"The policy ... is that we do not cover tire damage ..."

"TouringBubble" (TouringBubble) 01/20/2015 at 10:47 • Filed to: nail, tire, reimbursement, builder, accountability

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So, after !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , I reached out to the builder who is building two homes on my street in hopes for compensation for the approximately $200 I had to shell out to replace a destroyed Conti DWS.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

After speaking with someone on the phone, I sent over the details, including photos of the damage.

Thank you for looking in to the issue.

As we discussed, my wife suffered tire failure on the way to work on Tuesday, 1/13/15. Her right rear tire went flat on the highway at speed, resulting in the inner sidewall failing, destroying the tire.

Upon inspection of the damaged tire I found multiple, evenly spaced nails in the center tread block. This arrangement points to nails used in a nail gun.

I live on Chesser Loop Circle in the Cottages at Chesser community. There are currently two homes being built by DR Horton on my street.

My wife's commute takes her from the neighborhood, to 280, Old 280, 11, 52 and on to I-65. There are no construction zones on her commute aside from the new homes in our community.

I'm confident that the damage to the tire is a direct result of nails discarded/dropped at one of the construction sites on my street. I appreciate your assistance in providing compensation for replacement of the damaged tire.

I have attached photos of the damage to the tire. I have receipts for the tire replacement, mounting and balancing that can be provided for reimbursement. I also have the damaged tire, nails intact, if needed for inspection.

Thank you for your help.

And I received this response ...

Mr. Williams, I spoke with my manager and discussed the pictures you sent me. The policy at D.R. Horton is that we do not cover tire damage like what you have had happen. Although you do not normally travel anywhere there may be nails in the roads, there is no definite proof that these are nails from the contractors working in your area.

I am sorry you have tire damage, but we are not able to give you any reimbursement assistance.

Obviously, this wasn't what I wanted to hear. I kept it civil, and issued this in response ...

I understand that there is no way to definitively know that the nails originated from DR Horton construction, but the most plausible explanation is that they did come from construction on my road.

Yes, nails can come from many places, but nails specifically from a nail gun commonly used in residential construction are much more likely to come from a residential construction site than, say, randomly falling off of a truck. Ignoring that fact is not logical.

I'll also state that if this happens so often you need a policy in place to address it, the issue basically states itself.

This is actually the third tire I've had damaged during construction in this neighborhood. The previous two were repairable and did not need replacement, so I didn't feel the need to address it with the builder. This one was obviously more severe.

I do not agree with your management that there is any other plausible explanation for the tire damage than it originating at one of the construction sites in my neighborhood. I'm also saddened that DR Horton is the kind of company that would attempt to ignore such an obvious issue and write it off as a random incident. I feel that an ethical company would see the most likely scenario and do the right thing.

Yes, I know that a lawyer will say that without absolute proof, I don't really have a leg to stand on. But, seriously, five nail gun style roofing nails in a tire with the brass tangs that hold them together still intact ... come on. As I said to the guy at D.R. Horton ... look at the evidence provided and do the right thing.

I have a photo of discarded nail gun nails at the edge of the road from one of the construction sites , but they aren't the same roofing nails that I took from the damaged tire. I've got to check the other site to see if there is anything more definite there.

I could understand plausible deniability if it were a single nail, but this issue is a bit more defined. The immediate shirking of accountability here astounds me.

thebigbossyboss > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 10:52

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This piece right here is what you need. It's a wire which is used to hold air gun nails together. Also...if you can go on the street and look and see if there are other nails around the houses although the company probably got their "go for" to sweep it pretty good after your letter.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 10:54

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I am a child deep down and a massive smartass so my response would be to egg their equipment they leave out overnight and respond to any inquiries with "Although you do not normally have your equipment vandalized, there is no definite proof that this was caused by someone living in the same neighborhood that the equipment is stored in. I am sorry you suffered vandalism, but I am unable to give you any assistance in this matter"

.....I should point out this was what my dad did to get the lawn care people to stop speeding through our neighborhood after one of them finally smashed a car instead of just knocking the mirrors off in a close call. Turns out a few days of smashed eggs on the seats in the dead of summer with no A/C does wonders in improving behavior.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 01/20/2015 at 10:59

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Karo syrup in the gas tank and sand in the crankcase!

E. Julius > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 11:00

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Man, this blows. Gotta hate it when companies are jerks like this. As if $200 is really going to impact their profitability. Like you said, if it's happening so much that this is an issue, maybe they need to train their people on not dropping nails in the road.

thebigbossyboss > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 11:01

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Also as a former construction worker, that is just slack. We swept up every single day at the end of the day.

McMike > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 11:01

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http://www.amazon.com/ASR-Tactical-P…

ttyymmnn > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 11:05

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Cal your local TV news station. They love to do investigative reports on this kind of shit.

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 11:10

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Call the city. Make a complaint about the cconstruction company. There is nothing that can fuck up a builders day like an overzealous inspector armed with complaints.

McMike > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 11:11

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Dear DR Horton,

I spoke with my wife and discussed the pictures you sent me. The policy at the Williams' house is that we do not cover fire damage like what you have had happen. Although you do not normally travel anywhere there may be accelerants , there is no definite proof that these are flames are from the homeowners living near your worksite.

I am sorry you have fire damage, but we are not able to give you any reimbursement assistance.

BKosher84 > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 11:15

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It'd be a shame if all of a sudden their construction vehicles had nails in their tires at some point during construction... Just sayin'....

KnotThatBusy > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis 01/20/2015 at 11:16

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Yeah, not sure where you are but start by calling the city and ask who approves all the permits. Then ride their ass about it.

Racescort666 > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 01/20/2015 at 11:16

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They tested that on Mythbusters, bleach works the best.

TouringBubble > BKosher84 01/20/2015 at 11:18

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While I love this idea, and the ideas of eggs and accelerants that others have provided, the vehicles at the work sites are either owned by a contractor working under DR Horton, or personal vehicles of craft workers. While yes, one of them is likely responsible for the nails, I'm not going to do anything to their vehicles. The builder is responsible. If they need to get reimbursed from the contractor that dropped the roofing nails, they can handle it with bills or nails or fire or whatever they'd like.

Racescort666 > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 11:19

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This happened to me all the time in Wichita but I could never figure out where the nails were coming from.

Supersuck though. That's bullshit that they can get away with littering and totally cop on the responsibility.

505Turbeaux > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 11:19

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I owned a construction company for some years, and my ex-father-in law owns one of the biggest construction firms in the state. There is no way either one of us would respond this way. Pay for a new tire or a repair (as long as the tire in question was inspectable and not at the end of it's life anyways), and everybody wins.

Rico > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 11:23

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It's obvious they don't see the issue and nails just don't find themselves in the street so here's what you do. Gather the nails off of the street and place them underneath their construction work trucks, they'll get nails in their tires and most likely flats and will likely be more diligent about discarding nails.

Lessens the chances of getting discarded nails in your tires since they'll work harder to keep it out of theirs. Sounds shitty but it's what I would do.

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 11:25

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It's their "policy" not to pay, because that alone will stop many people from asking twice. Policy aside, it's justice for them to compensate you. Keep bugging.

McMike > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 11:28

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I would never do that either, but the thought of it makes me happy.

Bad Idea Hat > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 01/20/2015 at 11:44

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Small claims court policy, especially given evidence of nails in the roads around their construction site, may claim otherwise.

I suggest you gather a ton of evidence, and then take them to small claims court.

OPPOsaurus WRX > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 12:02

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but in reality just call the town. inspectors get boners over this shit

WiscoProud > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 12:03

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It seems like you have a pretty good case for small claims court. You seem to have full documentation and its very logical that they came from the construction on your block. Even better, if they don't show, I believe you get default judgement.

The Real Dacia Sandero > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 12:08

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It's DR Horton... I'm surprised that you weren't literally told to fuck off. We used to own a house built by them. We had a subcontractor in about a dozen times to fix various issues on a new construction house.

Their slogan is "America's Builder"

If that's the case, we're screwed...

XJDano > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 12:19

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I have often thought of seeding nails all over the neighbors yard they recently got tire tracks through their grass as someone cut the corner through their yard.

There is also a state conservation area that would have deep ruts on either side of the road from rednecks driving 4wd trucks through just to get muddy. Thought about planting a nail garden in there too. Since I was there last thee put up a fence on one side of the road and tilled ground, laid grass seed and covered with straw.

I doubt I'll ever get to have my nail garden.

TouringBubble > WiscoProud 01/20/2015 at 12:24

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While I agree, the court costs would probably equal the $200 for the tire.

TouringBubble > XJDano 01/20/2015 at 12:27

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Awwww ...

My dad dod something like that years back. We lived off a rough paved road and there was a consistent mud hole on one side that trucks would drive through and get muddy. He dumped about half a box of nails in it one day. Not sure if anyone picked them up, but I have to think someone did.

Aaron Paul: Oppo's Resident Fake British Actor > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 12:48

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That sucks. Hope it gets paid for by the construction company.

450X_FTW > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 13:14

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Lawyer will tell you that actual damages, no you won't get anything, but do you feel emotional pain and suffering? Trouble sleeping? Stress? Well then good news because that's worth it's weight in gold! No literally that's worth about$2.5 million to a lawyer.

450X_FTW > TouringBubble 01/20/2015 at 13:18

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The people bought the house next door us, tore it down and are now building a massive house on it. Only about 6 feet separates their driveway from the edge of my house. So for a long long time I always found bricks, nails, lumber, siding, trash, and scraps in my yard that they used as a dumpster. Whenever they were out there working I'd get a rake and just rake it off my yard under their work vehicles/trailers that were parked in the driveway. Figured I was just returning it to them.

Although, some of the nice new wolmanized treated lumber they left on my yard, that disappeared.....

DarrenMR > TouringBubble 09/02/2015 at 18:03

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You should go hammer some nails into their tires and tell them the policy at TouringBubble is that they can go fuck themselves.