Shouted at in car park - really upset!! - updated!

KittyKate

Hi all. I know this sounds pathetic but I am feeling distraught!

Yesterday me & OH went to the supermarket, we parked up next to an old Golf, and a woman and her husband were standing next to the boot. It was a really windy day and as I opened my passenger side door the wind caught it and it lightly touched her driver's side door. No noise, no crunching sound, etc. Just a touch.Luckily our little Peugeot 206 has those soft rubber door protector things which stop this very thing doing any damage in higher winds.

Anyway, the man didn't do anything but the woman came over and started screaming at me, how I'd damaged her car etc. I said calmly 'I can't see anything' and she said 'LOOK! It's MASSIVE' and proceeded to take her index and second finger and push them hard into her door (her fingertips went white) and leaving two clear finger marks in the dirt on her car. I was so shocked!

My hubby came round and I looked at him and said 'I didn't do that'. The woman said 'well how are we going to sort this - insurance or not?' She went to her car and there was a little pen and pad on the dash already (pre-'accident'!) - they couldn't always have been there as they'd have fallen off as soon as she took off. She took our details and we insisted on taking hers too (because if we'd refused or argued she was threatening to call the police. Me & hubby work for the police and our security clearance depends on us having clean records both for our characters and our driving licences). Hubby took a photo (you can clearly see her finger marks and the dent around it - not where my door tapped hers, you can see the where the tap happened because the rubber wiped the dirt off their car (no scratching etc). There's no way our car could have made the dint around her finger marks.

Her husband was really apologetic (assuming he was embarrased at her language/behaviour) and as he was saying 'oh these things happen and its a bit windy isnt it etc' she stormed into her car and waited for him.

I was so upset I went straight to the supermarket loos and cried my eyes out from shock (sad I know). If I'd caused the dint I would have been at least 'OK I had better pay for it' but I honestly don't think I did especially with her OTT and strange behaviour. I cried all the way home - I'm 25 and this woman was around 50 and I have always been taught to respect my elders. I didn't raise my voice or swear etc but she spoke to me like dirt.

I'm scared she is going to take me to the cleaners on this - the dint was NOT there before, how can I prove this? We are thinking of contacting the supermarket for their CCTV but it was such a huge car park I don't think it would pick it up. What can I do?

CB1979_2

gonna have to take it on the chin, i'm afraid.

just tell them what you've said here then it's down to the insurance companies to sort it out.

luckily it wasn't whilst you were driving otherwise no doubt a whiplash claim would be going in too!

to be honest i doubt you'll hear anything from the insurance company she was probably hoping for a cheeky easy £100 and by the time her hubby gets home it'll probably amount to nothing.

you have photographic evidence, you've got her hubby saying never mind these things happen, so that's that really.

a similar thing happened to me the other week, i was parking in a slightly tight spot managed to "nudge" the big dumper truck in front (my plastic bumper nudged his big metal horizontal bar underneath) 2 guys jump out as quick as anything, i hold my hand up to apologise just whilst i realign before i get out and the fella (must've been about 50 or so) starts shouting "no point holding your hand upm you've hit my truck".

surprisingly his tone changed when i stepped out of my car and asked him to repeat himself (amazing considering i'm about 6ft 4 and he was about 5ft 7! lol), i politely explained that any damage done would've been done to my car rather than his meteal bar, i'd happily exchange details if he really wanted to his response... "no, just be more careful in future"

well !!!!!! get so narky about something that was blatantly nothing anyway like a freaking golf would be able to damage a dumper truck travelling at barely 1mph! lol

Mips

Have a word with someone at work - do you come across the actual Police for your job?

We had this happen in Wales. We were stationary waiting to go left at a roundabout.. some lunatic drove into our right side.. then reversed right back dragging our mirror off :eek:

I got out of the Car but this little angry guy started getting freaking hysterical calling us fit to burn!!!

Anyways, we had to call the Police who then came and the guy pointed out the skid marks in the road and said that we, as lunatics, came screeching up and tried to cut past him!!!! :mad: :mad:

HE even pointed to skid marks in the road :rotfl: :T

Anyways, the Police officer came and ensured we had swapped details and calmly checked out our skidmarks and tyres etc etc

That little angry git who damaged our Car is lucky we never put in on the insurance.

Some people make me :mad: :mad:

BallandChain

Awww KittyKate I feel for you. The way the bag in the car park dealt with it all says more about her than you. Did your husband speak up at all to defend you? A small dent (whether you caused it or not) is not a reason to contact the insurance company. Good God it was a small dent that may have been there from ages ago. It sounds as if this witch was looking for a cash payout for an old dent.

I've had a couple of scrapes. I posted about one on here and this woman went berserk as I ended up going into her 4x4 tyre. I was driving a small car and she had no damage whatsoever but went really OTT about it. Then there was the time I scraped the side of my car along the front of this guy's battered van. Again my car came off worse, he had no damage, but he proceeded to kick his van with his foot instead of pointing to the alleged damage. If there wasn't any damage before, him kicking his van (a rust bucket with scratches all over it!) probably left a dent!

He was just trying it on, expecting me to cough up cash by making a meal of this alleged damage. I walked off back to my car and left him bent over his rust bucket scanning for damage, lol. Accidents happen, no big deal and a small dent in that woman's precious car shows that she places great importance on the meaningless things in life.

Just as well you had a camera! It might also be good to take a photo of your car door showing the rubber protector on it as proof your car didn't cause this dent.(Just incase she goes ahead with this ridiculous insurance claim.)

Hope you feel better and just pity her husband. He has to put up with that kind of behaviour all the time I bet.

journ

You are better then her i hate people who do this to good people :mad:
It looks like to me they done it themselves and they were waiting for someone to come along to get them to pay for the work
If your car done had done this kind of damage you car would have damage also
I would report her to the police .

TryingHard_2

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that the Police would not become involved because it happened in a private car park. I think the Road Traffic Act just applies to vehicles on a public road. I would check this out with your Insurance Company.Try not to worry too much about this. If someone carries on to this degree about a slight mishap, it's they who have a problem.What a horrible thing to happen to you. I would have cried too, just with sheer shock at the way she went on.(((hugs)))

Mips

TryingHard wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that the Police would not become involved because it happened in a private car park. I think the Road Traffic Act just applies to vehicles on a public road. I would check this out with your Insurance Company.Try not to worry too much about this. If someone carries on to this degree about a slight mishap, it's they who have a problem.What a horrible thing to happen to you. I would have cried too, just with sheer shock at the way she went on.(((hugs)))

But surely falsifying dints in the Car to gain money is a criminal offence???

TryingHard_2

Dippychick wrote: »

But surely falsifying dints in the Car to gain money is a criminal offence???

I never thought of that Dippychick !!! You're right. I think that the "evil shouting woman in the car park" is on a hiding to nothing here.

bestpud

Unfortunately, it is common to have people open their door into other cars these days (I know yours was an accident but some people don't think twice about doing it on purpose).

It looks to me like this woman has had her car dented in the past and saw you accidentally knocking into it as an opportunity to get it repaired for free.

On the picture, is the mark made by your car (in the dirt) the same height as the dent? So, if you had really slammed your door open, you could have caused the dent, or not?

Because if they are not then you can prove it was not your car door which caused the dent iyswim?

Don't give up without a fight either way, as she may buckle when she realises her scam won't be as easy as she thought.

BTW, I can see why you were upset - I would have been too.

KittyKate

Thanks everybody. I got home yesterday and had a bath and a beer (well a shandy, haha) and I feel much better. I was just so upset out of shock and a bit of embarrassment too.

Hubby at the time said 'well yes there is a dent' and yes, there was - she made it! In the photo you can clearly see the little dirt line our car door made and in front of it the two finger marks and a circular dent she made. I really don't think my car door made the dint - it wasn't there when the door tapped theirs - only after she poked the door really hard (why did she do this!?) I couldn't explain fully to hubby until later - for one I didn't want her calling the police, and I didn't want a smack either (well you never know, do you, a poor man got punched in the face in Sainsbury's just the other day).

I do really feel like I am being scammed but I don't know what to do. She said she would 'call me' (she hasn't yet but I suppose she will go to a garage for a repair quote first). It sounds stupid but I don't want to speak to her! I have checked on the net and the repair cost for a dint is about £90. I am so upset that she wants me to pay this - I didn't make the mark and £90 is a lot, I am saving for a wedding (I call him my hubby because we've been together 8 years, he calls me his wife too...we get wed next year!) I'm worried she will say it's £200 or the car needs a respray or something.

I am also concerned that maybe a trolley hit her car or something and they were just waiting there, pen and paper on the dash, for an opportunity like this on a windy day to get a payout. I don't want to think that badly of someone...but the way she flipped out was so mad.

I wish I had refused to give my details and stood up for myself a bit more (normally I do, I was just in so much shock). Even if she had called the police, you're all right, they wouldn't have entertained a dispute on private land. I wasn't thinking straight. Now she has my car reg, address, phone no and name...so even if I said that I disputed the accident it's a bit late now and she could come and damage my car or something

Mips

KittyKate wrote: »

Thanks everybody. I got home yesterday and had a bath and a beer (well a shandy, haha) and I feel much better. I was just so upset out of shock and a bit of embarrassment too.

Relax, she may not even contact you! Stranger things have happened! As said, we had our whole wing mirror dragged off and the door scratched to bits but getting home with the kids was priority and we forgot all about it then lost the details. Granted, we're not irate lunatics but we could have claimed on the insurance and got the whole side of the car fixed up!

Hubby at the time said 'well yes there is a dent' and yes, there was - she made it! In the photo you can clearly see the little dirt line our car door made and in front of it the two finger marks and a circular dent she made. I really don't think my car door made the dint - it wasn't there when the door tapped theirs - only after she poked the door really hard (why did she do this!?) I couldn't explain fully to hubby until later - for one I didn't want her calling the police, and I didn't want a smack either (well you never know, do you, a poor man got punched in the face in Sainsbury's just the other day).

Probably just a miserable Cow venting because she could! Some people are bullies.. they have nothing better to do in their miserable lives!

I do really feel like I am being scammed but I don't know what to do. She said she would 'call me' (she hasn't yet but I suppose she will go to a garage for a repair quote first). It sounds stupid but I don't want to speak to her! I have checked on the net and the repair cost for a dint is about £90. I am so upset that she wants me to pay this - I didn't make the mark and £90 is a lot, I am saving for a wedding (I call him my hubby because we've been together 8 years, he calls me his wife too...we get wed next year!) I'm worried she will say it's £200 or the car needs a respray or something.

Of course you are being scammed! Contact the CAB - you can dispute this as much as she can claim it!

I am also concerned that maybe a trolley hit her car or something and they were just waiting there, pen and paper on the dash, for an opportunity like this on a windy day to get a payout. I don't want to think that badly of someone...but the way she flipped out was so mad.

Again, I wouldn't be surprised!

I wish I had refused to give my details and stood up for myself a bit more (normally I do, I was just in so much shock). Even if she had called the police, you're all right, they wouldn't have entertained a dispute on private land. I wasn't thinking straight. Now she has my car reg, address, phone no and name...so even if I said that I disputed the accident it's a bit late now and she could come and damage my car or something

Don't worry about that, I can see why you would be worried but worst case scenario - wait for the insurance companies to go through the motion! Your insurance aren't going to let them take money from them without due cause - at least they shouldn't!

Wait and see what happens and try not to worry!