On the 18th, I received an email from the total loss department of Ameriprise saying that I need to sign/have notarized a Power of Attorney. Okay, great; um, why? The email didn’t explain anything, so I had to respond and ask (so that the company can pay it off for me and take title, etc, wonderful). It also said that I’d be getting the POA in the mail. As soon as I get it back to them, they can issue my settlement check ‘within two or three days.’ It got here yesterday and I mailed it back today. 

Today.. why does ‘today’ ring a bell… Oh yeah. Because my rental car is due back today. 

That means not only was I allowed just three days to find a new car – obviously ruling out ordering a new MINI from Oxford, which would have been ideal, but I can’t use (what’s left of) the settlement (after paying off my previous loan) because I won’t get that until they have the POA… which they didn’t send me until I had one day left of my rental.

I’ll be completely honest, I am embarrassingly blessed in that I am able to get a new car without waiting for the settlement, and I could technically get another/keep this rental car for another few days if I need to do so (which I’ll likely need to do); however, I reckon that the majority of people who get their vehicles totaled wouldn’t be able to turn around and buy a new car before the process is complete. 

I asked if the rental could be extended and apparently they have to follow guidelines, so, no. My new car is coming from Wisconsin – it’s on its way. Still. The dealership closes at 6pm, so that leaves an hour and a half yet today. It’s open tomorrow 830am-6pm, so if I have to get a ride from someone, I guess I’ll have to deal with that. Again, I’m lucky that I have plenty of people to help me out and I’m lucky that I’m jobless – hell, I wouldn’t have been able to do half as much as I’ve done if I had a 9-5 job. It’s hard for me to bitch about this (yet, clearly not) when I’ve got it easier than most, but I can’t imagine how absolutely difficult and distressing this would be for someone with a full-time job, kids, limited budget, and a shitload of other responsibilities. It’s ludicrous. 

MINI have been the only people to seem to have any tact in this. I know everyone at Ameriprise is just doing his/her job and I’m sure it’s not a fun one – hopefully my charming disposition has made it easy, but I don’t get much sympathy. I know I sound needy. While Ameriprise is like, ‘was there any damage to the pole,’ MINI are like ‘we are so sorry, we understand this is a difficult time for you.’ 

Oh, and Ameriprise had the fucking gall to include a letter about buying a Ford. Are you shitting me?

Where was I going with this? Ah, yes. 

So this POA I had to sign/have notarized and overnight back: Again, blessed to know a ton of notaries due to my previous employer. I didn’t have to go to a bank or mess around, I just went to see a friend about a stamp. Then they say, you can either mail the shit back with this envelope, or AT YOUR OWN EXPENSE, overnight it back to us… but keep in mind that the sooner we get the POA, the sooner we can issue the settlement check. Okay, so, just short of twisting my arm, but a bit of coercion nonetheless. 

As I have an hour and twenty left on my rental, I decided to FedEx it overnight. To get it to Wisconsin at 8am, it would have been around $90. I opted for the much smarter 1030am at $50. And before 6pm today, I’ll have spent another however much to get another rental car. FFS.

I might have been a bit of a cock to get out of my car and yell at the girl who destroyed it, but I had no idea just how much of an inconvenience I was about to face.