learned back in 1981 when I was only 16. This is where I was introduced into the auto body scam. The owner of a body shop I went for an estimate, a part-time cop on his days off, gave me the skinny. He said, “I give you an estimate, then I write up two other estimates at a higher price.” The insurance company, seeing the two higher estimates pay my shop’s price and we split the extra his shop over charged in the first place. It looks like a bargain to the insurance companies next to the other two higher estimates. So I knew of this country’s corruption early on; especially the body shop scam and cops. Especially after working three years for Donald Trump. Could Armando have this agreement with the adjuster? Could Pete Anderson have this agreement with the adjuster as well? Could this be a pyramid scam systemic within Progressive? Who should I contact? Shortly after noon I received a call from Pete Anderson of Progressive Insurance.
Wow, Pete Anderson was calling me while I was wondering whom to call. I answered the phone by saying, “you must have read my mind, I was just going to call you and tell you what is going on here.” There was no response. We had been disconnected. Did he hang up on me?
I called Pete right back and told him I was getting ready to call him and asked him why he called. He stated that he spoke with the shop and that my RV should be ready by the end of the week. What?
“Why are you telling me this?” I don’t remember what was exactly said, but it made no sense to me. I became angry. Thoughts of how I got ripped off in 2009 at Lazy Days started to flood in...my PTSD as well. Everyone is working for the Deceiver. I told him of how I could have just cashed the check and not gotten any of the work done, so why would he still be involved? I think he said he just was. I told him how the work was completed last month and I have been waiting for my invoice so I can know how much he owes me because I didn’t have him do the cosmetic work and just the badly damaged parts. I told him how I felt like I was being held there against my will. He went over the estimate with me and that was when I found out there was another estimate made. There was also a check drawn and cleared for over two grand last week. I became incensed. I wanted to know when the request for this additional two thousand dollars added to the job was made, when it was written up, when the check was drawn and when it cleared. He said it cleared on the sixth or the ninth, I can’t remember. I knew exactly what was going on and I was not happy one bit. Armando was keeping me there, against my will, until he had this new check from the insurance company. I told Pete that I had a good mind to call the feds to report this fraud, but felt Pete was patronizing me about that, so I hung up and began to write the beginning of this story.
I was getting calls, but wasn’t answering them as I just kept on writing. This was, after all, June 13th. Shortly after they ended, Armando came to the bus to tell me that Progressive was sending someone over here to talk to me. I told him probably because I won’t answer their calls. He said to tell them that the reason all the work wasn’t done was because of our agreement. I assured him that I already told Pete Anderson that we didn’t do any of the fiberglass work nor replace door number two.
Armando said he wanted to fix up the bus so it was nice and pointed out something his man fixed (not the rubber strip), that wasn’t 100%. I told him the job was fine other than I had to come behind him and caulk in the cracks. I showed him how his man also didn’t caulk after replacing the metal under the awing bracket like the shop had done in North Dakota and that I was waiting for someone to finish off by adding some silicon to it. He said he would get it. He hasn’t as of today. I showed him how the other shim from the slide’s brace was also worn down and needed replacing. He saw it and told me he would order another kit.
I mentioned how I need to know how much I have to spend because I had a lot of work that I wanted done to the bus. Like how my engine’s air conditioning has never worked since I bought it and it needed to get replaced and how I knew the cost of that to be quite steep to me. He got excited as he told me he had a compressor and could do that. I was happy. It was either at that same encounter or one just before, that he also asked of me, “you want a new hubcap?” “Sure, if you’ve got one laying around her,” was my response. The hubcap had been that way since 2009 and was only cosmetic. I didn’t feel like spending $75 on a new one. I later took off the cap and told Armando, but after he took it, a new one never appeared.
A short while later there was a knock at my door. It was the guy from Winnebago there to take a look at my slide. I exited the bus and accompanied him to the other side to take a look. When he got there he noticed right off the bat what was the problem. He saw the quarter inch discrepancy then bent over to pick up a piece that should be inside the slide mechanism itself. He looked at the job that was attempted to fix the rubber seal and asked me who did that. He showed me the piece he had found and said that a new one would be needed. I asked if it was a difficult job and he said no, not at all, that it was quick fix. He went to talk to Armando then later returned. He told me that Armando ordered the kit for the slide’s spacer and he’ll be back when it gets in. I thanked him and he went on his way. After he left, I pondered once again the shabby work. I sent Armando a text telling him that I would rather he take over doing the work personally and that if he needed any help I will be there to lend a hand. He responded by saying that was fine and than thanked me. Hmm. Yeah, I guess I too would thank me knowing how I have caught on to his scam and actually had the power to have him arrested for false arrest.
Realizing that I was not going to make the gathering in Oregon, at the end of the month, I canceled my plans and sent Armando a text stating, “Just so you know, I had a place to go last month that’s over now, so I have nowhere to go now, so don’t worry about the time now...” I just gave in. I was tired of fighting the universe.
So all seemed to be okay, but I still wanted to know what the heck was going on? I went inside the bus and began thinking and writing again. The thoughts of what exactly was going on were on my mind. It seemed that like in ’09, there was a surprise check I didn’t know was coming at the end of the job. Was this going on again? Why did no one tell me of this new larger estimate? And why was the check made in their name and not mine without my knowledge? Did the adjuster not know that I was being held up here waiting for this unknown estimate and payment? He never told me of it. There was an adjuster from Progressive here at the shop when I returned on May 23rd. He was just sitting in his air conditioning writing something up. I grabbed some cleaning stuff and began to clean the outside of the bus. The person inside the car never came over to me nor did he look like my adjuster (but the windows were dark), so I just figured they were probably there for something else. I mean, why wouldn’t he give me a new copy of the estimate and tell me about the added cost to the job? He never mentioned it. Maybe he was there because the job was pretty much over.
The adjuster showed up, unannounced either that afternoon following the man from Winnebago, or the next day. (I think it was that Friday.) In either case, this was the first time he introduced himself to me and offered his hand. He too, was patronizing to me, so I just took his card and blew him off much nicer than he did to me when I first saw him back in April. Funny, he knew I told Pete Anderson that I wanted that new estimate, yet he never offered to give it to me, to go over it, or to even mention that it existed.
That Friday morning I was up early with the thoughts of how I am probably living in the center of a nest of crooks. It seemed the only crook here was Armando. But who were they? I had to get a copy of that new estimate. It was early, but I wrote back to Pete Anderson because I didn’t hear from him after sending him an email on Wednesday, asking him for his supervisor's name, title, email address and phone number. Really, he never wrote me back. Could be because I hung up on him; could be he’s scared; and it could be he just wants to be an asshole with me. Who cares? He should’ve written me back. I’m sure he could tell I was upset.
That afternoon I received a voice message from someone named Mike, with Progressive. I had no idea who this Mike was. I see now it was Mike Kissane, my adjuster that I had just met. He was asking me to give him a call to discuss the repairs and told me he spoke with someone named Renee, who told him he was keeping me up to date and that the completion date would be by next Friday. I just ignored it not knowing who this Renee was, then texted him back asking him if he had the correct person because I never met anyone here named Renee. That was the last of it…for the next ten days.
Now, that day I had also received texts and messages from Armando that I was not at first aware of. He was trying to get in touch with me. He said Progressive called him and asked him if everything was okay. I told him yeah, now that I have nowhere to go. Then that afternoon Mike showed up and introduced himself to me as written above. It was either this day or the Wednesday or Thursday before, but I believe it was this day.
On Saturday, Armando promised to come out to fix the slide’s floor. He asked me the day before to remind him which I did with a text that morning. He says he is on his way but doesn’t show up. An hour later he texts me saying he will handle it after lunch. He doesn’t show up. Seven hours later he texts me again saying he will be working on it for six hour tomorrow. I jokingly ask him if he’s not sure it won’t take 14 hours.
Ten days after the last exchange with Mike Kissane, I received another voice message. He said he had been calling the shop but there has been no answer. That didn’t surprise me. He wanted to know how the repairs were coming. I didn’t want to talk to him. He was not a person to me, but a corporate cog there to get as much money out of me for the corporation, which is he. He didn’t seem to care about me when we first met back in April and when he introduced himself earlier that month, he patronized me by suggesting he would have given me one hundred dollars if I could just ignore fair play. He was going to bet me that I could not do something that I already knew I could. To take such a bet would be to turn Mike Kissane into a sucker, and there’s no need for that. It would be stealing. I waited until after business hours, then called to leave a message. I told him that as far as I was concerned they were not a part of this and that Armando and I had worked it out. I was thinking about how Armando came out to me earlier that week and made it sure to me that everything will be done as to my liking. He hasn’t fixed anything yet.
Sometime next week the guy from Winnebago showed back up. He had one kit, he had gotten from Armando, for one slide bracket. I told him about the shims in the other slide’s brace and how that one had to be replaced as well. I told him that I pointed this out to Armando last week and he said he would get another one, but all Tim, the guy from Winnebago, could tell me was that he didn’t. He only gave him one. Fine, we’ll do it next week. At first, when he arrived, he asked me about the air conditioning. An RV guy doing motor work? I asked him and found out he didn’t work for Winnebago, but he used to and has worked on them for 30 years. Cool, someone that knows what he’s doing. He told me that the air condenser might not be broken and later said it wasn’t after he hooked it up to some machine. He added freeon and told me that will probably fix it, but to be sure I had run the engine with the air on max for 15-20 minutes to find out. I did, and the air turned warm. So, it will be something else for him to deal with when he returns next week to put on the other slide's shims.
While doing the slide job, it was discovered why the slide had dropped a quarter of an inch. Tim pointed out how a quarter inch strip of wood that lined the edge of the bus’ sub-flooring was missing. This strip is at the edge of the floor and the slide rests on it. I guess his guys weren’t privy to that knowledge when they attempted to fix it all. They repaired it.
Over the weekend, while Armando was inside the bus fixing what had to be fixed with the hole in the floor by the slide, I asked him how much of what he was doing was because it wasn’t fixed right the first time and he told me all of it. That impressed me. That of all the crap I have heard come out of his mouth since I have been here, he had the curtsey to tell me the truth. My response to him was, that they were just people who need to be closely supervised and told him of how I was a super for a flooring company during the building boom in charge of about 10 crews and how I know who I didn’t have to watch and who I had to come behind and correct. If he had just told them to do it right the first time, or sent someone who know how everything all worked together, he would not find himself doing what he was now doing. Oh well.
I was looking for a washer/dryer combo to replace my old broken-beyond-repair one. While he was working on the floor and the slide I asked him his professional opinion between two machines and was told one over the other. I told him I located one, very reduced priced, a scratch and dent about 100 miles away that I could afford. I just needed a way to pick it up and he suggested that he could do it for me since he had a man in the area. I said that would be great and the next day texted him telling him there was tax on it, so I would probably have to offer him less to pay the tax. He says he will get with me to go over the details. He says to me that he can have his guy pick up the machine and pay with a check from the shop so I don’t have to pay the taxes. I say, sure and the next day he asks me if it is a go. I didn’t see the message for five hours but when I did I replied with a yes.
An hour and a half after the encounter above, I noticed Tim, the guy sort of from Winnebago, come into the lot, but he turned around and went to the front. Shortly after he came back, but left again, I sent Armando a text asking him if Tim would be back. Five o’clock and no response. I send him another text asking him to stop by to discuss picking up the washer/dryer machine tomorrow. He agrees and comes out shortly after. We discuss some things I will need to text to him and he leaves. He also said Tim would be back next week. He never came back.
The next day I didn’t hear from Armando. He told me his guy would be at the appliance shop in Clearwater at 9 am and it was now 11. I sent text to Armando and asked him if his guy had picked up the machine yet. Twenty-five minutes later he responds telling me he forgot to send the information to the employee and that he was getting someone ready to go get it. He didn’t have to do that. Okay then.
At one point, while Armando was working on the hole in the floor, he had his man cut a hole in the riser’s floor. The slide floor. No one really wanted to do that, especially me. I know that once you cut into a structure, you weaken it. Armando said that he had to make the hole so he could run in there a wooden brace to attach the plastic runner that was attached to the bottom of the riser, but said needed to be attached to the wood. They cut out the hole, but never did anything more. For a while I sat on the dining room riser mindful of the hole. About a week later I began to wonder why that hole was cut out. It didn’t seem to be needed. And the slide floor was made of metal frame with aluminum flashing underneath, two-inch thick Styrofoam over that, with 1/8-inch wood glued on top. I texted Armando and asked him if there was a reason there was a hole in my floor. He said yes. After a number of days he came over to fix it.
At first he told me he would be there the next day. That didn’t happen. It rained quite hard most of the day. He later sent a text telling me that he was sorry he didn’t make it because he had three rigs taking on water. I informed him that my black water tank needed to be emptied. I was using the bathroom inside the shop for a few days, but my nighttime activities had it over flowing. That Friday, June 30, Armando came over to empty the tank.
I assisted with the dump. Armando had a honey pot, but no hose. He asked me to get one. I complied. We dumped a little out, as not to make the honey pot too heavy, then he took it to the sewer, but he needed my hose. He took the hose with him to empty the tank, but didn’t come back right away as I saw him go up the hill toward other campers who live there. I believe he had others to empty as well. Later I went outside and found the hose returned. However, I noticed that the O-ring that was supposed to be on the end of the fitting was missing. Hmm.
I believe it was later that night that it rained. I wanted to empty out my gray water into the rain, as was custom. I went to attach the hose and found it didn’t fit. I had to hold the hose while the water drained due to the missing O-ring. That hose also had dirt on it and it shouldn’t have.
Digression:
Now, by this time Pete Anderson had sent me copies of the estimate of the work I was under the impression was being done and the newer one that as of today no one has bothered to tell me even exists. I pulled them out and began to compare. What I found is very interesting indeed. In fact, it was the reason why I will send Pete Anderson an email on July 6th.
Both estimates start out the same, but at Line Item no. 16 is where it begins to show different. Number 16 it says “Grind and patch fiberglass R sidewall”. The first one is for 3 hours, the second one is for $75 plus 5.5 hours of time at $129 per hour. Hmm. If this is what I think it is, this is something I asked him not to do. I wanted the three hours. I still don’t know what this is really for. The second one is Line Item no. 18, “Fill and sand base coat and top coat”. The first is for 2 hours, the second is for 3. Third is Line Item no. 22, “Base coat only for 2 stage.” I have no idea what that means. The first on is for 1.7 hours, the second is increased 2.5 hours to 4.2 hours of work. That ends the first estimate. The second one continues with Line Items 26 through 36, which is almost $900 in materials and 6.2 additional hours of work. You add that all up and you get the almost two grand additional that I was waiting for, but never informed of. So that is an added 12.2 hours of extra work, although the numbers show it to be a 12.91 hour increase. Parts only go up $22.54, but the additional costs, whatever they are, is almost 300 dollars. A couple dollar additional in sales tax, add it all up and you come to this almost 2 grand extra. As I have been stating to Armando since the end of May, I need someone to go over this estimate and show me what on it was actually done. In all cases, there is a total labor charge of almost $5000 with almost four grand in parts. I doubt that very much. And there is no way they did five grand worth of work to this bus.
I decided to do more investigating into RV Collision and Restoration. What I found was not too cool. First I put “RV collision and restoration Claremont” into the google search engine. I find the facebook page. I do my exploring and don’t get too far. I then find this (https://www.facebook.com/lisa.fugateshoaf) and my whole experience I have been having begun to make more sense. If the adjuster is in on all this my life is in danger, if not, perhaps we can start over to make sure I don’t get ripped off. If he cannot stop Armando then so be it, I will contact the Lake County D.A.’s office.
My buddy and I were quick. When we got back, I heard knocking going on from underneath the slide. It soon stopped. They love to do the work when I am not around. I hung out with my friend for the afternoon. Around six or seven, after my buddy had left, Armando came back out to the bus and started to work on the hole they cut on my slide’s floor.
Armando didn’t have the Styrofoam he stated he had when I asked him if he had it, when they cut out the hole. His idea was to fill up the hole with “great stuff” and that would work. So he cuts out a piece of thin wood needed where they cut out the old flooring. When he gets it to it, he begins to fill the hole under the wood with “great stuff”. I stopped him. “I thought you had to put a piece of wood in there for a brace?” “Oh, yes,” was his answer. That is why they cut the hole in the first place. What’s with this guy?
What is this? I was beginning to feel that there was no need to cut out my floor in the first place. That was why I asked him if there was any reason it was there. For him to just put the floor back together without doing what it was he said he had to cut out the floor to do, made me feel maybe it didn’t have to be cut. He found a two by four, placed it over where the plastic underneath screwed in, placed the thin wood back over it and filled it up with “great stuff”. That was Sunday, July 2. I asked him [paraphrasing] if he would be back tomorrow to finish the job and he said yes. He also made mention of the money for the washer/dryer combo. I told him I was able to get some of it while I was out, but I will have to get the rest tomorrow.
As far as Armando showing back up the next day, that was a no go. He sent me a text that morning and said he was going in for sugary. Why didn’t he just tell me that the night before when I asked him if he would be back? More surprises. I put the new flooring in.
Upon getting to the end of the job I noticed a problem with floor. It was rotting out; not good. When I removed the carpet there was a black streak forming on it over the past few months. I thought it was probably from the Standing Rock incident, but figured it would be fine…until I removed the carpet.
The floor was real bad and it was in the place right behind where the outside got ripped open(outside hole) during the incident. Progressive made me wait for two weeks before they could get an adjuster out to make an estimate, fix me up and get me back on the road. During the weeks it rain just about every day. When it rained, it rained hard and for many, many hours. All that rainwater went into that hole until the day the adjuster showed up. There is no doubt that this water damage was caused by the adjuster taking his time to come out there to make me mobile. Now I got to get Progressive back involved. Oh, well… The next night, I sent Armando a photo of the damage, informing him of what I found. The next morning he texted me saying it wasn’t bad. (He hadn’t seen it yet.) He said he was feeling better and would be in around 10 or 11. We discussed what could have happened, then around 11 he came by to take a look.
I was surprised he was feeling better just two days after a double hernia. He climbed my stairs like a champ. Maybe he did, maybe he and his girlfriend went to the Keys for the fourth of July. He walked right by the job he had done three days previous, which was bulging and appeared to need to be redone. When he got to damage I explained to Armando what I wrote about above. I told him this was a claim, but not sure if it is part of the incident, or the fault of my insurer, or both. He stated that we would get with the adjuster and get it fixed. Okay. He then left and was never seen for almost 2 weeks.
I’m not the type to take the word of Armando as gospel. Not anymore. Not after all the lies told in the past. The next day, July 6th, I decided to contact Pete Anderson, even though he blew me off once before, not contacting me until I sent him a second letter. I sent him this email and told him it was his fault this happened and for him to get the adjuster here. For the next five days I heard no reply from Anderson. On July 11, Armando sent me a text stating that he was back to work for about 4 hours a day now and how we needed to get with Progressive to make that claim. I responded, “cool”. I later sent a text asking him to empty my black water tank, as it was now full because we didn’t take out that much two weeks ago. At the end of the day he informs me that he will do it tomorrow. But that was the last I heard of him. Again, not sure if Armando had contacted the adjuster or not, and not hearing from Pete Anderson since I wrote him 12 days previous. I decided on the 14th to forward the email I sent to Anderson, to Kissane, the adjuster and Anderson’s supervisor, Jared W. Moffat. I sent them the following message:
“I sent this email to Peter Anderson over one week ago. Just like the last time I tried to contact him, he is blowing me off and I've been writing about it. It is obvious that he is not going to call you to inform you that I have been waiting for over a week for an adjuster to come out here to RV Collision and Restoration. Therefore, I am requesting you to come out here, yesterday, to get me back on the road.”
The next day, the body guy knocked on my door. He wanted some help draining my tank. He told me he would show me how to do it, even though he never really did it before. So we learned together.
When he showed up with the honey pot, there was a red hose with it. He showed me how to hook it up, which we did. We then brought it over to where I released the tanks on the two previous occasions. I told him that Armando told me of sewer tap by the house. He said he never heard of it, so the two of us walked over there while the honey pot emptied, to see if there was one there. Not only was there one there, my old hose was attached to it. Hmm. Now I haven’t mentioned to Armando that I know I was given the wrong hose when it was returned, but I plan to tomorrow. I’ll give him an out by saying that he must have taken the wrong one when he hooked up last time. We’ll see. Someone has accused him of being a thief. (Armando accused of being a thi)
For four days after I sent Kissane the email, nothing. Then, I get this shit:
Good day sir
I am sorry about returning this email I was on vacation and just returned to work
I have many calls into the shop and they are not returning my calls
Mike
Sure. However, to be fare, he may be totally innocent. About an hour later I send him the following:
Good Day Mike,
So what? You need to come here to write up the estimate anyway. Why don't you come over here to write up the estimate? You don't need Armando here to do that. Armando texted me a week ago saying that he would be getting with you to do the estimate. Are you saying that he hasn't informed you of this further damage that was discovered? Hmm. I wonder why. Just give me a call and we will set up a time for you to be here. I'll text Armando and let him know if he wants to be here as well. You can both make your estimates independently of each other so it doesn't really matter. You can also bring a copy of this new estimate you haven't informed me of and we can go over it and the work done. Thank you very much.
Lou Levite
He writes me right back:
Good afternoon sir
I have no knowledge of any addt. Damage to the r/v
I have not spoken to or heard from Armando in about three weeks.
He has not returned any calls and when I went to the shop he was not present
From your email I understand there is addt. Damage to the r/v and I would be happy to setup
A reinspection of the r/v my first apt. is next Tuesday afternoon at 1;00 pm.
Mike
What is going on here? He is saying in his first sentence that neither Armando, nor Pete, had ever contacted him to come here to give an estimate. In his second he is saying he hasn’t heard from him since he was here kissing my ass. In the third sentence he is saying that he has returned to this shop since then, but couldn’t find him. No mentions of me, or if he looked for me as well, or even why he was here looking for him. I sent him an email back, telling him I’d see him then. I figured Armando would figure it out sooner or later.
Later that evening, around 5:30 p.m., I got a text from Armando stating that he would be stopping by tomorrow. There was no mention that Mike would be coming by on Tuesday. I sent him one back stating that was good because I was wondering when I could get the tile job I was working on finished. I didn’t mention Mike, as well.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017:
Armando stopped by today with his guy that originally did the work on the hole in the floor. He was really just a helper doing a lot of gofering, so I didn’t mind. Hopefully getting a lesson as well. Armando was feeling much better since his surgery, if it even happened. I mentioned to him that the floor over the slide probably had to be done over because the wood covering it was bulging out. He told me he had placed extra wood underneath the top wood and that was why it appeared to be bulging. When he took the wood off, it looked nice, but some if it was uneven, bulging up. He cut out the floor, scrapped some of the hardened foam, and glued a new piece of wood over the foam. A few hours later it was ready. I scraped away any glue and even though it was not perfect, it would suffice for what I needed to do. I asked him when Tim would be back and he said tomorrow or Wednesday (I thought it was Tuesday, he must have as well). He said they would put a new air-conditioning compressor on. I told him great. Neither of us mentioned Mike’s upcoming visit on Tuesday…I’m sure he knows by now.
Friday, July 21, 2017:
Armando’s body guy stopped by today to caulk the metal under the slider floor, which was still buckling. He did it. As of his point in time it is still there having to be completed. He also jacked up the slide about five or six inches to do that.
Monday, July 24, 2017
Today I contacted Progressive Insurance adjuster, Mike Kissane via email. I wanted him to bring me a copy of my insurance card, but he told me no. It would take him two seconds to get a copy and print one up, but... Feeling like this guy was still blowing me off, I sent him another email stating that tomorrow I want to go over the estimates and especially the Line Items mentioned above. I wanted him to know I knew. He sends me one back stating that the items mentioned were for work behind the awning post bracket. Again, that job should be on the first estimate. Not only that, but the work they did, after Armando told me he wanted to do that, was to cut out a small square, scrape it down to the Styrofoam, place a piece of plastic over it, bondo it in place, then make a slightly larger backing plate made out of thicker metal. Maybe that’s all they had. They never caulked it with silicone.
So I think about all this. Is fixing the floor part of that 2 grand extra they wanted to finish that part of the bus? If so, that could be why Mike says he hasn’t heard from Armando yet. I decided to write Mike yet another email asking him if he has heard from Armando. It has been three weeks since Armando told me he would contact the adjuster, so I wanted to know if that was still the fact. He must have by now. So I write him and find out that he hasn’t heard from Armando in three weeks. He forgot about the previous 2 weeks he couldn’t get in touch with him as well and even came over here and couldn’t find him. This Kissane guy is a conundrum. What do I decide about him? Here we go.
If Mike Kissane is telling me the truth about not hearing from him over the past three weeks and not being able to get in touch with him the previous two weeks before, then maybe I can trust him. Why would Armando not contact him knowing that he wants money to fix the bedroom floor? Is he trying to keep me here against my will? I figured it was because Mike could be in on it, but who knows? The D.A. can figure it out. If not, my life is in as much danger as it was the two weeks while I was awaiting the adjuster in North Dakota. Those Indians wanted me dead. I figured out the scam that was going on at Sacred Stone Camp with Standing Rock’s Chairman David Archambault, so they wanted me out. Here, I figured out that Armando is trying like hell to scam me and if Mike is helping him, I’m fucked. We won’t know until tomorrow. Until then...I have no choice but to trust Mike Kissane. As far as Armando? I like him. Even though he is trying to scam me here, I like him. I feel like the American trumpet, that cannot accept the fact that their guy is fucking them over and will never accept the fact that they voted for the wrong guy...
Thursday, August 3, 2017
On the next day Mike showed up right on time. He tells me that he has yet to speak with Armando and I invite him in for consultation. He takes some photos of the damage on the floor, then walks out with me to take some more shots of the work done and attempted outside. We got back inside where he takes more photos of the hole near the slider and the washer/dryer, which I told him I was waiting on a receipt for. We discuss a little more and right before he was to leave to write up the estimate, there is a knock at the door.
Sunday, August 6, 2017
I was hoping it was Armando, but it was his body guy. All week they had been ignoring me, but when the adjuster shows up while you are trying to avoid them, and you want to spy on us while hiding out, you send a worker to gather Intel. As soon as he walked in we ended our discussion and Mike went to the car to write up the new estimate. The body guy had to finish the work he did the week previous. He finally did what he could have done a week ago in less than five minutes, then left. Interesting that even though Armando was not here, Mike’s presence lit a fire under their asses. About a half-hour later, Mike came back in to give me the new estimate. They make this out to be a four-hour job.
Over the next week not much happened - not until Monday, July 31st. My missing ladder did show back up. It went missing the previous week. On the 26th I sent Armando a text asking him to find my missing ladder that someone “must have borrowed”. So that was back. And I did a lot of thinking about how Armando is intentionally avoiding the adjuster, Mike. Much like the president creating a lot of smoke, so too was Armando. There had to be a fire somewhere. I did more investigating on the rumor I read on facebook about this place being bankrupt and found two lawsuits filed in the Circuit court of Lake county. I was able to read one complaint and also found the word “bankruptcy” in the same docked. Then I found this in no. 13 on the docket. There is a notice to withdraw filed on June 26 and probably why Armando said on that day that he forgot to give the information to the guy who was going to pick up my washer/dryer. Right. The reason stating because of bankruptcy. What? Has he no lawyer for this case? Interesting. I kept looking and finally found the bankruptcy and boy was this telling.
This bankruptcy, which was filed on March 13, 2017, is 51 pages and can be viewed here. What is telling about this is that Progressive is one of the many Part 2, Nonpriority creditors. On page 24, right at the top, part 2, number 3.34, the name of Progressive Express Insurance, for over 21 thousand dollars for a judgment filed back in October of 2016. So Progressive should know about this place, yet they let me come here anyway. And it was that that has me wondering, no matter how hard he tries to tell me he is not in on it (I’m not sure I believe Mike, especially after he came here last week telling me he hears many bad stories about this place), that the police are always coming here for this and I should just pick up and go while I can. See what I mean? Why didn’t he tell me that three months ago when they should have known of all this? All of a sudden he hears many things about this place? I wonder if I could sue Progressive for that?
By Monday, August 1st, things seemed to be turning bad. While in the middle of a strong thunderstorm, I decided to drain my gray water tank. I grabbed my hose, complete with the one section that Armando came back with after he borrowed it for 20 minutes, and connected it to the drain. I pulled the lever and went to where the water was draining out of, which was directly under my driver’s door. As it was getting to the end I walked up to the controls and saw the neighbor guy who lives in the fifth wheel next door. I waved to him. He said something to me, which I couldn’t understand due to the loud noise of the storm and his accent. He seemed like a pretty cool guy. A couple of weeks ago, when I went outside to watch another storm, he and the guy that used the area outside my door and lives about 150 feet away on the other side of the fence, were sitting there, drinking beer and watching the storm. We hug out. I enjoyed their company, had a couple beers and some laughs with them.
Monday, August 7, 2017
I stopped writing above to have breakfast, which is more like brunch. After eating, I saw Armando walking around the yard with his work shirt on. I figured that was great because I could finish installing the slide floor, then use the mider saw inside the shop since it was Sunday and no one would be around. So picking up from where I left off.
Getting back to the guy in the fifth wheel. He seemed like a likable guy, but when I walked up to him to hear what, he was saying that assumption took a one eighty.
He seemed mad. He was saying that I was dumping my black water tank and that was against the law. He wasn’t asking me if I was dumping my black water tank, he was telling me. All attempts to explain how incorrect he was were met by further agitation. Anything I said went in one ear and out the other side of his empty head. This wasn’t about the truth, this was about him wanting to fight me.
I could tell he was itching for fight, but he wasn’t going to get it. I’ll be 53 next week and this guy looks to be near 50+- himself. Plus he’s an alcoholic and I know to stay clear of them. When we were hanging out he was telling me that he didn’t drink much, but I see him throw away a 12 pack of Budlight each and every morning. My invitations for him to take a closer look went ignored. He kept yelling that it was black water and he was going to turn me in. I told him to go turn me in. I’m not going to argue with him, he’s drunk. Realizing he wasn’t going to get an argument from me, which he could lead into a fight, he left to go tell someone in charge (Armando, I guess) while I just chuckled. That was the end of it. This was getting too hot. It was time to get it on the record that all this was happening.
It had been a week since I saw Mike. I called him earlier that day to see if he had spoken to Armando, but he said no. He also said that he would be stopping by here tomorrow, so I knew I would tell him about what just happened then.
The next day Mike showed up. He came in and we began to talk. I started by asking him if he saw Armando, to which he said no. I asked him if he hadn’t been talking with Armando because of what happened to me the day before. I explained everything written above. He swore he hadn’t talked to Armando. I need to ask him if he talked with Vinnie about any of this. I mentioned how I found out that Progressive Express out of Ohio was listed as a creditor. He said that was where their main office was. He sounded surprised. What is this? Doesn’t Progressive let its other Progressive companies know about shops that they cannot collect from? Why was Progressive still cutting checks to this shop, especially since the lawyer handling the case for Progressive is in Tampa Bay? Mike seems to think that Armando must think he did something illegal. But he tells me he didn’t because what we agree on after the check is cut is between us. Only, There are two problem with that: one, we didn’t agree on the two grand of work he didn’t do nor tell me about and two, he was legally obliged to by law. I told him I didn’t want it to come down to me having to call the authorities to which he looked at me and said that I probably would. I guess he might be innocent.
Over the weekend I had done some investigating and found this law here. I was concerned with what Mike said to me about Armando not doing anything illegal. I wasn’t too sure about that. I had to get it in writing what Mike told me about Armando not breaking any laws, just incase he lied. The next morning I sent him the following email before 8 am:
I like to play dumb so I can see who the really evil people are. He treated me as if he had no idea about this law. The only reason I am even going through all this shit is because of what happened with Didi at Standing Rock. There, I watched someone who said they loved me, lie to my face, so the notion that Mike could be lying to me about not talking to Armando, without even knowing me, was not a far stretch. In the case that he was talking to Armando, I sent him an email telling him about the law Armando may think he might have broken. I did this because I wanted everyone in the BCC to know what he told me just incase I find out it is something Armando could be arrested for. It probably isn’t, because Mike should know that, but told me he did nothing wrong. I still disagree with that. He probably did something wrong and Mike as well. That is way I wrote to him and progressive.
After sending that, I decided to take Mike’s advice about how I might have to get the authorities involved. I went to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Complaints. I filled one out, asking them if there were any criminal penalties for violating section 559.095 of the state statue and sent it in. (My forte is criminal law, not consumer.)
On Friday morning, the 4th, I sent a text to Armando asking him what time Tim would be here. He told me a few days ago that he would be here on Wednesday or Thursday or Friday. It was now Friday. Armando said 9 am. At quarter after 11 I send him this, “???”. I get no answer. I can see it is another no show. Two hours later I tell him I have things to do and ask if this guy is coming or not. He say he “fucked” him over (whatever that means) and won’t be by until between tomorrow, Saturday and Tuesday. He better be.
Saturday afternoon the body guy shows up to put on an angle iron to secure the bottom of the slide. We did that and he left. He jacked up the slide five or six inches to do that. Finally, what I had been waiting for since the middle of June was now complete. I could finally finish installing the floor I had been waiting for weeks to finish. I did it in a couple of hours.
That night, while cooking dinner, the electric tripped. I went outside to turn it back on. When I got to the door to enter the shop, it wouldn’t open. This door, located behind my rig, was always left open. People would go in and out of there at all hours of the day and night. I wondered if this was locked for me? I walked to the front of the building and found those doors locked as well. I walked over to Vinnie’s bus and told him about the trip. He said to just turn it back on, to which I told him the door wouldn’t open. He said to just jerk it, but I told him it seemed to be locked. He went to open it. When he did, he told me the clasp was on it. I popped in, hit the breaker stitch and asked him if that was going to be like that to which he told me no, he would keep it open. I know this, if it was locked for the first time because of me then he has lost trust in me. If he lost trust in me it was because he knows I cannot trust him. He is stealing from me, so he thinks I will do the same to him. If that is how he feels it would be much better to him to do my work to get me out of here.
Monday morning I sent a text to Armando telling him that if he brings out the trim they had to order we could be completely done with the hole job. He told me on two occasions that he ordered the part. He still has to attach the rubber strip to the outside that they fucked up in June. He say he will look for it. A while later the body guy comes out and asks me where it is. I told him the guy that did the job took it and Armando told me they threw it away and ordered a new one. He left to go look for it. He comes back with the original piece of trim.
That was just great. The body guy says that Winnebego doesn’t make it any more. I told him I was told it was ordered in June, but he just says yeah but they don’t have it. He also brought a piece of wood that matched the color and said we could graft together. I told him I would think about it and that I would see if I can find a piece somewhere on line. I put the old piece on.
I wanted to go on line because I don’t trust this shop or Armando. I thought he probably sent the old one back because he didn’t want to pay. Even if they don’t make that exact part anymore, I figured I could order new ones. Armando was telling the truth, but I still couldn’t order new ones. I let it drop for now, but I’m going to try again.
Tuesday the 8th had come, and still no Tim. I got a text from Armando that afternoon saying that we will work on the bus tomorrow. We better. I better see Tim today or I will take official action. Stay tuned.
Thursday, August 10, 2017
Two hours after I wrote the above, Tim did show up. He looked confused as if he was just called and asked to come over here to look into a problem. He didn’t know what it was and he should have. I told him about the air conditioning quit for good after running it for 20 minutes and how Armando was waiting for him to show up to fix the slide that his man messed up. Guess what? He found the leak but didn’t have the part to fix it, or the shim to put in the slide. Now he has to come back to do 30 minutes or less of work. He says he will be back on Friday...we’ll see.
Sunday, August 13, 2017
While waiting for Friday to come, I began doing more investigating into Armando and his shop. I found out that he has a court hearing in federal bankruptcy court, in Orlando, this coming Wednesday, August 16th, at 10 am. Something is going on. Everyone at this place has been cleaning up like they were moving out. Even the neighbor guy next door seems to be packing up. Could this be? I had to turn up the heat. I decided to again write Mike Kissane.
On Thursday, I sent an email to Mike, basically reading him the riot act. I state how I knew about chapter 559 of the Florida State Statue known as the Florida Auto Repair Act. Then I stated how I knew Armando was intentionally trying to rip me off. Thinking he was on my side, I asked him if they would be sending a fraud investigator here when I get my invoice. He says he is looking into it and that he hasn’t heard from the shop. I send him one back saying I don’t care about the shop I just want to know if they are going to send an investigator. He responds to that by saying when he says he is looking into it he means he sent it to his supervisor. I thank him and ask for his super’s name and contact information, which he sends.
Now I’ve got Mike’s supervisor’s information. One Timothy Ledbetter. Not much on him on google. I decide to find out exactly if what Mike did by giving Armando that money without informing me was kosher or not. It took him two months to inform his supervisor about what was going on. I wondered why. I sent Tim a meet and greet asking him about it. Within an hour I had another letter written just incase he didn’t answer. A few hours later, still no answer, so I sent the second one explaining why one would cover up another man’s crime unless he was in on it. I asked him some questions to find out just what Mike’s culpability is in all this. He waits until after 5 to answer and when he does he sends this:
Please accept my response as acknowledgment of your send/sends. I will review all in great detail and get back with you within 48 hours.
Well now, it appears that someone had a fire lit up under his ass. Maybe this time they will take what is going on more seriously. My guess is, if Mike was not culpable for not informing me of the new invoice, then they would have just told me to shut me up. He would have apologized and I was right, and how can they make this all better. But they didn’t. It will be interesting to find out how they deal with this. Will they throw Mike under the bus, or will they double down on the “they are innocent in all this” thing. Can’t wait till tomorrow.
So tomorrow came, but it wasn’t that great. I started the day just waiting for Tim to get here. It’s one thirty; no Tim and no email from Ledbetter. Then the phone rings and I knew right away. My phone never rings.
Yup, it was Ledbetter calling. I wanted all this in writing but I had a pretty good feeling by that time that they were going to white wash what had been happening. They knew they were at fault. I personally feel that this is a much larger conspiracy then we could guess. Since I hadn’t seen Tim all day and he said he would be back, I decided to answer the phone.
When I think of the conversation had with this douche bag, my head begins to hurt. I googled Ledbetter that morning to know who I was going to be dealing with. If he is who I think he is, he’s an older gentleman of 64 years of age, so I felt a little better knowing that this was someone who was mature. Or has he been there for 40 years and is in on this long time leading industry scam as well? Oy, what a headache.
I can only describe Timothy Ledbetter as a cross between an immature snake oil salesman and a used car salesman. It was much like talking to the lawyer of the opposing side. A very quick talker. Trying to put words in my mouth. Changing everything I say. Trying to get it on the record that “they tried to contact me.” They knocked on the door, but say I didn’t answer. Guess they decided not to email it to me or send a copy to my house. They emailed me the first one. Pete Anderson had to send a hard copy to my house. Then, after 15 minutes of being run-a-round, I interrupted him and said, “you sound like a 24 year old kid at is first job trying to impress the bosses and not a 64-year-old man trying to deal with a serious situation,” or something close to that. It was true. He sounded like a kid. Ledbetter tells me I crossed the line and hangs up on me. Line? What line? It was as if we were face to face when I tell him this and he just turns and walks away for me saying that. Who is this guy kidding?
For the next hour I tried to calm down. I wrote to Ledbetter to get what just happened on the record because I know they will erase any recordings they might make and he will just say I was unruly. Wait till he hears my recording. I told him to never call me again and to answer the questions I asked in my last emails. I also told him that failure to do so would be considered an attempt to obstruct justice. Two and a half-hours later, end of the business day, and still no response.
After I sent that last email, I saw Armando hanging out with the mean neighbor dude. I yelled out if Tim was coming over today and he came over to talk to me. He said he sent me a text, pulled out his phone and saw that he didn’t hit send. I told him not to worry about it because that happens to me a lot. Emhmm. Text said he’d be here Monday. Yeah, well, I’ve heard that many time before. We’ll see. He came inside and we discussed the trim for the slide. He says in a friendly tone that he wants to get me out of here by next week. As he left I asked him if he was going to do the floor in the bedroom. Remember that he has been avoiding the adjuster since before we discovered the new hole. He asks me what the adjuster said and I tell him four hours. He looks at it and says it will take longer than that. I ask him if I have some hours left and he says he can start on it. But I don’t think I want him doing that job. And he wasn’t here this weekend.
It seemed that a couple of hours after I sent Tim Ledbetter that last email, I got one that I noticed some time later due to some server problems I am having. It was from a Brian Newman, FL Special Lines Manager (whatever that is) with Progressive Insurance and Tim’s supervisor. He answers a couple of my questions, but not all. In his third statement he wrote this:
3. Regarding your request for an investigator, we are not licensed state investigators and have no legal jurisdiction. We can however, continue to work with you side by side to bring your claimed damages to a final resolution. You can count on us to stand by you and work with you to have your shop of choice complete repairs that they have been compensated to do.
He was missing so much from this email. By this time the damage had been done. I mulled it over for a couple of days what to write back, then sent this today:
I spoke with both Peter Anderson and Timothy Ledbetter, and both turned me off. Mr. Ledbetter refuses to answer my letters. I will not speak with you as I know your company's attitude on the phone and I will not write to you unless Mr. Ledbetter is fired. Let me know. Also, if you intend to continue Lilly's employment then I want your supervisor’s name, title and contact information. I also want to know your title. Mr. Ledbetter hung up on me. It was as if the two of us were talking, face to face, and I stop him, mid sentence, to tell him he is talking like a college grad, 40 years younger, and he says to me, "that's it, you crossed the line", then turns and leaves. You better hope you didn't put him up to treating me like a 24 year old intern trying to impress his boss, or I will be talking to your boss...and if not, you all will be talking to a badge.
I’ve had enough of this shit. Seriously, Mr Ledbetter showed me in his call that they really don’t care about me or what is happening to me, or that they may have a corrupt employee. The main reason for this cowardice is because I was able to get Mr. Ledbetter to admit that Mike was supposed to inform me according to company policy and they are scared of someone being caught in a scam. The company policy of informing the customer of an added estimate was to prevent scams like this. So they know there is culpability there. They might even know that there is probably a conspiracy between Mike and Armando, but don’t know how to proceed. Well, we’ll see if Mr. Ledbetter is fired or not. My guess, not. My guess is, I will have to go to the only government agency I trust since James Comey, the FBI.
Later that night I checked the federal court docket to see if there had been any changes to the record that day and I find that it is basically the same as earlier in the day, only now it shows the August 11 entry. So now I know this place is trying to go from chapter 11 to chapter 7. I’ve been trying to get my head around that and all I can come up with is that in chapter 11 you have a plan to pay everyone off, but in chapter 7 you don’t. In chapter 7 you sell off your assets to pay everyone off. So I need to find out if this place will still be here and in business after the hearing on Wednesday. My next move will be to find that out and inform Armando that I want to settle up and leave on Tuesday. Until tomorrow...
Monday, August 14, 2017
This morning at the start of business, I called the name of the government trustee listed. A message said she was on vacation this week. I called the first name on the list of those that work for the bankruptcy court and talked with them. Even though he was not the person assigned to the case, he explained to me why his office would ask for the motion.
This was a, “Motion to Dismiss Case. Or Convert Case to Chapter 7 Filed by U.S. Trustee United States Trustee.” The trustee I spoke with said it could be either. Either Armando paid off all the creditors so the case can now be dismissed, or he is not following the plan he laid out in chapter 11, so now “they” will take over, convert it to chapter 7 and sell his assets. It wasn’t this particular trustee’s case, so he couldn’t tell me which one they are going for. When I asked him if this place would be in business after the hearing he said that could go either way, but it usually means the business is planing to close up, or that he may have no choice in the chapter 7 conversion plan in which case who know what will happen. I think that’s what Armando has planed - to just close up shop. I’ve got to finish this up by tomorrow.
So what do I do next? Do I contact the state’s attorney’s office, do I contact the FBI, or do I just ask Armando to let me go? I chose the latter. I sent him a text message and he just this moment answered that he will make time for me today...we’ll see. I’ll bet a buck, Tim doesn’t show up. Depending on what happens today, will set the stage for tomorrow. I either go home, or I go to the authorities. Right now I see Armando walking around with official looking people taking pictures of the two rigs next to me, one being the fifth wheel the neighbor lived in. This morning I think he left for good, I’m not sure. Now they’re all in the RV next to mine. Shit is going down here. This is going to be close.
Latter that afternoon:
Just before 3 there was a knock on the door. I was resting in my recliner right next to it, so I leaned over and opened it. Guess what, I won a buck! It was Armando. He apologizes that Tim is not there and to please give him another day. I tell him that it’s over. He has done nothing to start any new work on the bus in two months and I let him know that. I tell him that I want to leave tomorrow. He asks to start the hole in the bedroom, I tell him no. I also tell him that I am worried he will not be in business on Thursday, to which he responds, very quietly, that he will be. It’s as if Jared Moffit, from Progressive Insurance, is sitting there in Ohio, reading all this and relaying to Armando what I know. Weather he is or isn’t, it seems that Armando knows what I’m talking about when I say that. So I think he does know that I know about the bankruptcy. That’s why he was humble when responding to that concern and not inquisitive as to what would make me think that. Again I express my concern about him being in business after Wednesday and to “please let me go”. Without hesitation he says he will tomorrow. I ask what time and he says 9 am. Checkmate. I know this, if I’m not off this property by noon tomorrow with the slide fixed, the rubber strip replaced, the metal plate caulked with silicon, my old lock with key, my old sewer hose which he connected to the double wide, hubcap, washer/dryer warranty, an invoice in accordance with the state statues in chapter 559, and my change in cash, I will call the sheriff’s office.
Above I called out “checkmate”, but it is more of a check, than a checkmate. I never count on anything. Sure, you would think Armando would just do the right thing and settle up all fare and square like, but I saw him try to bluff me way too much just then. He may try again tomorrow. All he needs is for me to say “okay”, then I wait for Tim tomorrow and he comes to me again late in the afternoon and tells me that Tim won’t be here until tomorrow again and he wins. On Wednesday he closes down, I get kicked out and he steals way over two grand from me and Progressive. But by the way he quickly said 9 am tomorrow makes me think he knows he’s beaten and he should just pay me off and get rid of me; Even if there is no chapter seven. And he would have gotten away with it too if I wasn’t so empathic, intuitive and intelligent. But this long wait, this Mexican standoff as you may, will reach its apex tomorrow after 10 am. I called checkmate because he knows this standoff is over tomorrow. And after all he has done to get me to leave without telling me about the other estimate he was paid on, taking my sewer hose, sicing my neighbor after me, keeping me here against my will ruining my summer, I will have no problem calling the cops to get this man, who I am sure would make a great friend, but makes evil choices that puts people in a living hell, put in jail. When we go against the flow of God’s Ten Commandments we create hells all around. I was in hell first, now he will be in hell. He will be either because he will be in jail away from loved ones, or because he got caught and will have to give up all that money he fraudulently deceived many people to get. He will be embarrassed. He will be in hell knowing he played this all wrong with the wrong person he judged by a cover and got exposed. They should have googled me before they decided to rip me off. Right now, I’m the only one who knows. Progressive will never do anything to investigate this because of money, greed, friendship and a huge desire to avoid incarceration.
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Well, happy birthday to me. Not really. It has been a very aggravating day. It started at 5:30 this morning when I woke up feeling apprehensive of the day. Will Armando do the right thing, or will he fold like a puss, puss? And what do you think he did? He folded. Had the nerve to charge me 8 hours for work that took no more than 1 hour but the guy stretch out over 2 and the adjuster said they would give two for it. That’s at $129.00 an hour. My guess is, he thinks as well that he will be in chapter 7 tomorrow, though he used his tongue to make me believe that it wont be. We’ll see tomorrow. Let me tell you how this all went down.
Again, I woke up and turned on the news for a while then got up to do my morning ritual and prepare the bus to leave. At 7:30 I saw the neighbor guy walking his dog, but the vehicle that he just bought was not there. But he’s there. He’s hiding, but he’s in there. Shit’s going to happen today. At 9:15, no Tim. Armando sends me a text saying he getting ready to start on my home. He gets here around 10 with the guy that did the hole in the floor at my slide. I let him in and ask him if he is going to fix the slide. He tells me no, that they are here to fix the hole in the floor of my bedroom. I say, “No. No, no, no. I got to leave today. I need you to fix up all the things you started but didn’t finish.” “He said yes and left. What is it with this guy? Didn’t I tell him yesterday that I didn’t want him to do that? I think so.
So his guy puts on the rubber strip and Armando caulks the stuff his body guy did but hadn’t caulked. After, he went in search of a hubcap. Hour tops. It was like 11, 11:30.
Buy one o’clock I was getting ancy. I sent him a text telling him I wanted the invoice within the hour. At one-thirty he sends me one back saying he will be here in 30 minutes. I immediately send him one back saying great.
An hour later and nothing. That was it. I got on the phone and called the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, but there was no answer. I left a message, which sounded like desperation, asking her to call me ASAP. Half-hour later I called back and got who I was looking for. Our conversation was very interesting. With all of it in mind I planed my next move.
At three-thirty I still don’t have the invoice. I send a text saying that I need to see the invoice now. A few minutes later he sends me a text that he’s ready.
I go into the office where Armando is sitting down. There are a couple of guys congregating in the background. He pulls out the estimate and starts pointing at it saying this is how much the insurance gave us [the shop], this is what you asked to do, plus your deductible… He goes over the estimate pointing out door number four, but it was door number two, which was more money and not bought. He says something about grinding and I am like “what”. I tell him I don’t know what he is talking about and get him to show me. I had to get him away from those guys. We both get up to go look at the RV. As I am leaving I hear one guy use the name of the other guy as I left. That name he used was Sergio. Hmm. Sergio Salinas? Must be brothers, or cousins. I was wondering if he didn’t show up incase the police were called. Maybe he thought Armando would go to jail? As we walked to the RV, I asked him, “so, I’m all ready to go home?” Yes was his reply. Then I say, “Great, can I stay here while we wait for Tim to stop by,” to which he answered yes and that he can put in an air-conditioning compressor if Tim didn’t something, I don’t know. I couldn’t tell what because of his accent.
Outside at the rig, he pointed out the back end and said that was a 10 hours job. No it wasn’t. He said remember you told me to fix the wall from the Lazy Days repair job. No, I said. I did discuss it but for the other side of the bedroom slide. That was when he said that would cost thousands to do and I gave up on that idea since it would have to come out of my own pocket. This was just a patch, a small one. Took maybe a couple of hours to do. In fact, I will take a picture of it tomorrow and place it in the column on the right. I question Armando about the eight hours charge for the pipe that was changed and told him it was two hours tops. He says that’s what it took. Bullshit. He must be going out of business. I looked at the “invoice” and asked, “is that the invoice?” He said yes and I asked if I owed him anything and he said that is what he has been trying to tell me, that I don’t. I ask him if he owes me and he says no, it even. Lier. Okay I say and change the subject.
I tell him that the reason I needed to be out of here today was because I didn’t want to be here just incase at tomorrow’s hearing they change the bankruptcy case from a chapter 11 to a chapter 7. He seemed a little shocked, but just a little. He asked me where I heard that. I responded that it was on the court docket and said they filed that on Friday. I told him that chapter 7 was nothing to play with. He says no, that they know this place is bringing in people and money and everything was getting paid. I told him that’s good, because if the feds take this place I don’t want to be in the middle of it. He says not to worry, but is he calling checkmate? Only if they go out of business. I left to go inside and Armando left to tell Sergio that I know about chapter 7, which only came about on Friday night.
Inside I called the lady I spoke with earlier. I sent her a copy of what Armando gave me for the “invoice”. She spotted fraud. We came up with possible next moves depending on the outcome of tomorrow’s hearing.
Thursday, August 17, 2017
I got up Wednesday feeling very nervous about the day. I had a feeling that he would ferry the storm. But it was before seven and there was already movement on the grounds. The night before, there was a U-Haul parked at the back of the double wide and Vinnie and another couple that live here on the land, were packing it. Around eight, I opened my window to have a smoke and saw Armando walk right past me. I didn’t say anything. I did send my insurance company several emails though, since I now had Armando red handed. The night before I asked him to send an investigator and not and adjuster. That morning I wrote Ledbetter’s boss, Brian Newman and told him what I was seeing going on. I told him that if this place went out of business today I would sue them. I also mentioned his other customer they have over here, Lisa Schoaf. He sent someone immediately.
I heard a noise outside and lifted the blinds to see what it was. As I opened it, I saw a SUV parked outside, but the noise was the body guy using the sink. I didn’t see the email where Newman told me someone would be here, so I wondered if this vehicle was from the insurance company or the state. I gathered up some trash and walked it out to the dumpster. As I was walking back the man in the SUV asked me if I was whom I am, to which I answered yes. He went over the work and agreed there was fraud. He also either suggest or asked me why not just load up a bunch of tools and take off in the middle of the night? He obviously doesn’t understand how much I hate a thief.
So now what? Well, it’s Thursday night and no word from them yet. I told this guy that I used to work in the casino industry in the 80’s for Donald Trump and his games were rigged and we could steal as much from the customers as long as we kicked up and if this is what is going on here I will do more than sue them. Maybe that’s why I haven’t heard from them.
About one-thirty there was a knock on the door. I opened it to Armando. I put on a smile, “hey, how’d everything turn out.” He saw my smile and smiled back, “great, everything is good.” I quickly asked, “so when do you think Tim will be here?” “That’s why I am here”, he responded, “I wanted to see if he came today.” “No, he wasn’t here.” He said he had called him but he didn’t get an answer. Probably because he hasn’t been paid in a while. If he had called him in the morning I think I know Armando would have texted me that. I told him it’s all good and we’ll do it whenever he gets here. He was like okay and left. Great, just where I want to be.
Right now I’ve got everyone by the balls. They don’t know how to react. In the morning I will send another email to Brian Newman telling him that since he has known the situation for over 12 business hours now, what will they do to make up to me their guy not telling me about the extra estimate and Armando not letting me go on my way because of it? If doesn’t answer within an hour I will send a complaint to the Florida Financial Services, which regulates the insurance industry in this state. I might even go to the feds. We’ll see tomorrow.
Friday, August, 18, 2017
Opps, I contacted the Florida Financial Services. This will be fun.
All day I wrote to Brian Newman telling him that time’s up. My first email was the following:
Mr. Newman,
My letter to you was a paragraph I took from a letter I wrote to Pete Anderson back in July after he sent a hard copy of the second estimate to my house. I'm sure he has kicked that up to you. Him and Mike Kissane were aware of my feelings for weeks and have made no move to help me out. Because of that and since you are not sending a fraud investigator, I would like to have a fraud investigator from the F.B.I. present only because I don't trust you nor your company. The reason you haven't talked to me over the phone is because of the way Pete Anderson spoke to me when I found out about this new estimate and because of the treatment I got when Tim Ledbetter tried to trap me in making a statement that favors you. Have you listened to that recording? No, there will be no communications over the phone until I meet you in person. Please set up a time for both your "field representative" and the F.B.I. to be here and we got a deal. As far as justice? Did any disciplinary actions befall Mike, Pete or Tim? Has Armando been arrested for fraud yet? And you know, the slide would not be broke if I had been out of here back in May. So you figure out how to get that fixed.
Hoping to hear from you by lunch,
Lou Levite
He responded by nine with this:
Mr. Levite:
As I mentioned in a prior email, we have no legal jurisdiction to investigate RV Collision and Restoration and their business practices. If this continues to concern you, I suggest you contact the local, state or federal authorities directly. We do however want to assist you with the collision claim. As I stated earlier, we can review the final estimate completed by Progressive and determine what work was paid for, but has not been repaired by the shop. We will need your assistance in this matter as well, as all parties involved understand that some of the collision related damages were either not fixed or not fixed per our written estimate so that claims proceeds could cover other unrelated damages to your RV.
I will have a claims representative once again attempt to secure any written invoicing RV Collision and Restoration can produce showing all the work they performed.
Sincerely,
Brian K Newman | FL Special Lines Manager | 904-423-4415
Hmm. says a lot. I sent him the following:
Mr. Newman,
Great. Will you please answer the last two questions? I got it fresh from Florida, that shops had to supply the insurance companies after the work has been completed, but you and Dale tell me they don't have to. Hmm. I guess I was mistaken. Thanks for doing what you can.
Getting Frustrated,
Lou Levite
Mentioning the fresh from Florida folks got him to jump. He sends me this:
Mr. Levite:
Once again, I will offer that I am not part of any law enforcement agency and therefore have no knowledge of whether Mr. Armando has been arrested for any crime. Secondly, our employees privacy will always be protected, and as such I will not comment on your request.
Regarding speaking to Florida, I would like to fully understand what you are trying to tell me. Are you being told by someone at a state department that body shops must provide insurance companies with final work orders on all repairs? I would like to reach out to your source to better understand what you are saying. Would you please provide a name and telephone number of the party you spoke with so that I may better understand?
Brian K Newman | FL Special Lines Manager | 904-423-4415
There we go. I’ve got to be getting to this guy. Yes, that is what I’m told. So, is it too late for this guy now? I wasn’t really sure. Why would he want to reach out to my source? I figured out how to answer his letter and sent him this:
Mr. Newman,
All you had to do was answer the question the first time and I wouldn't have asked twice. It may even have been my third or fourth time I had asked that. As far as who I spoke with, no. What they told me they told me over the phone. What you told me you wrote down. I will believe my eyes before I will believe my memory any day. Polygraphs administered to the both of us would prove that the person I spoke to didn't say that and never tried to make me believe that, while showing that I believed that was what I heard. You claim to be an honest man, don't you? So do I. It was just an honest mistake on my part and I am big enough to admit that. So don't worry about it. Again, thank you for what you will do and please do it very fast.
Sincerely,
Lou Levite
So I made it known to him that that was exactly what I believed and thought I heard. My explanation to not share that who I am making complaints too will have to do for him now. That person was receiving BCCs, so they know if I truly did make a mistake, or if they did. They may have told me, but it may have been wrong. If so, all they need to do is admit it and/or accept my misinterpretation and all is forgotten. But if they did tell me that, and they know it to be true, then Newman knows he is caught. He may be fishing to see if I did contact anyone. Let him sweat. I have no idea at this time what the truth is. Those people have many people to respond to, so it can take time for them to get back to me. Maybe I’ll call on Monday, maybe not.
Now, the only thing I can think of to do next is to send all this over to the FBI. This is a case dealing with interstate fraud. That should be them.
Monday August 28, 2017
Over the weekend I heard nothing from Armando. I started writing a complaint to the FBI just incase I needed it. I began receiving some returned emails I believe they were from the person at the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. They didn’t have my case number on it, so…
On Sunday, the 20th, I had the window opened so I could enjoy a smoke. A guy that was in the lot eariler with his Bayliner motorboat was walking around asking for Harry. I told him he was on the other side. He told me he wasn’t there and that he needed to borrow some jumper cables because he had a truck stuck out front. I was reluctant at first, but I know how it is to be in need of a set of cables when you don’t have any. I agreed to let him borrow them and exited to get them. As I walked off the bus I saw Armando over by the storage container that he hangs out in when he’s not working. I said to the young man, “oh, there’s Armando.” He responded by telling me that he didn’t have any. I should have figured. As I gave the cables to the guy he told me he’d bring them right back…that was over a week ago. I’m sure Armando told him he could keep them - the dick. Upset, I sent the complaint to the FBI.
Monday morning, the 21st, the same adjuster that showed up in place of Mike Kissane, Dale, showed up. He got me and the two of us went in search of Armando. We walked around, but I was getting nervous leaving the bus unlocked and out of sight. Dale was telling me that he saw Armando earlier and that he didn’t have any invoices or purchase orders to give him and that he really didn’t have to. He was trying to make it appear that what he was doing there was for my benefit only. We returned to bus and I told Dale to make sure he finds Armando before he leaves and bring him back. He agrees and leaves to find him. A few minutes later they both return.
There ya go. For the first time in two months, Progressive had gotten a hold of Armando. I would loved to have been a fly on the wall at that meeting. I exit the bus and the three of us have a very quick pow-wow.
You know, I forgot this Dale guy was from an insurance company. I also forgot at that moment, that Mike Kissane and Armando Salinas have been keeping me here against my will to make a scam on me. And that Dale knows that and has to cover it up because they all benefit from the payoff. If Mike were doing this rouge, they would have given him up. Either that or he cannot be replaced, but I doubt it. They never went over the estimates and all Dale would say was that anything we agreed on is between the two of us. So I got him to broker what it is that I want from Armando. I know I’m not getting any change, shit, he hasn’t had the dumpster emptied in two or three weeks, but I was not leaving without my key, warranty information and the slide fixed. I can sue him for the change if I can get the adjuster to go over the work done or not done with me. I told Dale that I had been asking for the key back since the day he took it. Armando admitted that he lost it, but he said he would order me a new door lock with the original key from the factory. Great, how long? He tells us a few days. Great, Thursday. And the receipt for the washer/dryer combo? There is something going on there.
Dale asks what’s up with the washer/dryer; is it new or used. He knew that answer. Armando says used. I yell out it was brand new, never used, a scratch and dent. I tell him, in front of Armando, that I gave Armando $475 cash for it and it has a warranty with it that I need. So Dale is like, “so what’s up with the receipt? Where did you get the machine?” Before Armando can answer, I blurt out that we got it at a place called Topper Appliances in Clearwater, but that last week I got a letter from them that they just sold the machine. I told him that I wrote to them inquiring how if I had already bought it a month ago, but they never answered. So Dale is tells Armando to just get the receipt and warranty information together. Armando, with his head down, softly said he would.
Then came time for the slide. Dale made it seem like this was something that was very common in the industry, however, Armando admitted to him that he didn’t do that kind of work and would rather if Tim handled it. Then he showed us a text Tim sent him stating that his mother was in a coma. Whatever. Dale was saying that we could take it next door and get it done there. I gave Tim the benefit of the doubt and decided that since I had to wait three days for the lock to get in, I could wait for this guy as well. As long as I was out by the end of the week. But my belief is that the reason why Tim hasn’t been back is probably because he knows Armando’s men screwed it up beyond repair. I did watch the body guy jack up the slide five or six inches and I’m sure that can’t be good for it. It is really out of alignment.
Meeting over and quickly too. I accompanied Dale to his car. Armando’s body guy came out to paint something and spy on us. As we talked I explained to Dale how this added charge would increase my monthly payments. So if they think I don’t think this scam doesn’t effect my bottom line, they have another think coming. I asked Dale for a business card and he said he didn’t have any because this car he came both time in, was a rental car, so he didn’t have any cards on him. Sure. Get out of here.
When I returned to my home, I began to write Brian Newman a letter. I didn’t send it, but I wanted it just incase I didn’t see the work get done. I waited all week, then got an email from the Department of Agraculture. I had to write the another letter this week asking them what could be done to get her agency over here to look at invoices and such. I also told her of Newman’s desire to work with her agency in getting me what the law tells me I must have upon request. I gave her his contact info and told her to call him if she thinks it would be good. On Friday the 26th, she sent me an email stating that she tried to contact Mr. Newman, but he hadn’t respond to her as of yet and would contact me the moment she spoke with him. But there was nothing by the end of the day. Over the weekend I the worked on the letter to Newman a little more and sent this on Sunday night:
Mr. Newman,
Even though your guy Dale stopped by here last Monday to "ask" for records (which were never given to him because like you both said, the shop doesn't have to supply Progressive with those), he was in a rush to go somewhere else in his "rental car" ({sure} he said that was why he had no business cards with him - because it wasn't his SUV, right), so he never went over the estimates and work done, line by line and in detail. You seem to be cooperating, but I'm not too sure. It seems you guys do not want to help for real. Dale never questioned Armando about that second estimate, or about charging me 8 hours to replace one pipe that took about an hour or two to do. He never told me he was going to charge over $1,000.00 to do that. Dale claims that work done or not done, stemming from that second estimate, is between you two guys. Believe me, it's not. I hope Dale explained it to you the way I explained it to him. Let me ask you something, if work is done on my RV without an estimate ever being given, shouldn't the cost of that repair be under $100? I mean, according to FSS 559.907 that is.
559.907 Charges for motor vehicle repair estimate; requirement of waiver of rights prohibited.—
(1) No motor vehicle repair shop shall charge for making a repair price estimate unless, prior to making the price estimate, the shop:
(a) Discloses to the customer the amount of the charge or, if the amount cannot be determined, the basis on which the charge will be calculated; and
(b) Obtains authorization on the written repair estimate, in accordance with s. 559.905, to prepare an estimate. No motor vehicle repair shop shall impose or threaten to impose any such charge which is clearly excessive in relation to the work involved in making the price estimate.
(2) It shall be unlawful for any motor vehicle repair shop to require that any person waive her or his rights provided in this part as a precondition to the repair of her or his vehicle by the shop.
History.—s. 1, ch. 80-139; s. 5, ch. 93-219; s. 825, ch. 97-103.
In a previous communication you expressed a desire to work with the state agency that has been helping me. Or were you just bluffing to see how far I went? I contacted the person handing the case (case# 1708-30704 RV Collision and Restoration, LLC) and told her of your desire. I gave her your contact info and told her she could contact you if she felt it necessary. She wrote back, telling me she has tried to get in touch and would contact me as soon as she heard back from you. But she never wrote back. Are you avoiding her? I suggest that someone from your corporation contact Miss Morgan and work on getting me out of here. Make sure you run this by Nadine first. Her contact info:
Yada, yada. Later, this afternoon, I received a long email from Brian Newman. Not really worth writing about here other than he wants to make it known that Armando doesn’t have to supply them, nor Progressive, with anything. Hmm. That law listed above says he does. I sent him the following:
I have not received any of the things promised last Monday. Even though I can, I will not leave without those three things that are owed me. (he owes me more, but fuck it) I have concerns about water leakage through the slide with it being off alignment. I could have left two months ago had I known I had no money left for work. His keeping me here violates Florida State Statue 787.02 False imprisonment; false imprisonment of child under age 13, aggravating circumstances.—
(1)(a) The term “false imprisonment” means forcibly, by threat, or secretly confining, abducting, imprisoning, or restraining another person without lawful authority and against her or his will.
Please take an hour to come here and run through the estimates with me.
We’ll see what happens tomorrow.
August 29, 2017
Nothing so far…
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