A Month-Long Debacle with a Devious Dealer
Friday, July 31, 2026
One of my drivers picked up a load of 2-year old F150s from Manheim Dallas going to a dealership in Denver. Normal load. Nothing special. He made it north of Amarillo before shutting down that evening. He knew it was going to be a tight schedule to get the units off before close of business, so he turned his ten and got rolling early in the morning on…
Saturday, August 1, 2026
In the wee hours of the morning, in the dark of the night, unbeknownst to my driver, one of the straps came undone on the top deck.
Now, for the uninitiated, I’ll explain. We use ratchet straps to put over the tires of vehicles, and that’s what holds them down as the truck drives down the road. On our trailers, there’s a top deck and a bottom deck. Vehicles go on both.
So, that strap comes loose, the one of the hooks comes undone, and for somewhere between before-sunrise and sunrise, that hook dangled over the deck below. Or it would have. If not for the F150 to break its fall. The hook came down and hit the windshield, cracking it. Then it slid off to the driver side and played its own little percussion symphony on the driver door and left front fender of that pickup truck. Could’ve been ten miles, could’ve been 100. That’s the strap’s story to tell.
My driver told me that just as the first light began to appear in the sky, he saw the strap flapping back there and pulled over. He sent me pictures and called me right away. Woke me up. But I won’t hold that against him.
Didn’t look good. But it didn’t look horrible either. Just don’t try looking through the windshield. I figured probably $3,000, give or take. And told him to just tell the dealership exactly what he told me, ask how they want to handle it, and let the chips fall where they may.
When he got to the dealership that afternoon, he did just that. They told him they’d work directly with us on the damage. He gave them my info. And they said they’d be reaching out.
Monday, August 3, 2026
I received a call from a woman at the dealership. She asked me how I wanted to handle it. I told her we would pay out of pocket. She told me she’d get back in touch once they had an estimate. I said great. And I hung up the phone to eagerly await my forthcoming damage claim.
This is where things start to get interesting…
Friday, August 7, 2026
10:43 AM
I received the following email:
“Hello Jacob,
Please find the attached estimates for the repairs to the F150 that was damaged during transport. I have CC’d my manager, Xxx Xxxx, on this email, so please feel free to reach out to either of us with any questions.
We would like to move forward with these repairs as soon as possible, so please let us know how you would like to proceed regarding the repair costs.
Thank you,”
Now, before I go on, here’s a bit of foreshadowing: notice how she said “we would like to move forward with these repairs as soon as possible”. I digress.
Attached to that email were two separate estimates. One for a new windshield, totaling $712.50. Reasonable enough. The other was for, naturally, the body damage.
Hold onto your britches.
$10,315.93
Which included all sorts of fun and exciting things, including but not limited to:
A second charge for the windshield (along with 2.8 hours of labor).
Structural and interior teardown and repair amounting to 16.8 hours of labor).
A complete door shell replacement ($1,429.20 plus paint and labor).
An accumulative 49.5 hours of labor.
Just so we’re keeping track. 10,315.93+712.50=11,028.43. That’s the total.
$11,028.43
I consulted my team. I consulted my attorney (aka Gemini Pro). At 1:45 PM, I sent the following (prepared with much contribution from my aforementioned attorney):
“Hi Xxxx,
Thank you for providing the preliminary estimate for the 2024 F-150 (Claim X1234). We appreciate your willingness to work with us directly to get this resolved quickly.
After reviewing the estimate with my team, we found that the scope of work quoted does not align with the physical reality of the incident. To provide full context, our driver, Xxx, reported that this damage was caused by a loose 1/4” hook on a standard fabric ratchet strap that swung freely and struck the side of the vehicle during transit; it was not a heavy-impact collision.
Because of this, we are unable to approve the current estimate of $10,315.93. Specifically, we need to address the following line items:
- Duplicate Glass Billing: We received the secondary invoice for the windshield replacement at $712.50, which we are happy to cover. However, the primary estimate (Line 22) also bills $694.25 for a replacement windshield, plus 2.8 hours of labor. We cannot pay for the glass twice.
- Structural & Interior Operations: A flailing ratchet strap causes cosmetic surface damage; it does not compromise structural integrity or bend aluminum frames. Therefore, the heavy repair times allocated to the structural aperture panel (8.0 hours), the roof (2.0 hours), removing the interior headliner (4.3 hours), and removing the truck bed (2.5 hours) are not warranted.
- Door Shell Replacement: A surface strike does not necessitate a complete aluminum door shell replacement ($1,429.20 part plus paint and body labor). The driver-side door should be repaired via standard PDR and surface paint in the exact same manner quoted for the left rear door.
- Cascading Teardown Labor: The labor times for completely removing the front bumper assembly, front lighting, and the passenger-side wheel liner are unnecessary for a localized surface repair on the driver’s side and will need to be removed.
We are fully committed to making this right and covering the actual cosmetic damage caused by our equipment. We just need a revised estimate that accurately reflects surface paint repair and glass replacement.
Looking forward to your thoughts,
Thanks,”
Her boss stepped in, and at 2:21 PM I received a bit of a backpedal:
“Thanks for the quick response. I don’t fix cars so I can only use what is given to me as far as an estimate goes. I understand where you are coming from and I have instructed my inventory manager to get a quote from an outside source to fix the vehicle. I anticipate having that quote either later today or on Monday. Once I receive that quote I will forward it as well. ”
There’s only two ways to look at this: 1.) He’s telling the truth and he’s just a slave to whatever his software tells him and this was just an honest mistake and once the work was finished it might’ve been more reasonable anyways, or 2.) He got called out, used the ol’ “silly me, I don’t know better, but I’ll make this right, bro”, as the scapegoat. Either way, one thing was certain: this last email was a win for Odd Duck Trucking.
This is where things start to get a little weird…
Monday, August 10, 2026
I received an email. From the broker. 12:36 PM.
“Customer informed us that there was damage done to this unit :
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
They also informed us you were going to settle this with them directly, however you rebutted the first estimate received .
What happened to the vehicle? We were completely left in the dark about this situation until now.”
That slimy dog! He said he’d get me an estimate on Monday, and instead he thought he’d run and tell dad. Good thing I’ve got such amazing legal counsel on retainer. We prepared a statement, and at 2:05 PM, I sent the following:
“Hi Xxxx,
Thanks for reaching out. Happy to provide full transparency on this, as it seems the dealership left out some crucial context regarding our communications with them.
To answer your first question: a 1/4” hook on a fabric ratchet strap came loose during transit, causing a cracked windshield and cosmetic surface scratches to the driver-side door. Our driver reported this immediately upon delivery, and the dealership’s receiving team offered to settle the cosmetic repairs with us directly. We agreed in good faith.
However, we did not just blindly “rebut” their estimate. We rejected a heavily inflated $10,315.93 repair sheet.
The dealership attempted to bill us for heavy structural collision repair. Their estimate included 8 hours of structural aluminum frame pulling, 4.3 hours to remove the interior headliner, 2.5 hours to remove the rear truck bed, and they double billed us for the windshield replacement.
We sent an itemized rejection of these physically impossible charges on Friday. Their Used Car Manager, Xxx Xxxxx, responded, agreed with our assessment, and explicitly stated he was having his inventory manager source a realistic repair quote from an outside vendor. We were waiting on that revised quote from Jeff today when you emailed.
Odd Duck Trucking is fully prepared to cover the actual cosmetic and glass damage caused by our equipment. We simply will not fund the dealership’s attempt to use a transport claim to fully recondition a 20,000-mile auction unit.
Let me know how [Your Brokerage] would like to proceed given the circumstances, or if you’d like me to forward you the itemized breakdown we sent to Xxx.
Best,”
Maybe this wasn’t the right approach. But I was blindsided by a disgruntled broker reaching out on the Monday that I was expecting an estimate from the dealership. For that matter, maybe we should’ve told the broker to begin with. We were just trying to do the right thing and make the dealership whole for our mistake.
This is where things seemed like they were heading in the right direction…
Friday, August 14, 2026
I received the following two emails. First from the dealership, then the broker.
11:06 AM
“Hello Jacob,
Please find the attached estimate and photos from our paint vendor regarding the damage to the F150. Please let me know if you have any questions and how you would like to proceed.
Best regards,”
11:25 AM
“Hey Jacob,
Looks like they got you a new estimate. Let me know , as they have involved us in this situation now ”
The new estimate was down from $10,315.93 + $712.50 = $11,028.43 to a much more reasonable $3,545.55 + $712.50 = $4,258.05. Still a bigger number than I’d like to see. But at least in the realm of what my gut initially told me it would be. And a whopping 38% of the initial estimate. Another win for us.
But here’s the thing. I have a job to do. I have a company to run. I have a team to consult with. And this was not top priority for us heading into the afternoon on a Friday. Especially considering the timeline and the way things had unfolded thus far. At some point that weekend we did talk and we agreed that it was much more reasonable and that we’d go ahead and pay it. But I didn’t get back with the dealership or the broker right away.
This is when things took a turn for the absurd…
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
11:16 AM
I get this email from the broker:
“Customer is telling us they haven’t heard from you at all on this ”
Listen here, bro. It hasn’t even been 48 full hours in business-days time yet! I spent the last two weeks in a row waiting the entire week for a reply. First for an absurdly overinflated estimate. And second for a more reasonable estimate after you were brought into the picture to try to intimidate me. I digress. I responded:
11:51 AM
“Hi Xxx,
Thanks for checking in. We are actively working on this.
To give you an update, the dealership sent over the newly revised estimate Friday midday. Since our administrative team does not process claims over the weekend, yesterday was our first full business day to dive into the new document.
I am sending an email to their team right now to acknowledge receipt and give them a timeline for our final review. We are on top of it and will continue to get this handled.
Thanks,”
A man of my word. A man of integrity! I did just what I said I’d do. I once again consulted my legal counsel. We put together an email. And I fired it off to the dealership.
12:09 PM
“Hi Xxx and Xxxx,
Thank you for sending over the revised estimates on Friday. This breakdown is much more aligned with the physical damage.
The revised bodywork estimate of $3,545.55 from Precision Auto Salon is approved.
Since we are also locked in on the $712.50 quote for the windshield, I just need you to confirm that the dealership explicitly accepts the specified aftermarket glass so there are no surprises on the back end.
To get this moving, please send over a W-9 so we can get [Your Dealership] set up in our Accounts Payable system. Once the physical repairs are fully completed, please forward the final invoice and we will release the funds directly to the dealership to settle this claim.
Thanks,”
I never heard back from either of them. And then things got really silly.
Thursday, August 20, 2026
I got a call from my admin. Roughly 4:30 PM. She informed me that she had just got off the phone with our insurance agent. He called to retain some records because the broker had filed a claim against us. I told her to call him back and tell him we are settling out of pocket with the dealership directly and to go ahead and close out the file.
Friday, August 21, 2026
The insurance agent got back with my admin and told her he can’t close out the file until he gets the necessary documentation from us (the driver’s logs from the 4 days surrounding hauling the load, as well as a copy of the cab card for the driver’s truck, his BOLs, and his contact info) and until he had confirmed that we did indeed have a deal worked out with the dealership. We sent him the info he asked, and he sent us something too. A little gift, if you will. He told our admin that, as part of their investigation, they sent an assessor out to look at the F150 and that their estimate for the damage was…
Drumroll…
$3,976.27.
Monday, August 24, 2026
Our insurance agent reached out to my admin and said that he spoke again to the broker. The broker told him that their was no agreement between us and the dealership. She told him there definitely was. He reached out to the dealership. They too told him that there was no agreement.
When my admin called me to tell me this, after picking my jaw up off the floor, I forwarded her both email threads - the one with the broker and the one with the dealership. And I told her to call the insurance man back and forward those emails to him while they were on the phone.
She told me later that he conceded that we did indeed seem to have an out-of-pocket agreement in place with the dealership. Imagine that.
Thursday, August 27, 2026
The insurance agent reached back out to my admin and informed her that the dealership had essentially waved the white flag. They requested that we work directly with the broker on settling the debt. So, I was tasked with drafting yet another email to the broker. Which I did. After consulting my attorney, of course. On…
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
11:30 AM
I sent the following email, along with a release for him to sign and the official estimate from our insurance company:
“Xxx,
Progressive informed us that [The Dealership] requested we handle this settlement directly with [Your Brokerage].
Because an insurance claim was initiated on your end, [My Insurance Company] dispatched an appraiser to physically inspect the vehicle. I have attached their official estimate, which totals $3,976.27.
We are prepared to pay this exact amount directly to [Your Brokerage] to resolve this matter.
Please sign the attached Release of Liability and let us know your preferred payment method. Once we receive the signed release and your payment instructions, we will release the funds and notify [My Insurance Company] that an agreement has been reached so they can close the file.
Thanks,”
He signed the release. Sent it back. Said we could pay ACH. It is currently Friday, September 4. His payment is set to go out today. Our insurance company is closing out the claim. We are heading into Labor Day weekend. So, the money will probably leave our bank on Tuesday morning. The 8th. A full month plus a week later. And a whole lot of unnecessary nonsense.
I don’t know what the lesson is in any of this. There may be a few. Or there may be none. It sucks that we had to pay any money at all. $3,900 is still a big number. Especially when the entire load paid $2,950. But that’ll happen. We try our best to avoid damage. We minimize as much as we can. They are, however, inevitable. Rare. But inevitable. When they do happen, it sucks bad enough. When you throw in a month-long, two-on-one cage match with a dirty-fighting tag team, it just adds insult to injury. But we paid the bill, closed the file, and kept the trucks moving. Just another day in the life of a logistics bro.
P.S.
I don’t want this story to send the wrong message. We don’t take damage lightly, and we don't treat our equipment like a joke. The minute that truck got back to the yard, that specific strap went straight into the dumpster. Then we audited the rest of the gear and decommissioned five more straps that looked like they were even thinking about getting tired. We hustle to minimize risk, and we invest in our gear so this stuff stays rare. But when the inevitable does happen, we own it, we pay for it, and we make it right. We just refuse to get extorted in the process.