I work at a warehouse. I’m heading out to my car to go home after my shift when I see one of the company vans parked in the space behind me, with its front bumper making contact with my rear bumper. I take a picture, go back inside, and inform the driving department manager, and he asks me to pull forward to show the damage so he can take a picture, as well. Luckily, the only damage is some barely noticeable scuffing.
[Driving Manager] tells me the driver of that particular van has had a history of close calls with parking, but this was his first time hitting someone, and he’ll have a talk with him about it. I am able to quickly buff out the scuffing on my car back home. From what I hear, [Driver] gets written up because it isn’t his first instance of him bumping other vehicles.
About a week later, I’m getting into my car when the driver of the van from the last time pulls into the spot behind me. Once again, he makes contact with my rear bumper, and I actually feel it this time. I quickly get out and assess the damage, and I take another picture — this time it’s more significant, as my bumper is cracked. The driver gets out at the same time.
Driver: “What are you doing?”
Me: “You just hit my car and cracked my bumper. I’m taking a picture of the damage.”
Driver: “Stop whining! I didn’t hit you at all! The damage was already there!”
Me: “No, it wasn’t. That is a fresh crack on my bumper. You can’t convince me that this wasn’t you.”
Driver: “I didn’t hit your car!”
Me: “No, you absolutely did hit my car. The damage lines up perfectly. You literally cannot deny that this was your doing.”
Driver: “Shut up! You’re just making this up to get me in trouble! For the last time, I did not hit you!”
At this point, [Driving Manager], who saw the incident while cleaning his own company truck, comes over.
Driving Manager: “Yes. Yes, you did hit him, [Driver]. I saw it, the parking lot cameras saw it, the dashcam in your van saw it, and I’m pretty sure [My Name]’s dashcam saw it. Go to my office and wait for me there, [Driver]. We’ll need to talk about this in a moment. [My Name], I’m going to take a few pictures of the damage, and then you can go home. When you come in tomorrow, come right to me and we’ll get things sorted out.”
When I went in the following day, [Driving Manager] helped me get an appointment set up to fix my car. The bumper had to be completely replaced, along with the parking sensors inside it, which ended up costing about $3,200 altogether, including the cost of my rental. The company’s insurance covered everything.
Meanwhile, [Driver] lost his job, not just for hitting my car again, but for adamantly insisting he was not at fault despite the large amounts of evidence proving otherwise.