Dead soldier hit with parking bill

[George Wallace]

Did you get that all off your chest RCR Grunt?  I spent lots of years in Pet and know about the "Dealerships" and "Businesses".  Don't buy a Car from Michael's.  Don't buy a car from Butler's. Don't do business with _______________.  Fine.  That is not the problem and you know it.  You CAN NOT have every business in the area telling the "Family" what they are entitled to.  The "Family" would never get the same story twice.  IT IS THE DUTY of the SUPPORT PERSONNEL on the Base to help the "Family" through this period.  Where were the Rear Party people?  Where were the RMS Clerks with all the information?  Where were the Counsellors?  Where was the members Unit?

Don't place all the blame on the businessman.  Who else let the "Family" down?  They are more the culprits than the business owner.  The CF Administration System is flawed.  This is a Quality of Life Issue within the CF, not downtown.

 

[George Wallace]

Perhaps some should go back to Reply # 17 and begin asking questions as to what went on at Timmies.  The "Wives Net" can often be a source of some very serious grief.

 

[helpup]

why couldn't he write or call and explain about the cost and work on another way to get his money, without bothering the parents or spouses of dead soldiers?  I'm sure that is not beyond impossible, he might have to wait a couple of weeks for the check to roll in, but that's the price of supporting the troops, isn't it?

[/rant]

Just to clarify, ( and I was involved with that persons funeral ) His parents were not saddled with that bill.  This whole " temptest" as was put earlier derived from a clerk passing on her information for a claim with this company.  In her email to her CoC for the claim she included the particulars of her conversation with him

I am not going to get into the details as many who are on this site have read or should of read the original email.

I will state that from what I read he did not present his case well in the Email ( or at least the clerks version of the conversation) I will admit that I was not impressed with what I read.  And that I forwarded it to my better half and her boss as a FYI ( they are people who would need to be aware of this ) Having said that the original Email was to clarify the payment of this bill, from there it went to Ottawa and approved. After that it grew and went out like wild fire.  The intentions were good but the result was overblown.  The original Email did not include most of the information brought up by the Base Comd. This was quickly put out and I have no doubt did not go as fast as the original email.  

I do have some issues with the whole affair, the charge for storage removal.  It is a legitimate expense and one that my cynical mind is aided by the fact that allot of businesses up here know the army will pay for it.  The extra work done on the car for $500 that was not charged........... Sorry I am suspicious of this, very suspicious.  I have heard too many stories of people storing their vehicle ( in general I am not pointing this business out ) only to have work they did not ask for done while they were gone and all to make it road worthy. ( despite the vehicle being road worthy before they dropped it off ) The troops in the situation have no choice but to pay the fee or they don't get their vehicle back.  So the bit about oh look he did this to ensure the car was road worthy for the parents rings a tad hollow to me.  If it was legitimate he would of charged for it in my books.

 

[HItorMiss]

+1 Grunty!


Having been in the original email chain and been in direct contact with some of the players, the issue I have is simply the owners response over the phone to military members was less then appropriate. It came down to "tough luck I'll do what I want and there isn't anything you can do about it" once the owners bluff was called that's when he scrambled to justify his actions.

The cost is 100% up and up and the owner of carbank is entitled to receiving said cost that I will not argue, his personal actions are deplorable. For instance did you know that the highest rates are charged to soldiers on deployment simply because the owner knows just how much said soldier is entitled to monthly for vehicle storage.

 

[Journeyman]

MESSAGE FROM THE BASE COMMANDER

- ensure the facts of the situation have been given to all members
- Mr. MacWilliams had also completed a number of repairs totalling $500 which was not charged to the family or DCBA.  He did this at his cost
- many occasions ... gone out of their way to assist ... these actions are never really known within the community.
- done much behind the scenes to help out our troops.
- one-sided story spawned from an initial e-mail chain

A presentation of the facts, which seems to indicate a reputable, supportive member of the business community

.....versus

- what I believe occurred...
- Business owners like that believe.....
- I'm a little bitter, as you can tell.
- in my opinion...
- From what I've been told...
- the way I see it from my point of view
- it's my opinion on the whole matter.
- the clerks version of the conversation
- I am suspicious of this, very suspicious

....an unsubstantiated diatribe, sparked by a refuted email, with the same logical foundation as the quoted comments of the wives in Timmies.

My $0.02, take it or leave it.

No doubt in my mind

 

[RCR Grunt]

Did you get that all off your chest RCR Grunt?  I spent lots of years in Pet and know about the "Dealerships" and "Businesses".  Don't buy a Car from Michael's.  Don't buy a car from Butler's. Don't do business with _______________.  Fine.  That is not the problem and you know it.  You CAN NOT have every business in the area telling the "Family" what they are entitled to.  The "Family" would never get the same story twice.  IT IS THE DUTY of the SUPPORT PERSONNEL on the Base to help the "Family" through this period.  Where were the Rear Party people?  Where were the RMS Clerks with all the information?  Where were the Counsellors?  Where was the members Unit?

Don't place all the blame on the businessman.  Who else let the "Family" down?  They are more the culprits than the business owner.  The CF Administration System is flawed.  This is a Quality of Life Issue within the CF, not downtown.

Oops, my bad.  Clerks=bad, rip-off artists=good, got it now.   :

Don't defend what you know is wrong.  Yeah, the system is flawed, but they do the best they can in very stressful times.  The businesses downtown just want their money.  

You CAN NOT have every business in the area telling the "Family" what they are entitled to.

Never said that.  I said if there is a cost the family has not been prepared for, he should have contacted someone base-side, like the RMS clerks, to have it taken care of base-side, not grieving-family-just-trying-to-get-through-it-side.

Bottom line, the guy acted wrong, has been acting wrong, and will continue to act wrong unless he receives a message that says he is acting wrong, which he did.  He called the bluff, stated that he will continue to conduct business the way he is, and now stands to lose a lot of business.

I don't get my info from the wives net, I got mine from the emails received on the DIN, starting with the email regarding the Base Service Center from the chief clerk in 3 RCR which made its rounds all over the CF, and ending with the base wide email "clarifying the facts."  Fact is,  he does crap work down there and if you ask anyone in the know they will tell you to take your vehicle else where.  The $500 of "free work" was done to make the car road worthy.  Fact is that is paid for when you pay the fee, it's in the contract, the car will be made road worthy before being released.  If your brakes, which won't move for several months while it is in storage, rust up, they will be worked on before it is released to you.  It's not free, it's worked into the fee you pay for storage, which, as BM stated, is the max amount allowed to a member who deploys. What, you don't think he's NOT going to attempt to make a huge profit off tax payer money, do you?

The fact is that the Colonel is trying to cover his ass.  He doesn't want this to turn around and bite the base legally, and that's his job.  This is NOT a reputable business.  Soldiers here on the ground will tell you that.

Listen, if you don't like the way I called it, fine.  But don't try to lecture me on what I should or should not believe or whom I should and should not be angry with.

 

[Bzzliteyr]

Since this is a public forum, can't someone post the email that started this whole thing off?  It would probably help everyone grasp what might have happened?

As for businesses charging what they can, it's called "supply and demand".  There is a demand, and no supply so the prices will be what they can be (for the business owners).

In Oromocto before I left on 0307, I dropped my car off in storage.  The owner had just finished dealing with the whole of 2RCR being over and told me to not worry about payment that we'd deal with it when I got home and we'd settle the bill after the military paid me the claim with his receipt.  I thought that was very kind of him and I paid a hell of a lot less for storage than all the other soldiers deploying from Quebec City did!!

 

[yak]

Hello all.  I've just rec'd a private email from a winger in Pet, apparently there is a storage outfit there that's levied an additional fee to a member deployed for breaking a storage contract.

The catch is that the member was recently KIA - and the charge was levied the persons trying to retrieve his auto from storage.

I've forwarded this to my work email and intend on contacting folks there to offer financial or other support, come Monday.  Has anyone heard of this issue, and is there anything being done that one can support from a distance?  It's not like I can boycott the business, if you know what I mean.

This is dispicable business practice and it makes my blood boil.  I won't post the name of the company here but I have a feeling it's public knowledge in Pet though.

yak

 

[Michael OLeary]

It's been discussed.

And apparently the e-mail doesn't have all the facts.

(Merged to original thread.)

 

[aesop081]

This is dispicable business practice and it makes my blood boil. 

Nothing like going off half cocked before reading everything.....

 

[McG]

Since this is a public forum, can't someone post the email that started this whole thing off?

No.  If the businessman in particular decides there is something libelous in that email, we do not need to involve this site.  I encourage everyone to keep that in mind when commenting on this topic.

 

[aesop081]

For instance did you know that the highest rates are charged to soldiers on deployment simply because the owner knows just how much said soldier is entitled to monthly for vehicle storage.

And this is a surprise or something new to you ? How long have you been in the CF anyways ?

For Kosovo in 1999, the cost of HLTA back to Canada was always $2200 , no matter where you were going. Conveniently enough, $2200 was exactly what the CF allocated for each member's HLTA.

Its not exactly a new buisness practice.

 

[George Wallace]

Yak

Hopefully soon after you received that email, the person responsible for Forwarding it to you was also responsible enough to have accompanied it with a follow on email with the Base Commander's email (See Reply #2) message.

 

[HItorMiss]

The point isn't that it happens, it's that we allow it to happen. I have the same issue with Uniglobe travel and their HLTA policies and how they enact them...

If we didn't allow it to happen, it wouldn't happen.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

And this is a surprise or something new to you ? How long have you been in the CF anyways ?

For Kosovo in 1999, the cost of HLTA back to Canada was always $2200 , no matter where you were going. Conveniently enough, $2200 was exactly what the CF allocated for each member's HLTA.

Its not exactly a new buisness practice.

Just like how the cab companies at the Fredricton airport know the maximum amount we can claim for cab fare from the airport to base and charge us that.

 

[yak]

G. Wallace:

No, but in my reply to him I said that I'd be looking for more information in this (apparently) dispicable practice.  First stop...log on here.  So now that that story is more filled in, I sent a second email with some of what I'd learned.

Ah.  Unbiased reporting.  I love it.

 

[George Wallace]

Ah.  Unbiased reporting.  I love it.

Really burns up the presses.  It really doesn't take long with the Internet for the Rumour Net to take off.  This causes a lot of collateral damage.

 

[the 48th regulator]

My question is this folks.  I will lay it out first, then ask.

The tour happens, and a wack of soldiers line up at his door to store their vehicles.  Let us say 25 show up.

The man signs up the contracts, receives the initial payment and off the soldier goes.

Now the fella has budgeted that he will get a constant payment from 25 soldiers, for the vehicles he stores, for the next 6 months.  He pays his staff, and all other costs, and figured out a profit.  Now, in the event that something happens, and one of his customers cannot pay, he tries to at least recuperate a small amount based on what he has budgeted for the future.  Now say 5 do not make it back.

Had this Gent waved the feeds, and did not charge the $250 penalty, How much would he be lost?  hard to say as they may all not come back at the same time.  So let us concentrate on the penalty fee.  $2500 dollars. How many of you would be knocking on his door to thank him? 

How many of you would be walking over to the employee, the one he had to lay off, and ask them if you could help?

How many would walk to his shop and say, hey mister, here is a fin to say thank you for waiving the fee that you did for the dead soldier??

He can absorb the ammount.....How does one figure this?  Obviously spoken by someone who does not control his own destiny, when it comes to making cash to put food on the table.

E-mails and posts cost nothing, hence why it is so easy to have them fly around.  Please let me know if anyone here actually contacted the family, or the owner of this company and offered to help cover the costs incurred?

I am all for attacking the ones that take advantage of us troops, because it happens everywhere, even within the system.  But this self deserving attitude is shocking!

dileas

tess

 

[PPCLI Guy]

The issue here is not the money, as the family does get reimbursed.  The issue is that the owner, who knows full well that the military will cover the cost, had the gall to force the parents of young Pte Freeman to pay the money up front for the release of his vehicle in the first place.  

As I understand it (having spent a fair bit of time on this one today) the family were not served the bill - and they will not have to pay it.

 

[Armynewsguy]

I would like to add a first hand account of the business in question, as most of the other posters are giving out second or third hand information. Before leaving for Roto 3 Op Athena in 2005 I left my vehicle in the care of Carbank Storage. Kevin and his staff went out of their way to accommodate the unusual hour that I would be required to drop off my vehicle and also offered me rides in the day and morning preceding my departure from Petawawa.

Upon completion of my tour I walked over from the gym to Carbank to retrieve my vehicle, not only had it been cleaned for me but Kevin or one of his staff had noticed that the driver door lock pin on my vehicle had a cracked mount and was very loose. Much to my suprise they had welded it up and at no cost to me and of course I had not asked for this service.

I cannot say enough about the professionalism of the staff and their friendliness. As stated in the email from the Base Commander Kevin did his time serving in the military and now runs in my opinion a very above the board business that is geared to of course make money but also provides a needed service to the troops.

Just my 2 cents, but I would encourage people to know all the facts and judge the business and Kevin by investing the time to verify the facts and make an informed opinion.