# Customer Claims I broke Garage Door Motor and Spindles With SnowBlower



## longislandsnow (Jan 19, 2015)

I did snow removal for a residential customer on Jan 7th they call back yesterday Feb 4th
and say you broke my garage door motor and door spindles and needed a new track , resulting in $1,400 in damages. They had the garage door open when I came and specifically asked to close the door, but they didn't listen so I was very careful about not shooting snow into the garage. They claimed my blower did all the damage. Not sure how this can happen since I know for fact I did not shoot snow into there garage. The snow was powered with no ice. Really not sure how this could have happened. Could the snowblower really do this much damage?


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## iceyman (Mar 1, 2007)

Pictures and a month later they call? Let us decide whether or not you are responsible


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## SnoFarmer (Oct 15, 2004)

ok, tell then to file it with their homeowners Insurance.

next, call your agent and tell them what you told us.
so they know whats coming.
with your testimony they may deny the claim without the prof you did et.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

It took them a month to notify you? 

And sure, you shot snow directly at the motor. 

Ask if they have pics after you did it.


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## ktfbgb (Jan 31, 2016)

Unless there is something your not telling us, no a snow blower can not do that much damage. 

Could it short out the motor if you threw snow on it? Sure I guess. If you got water on the PC board.

I seen customers garage doors, and my own when my wife backed through it, that were majorly jacked. Spindles were fine, track was bent back in place and fine. I have no idea how a snow blower could do more damage than a car driving through the door. I have a feeling that the customer drove into the door and is trying to get out of paying the deductible, or the repair if they didn't file a claim. Which would be Silly to file a claim on $1,400.00


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## Sawboy (Dec 18, 2005)

They're full of crap. Like Sno said. Tell them to make a claim, and call your agent. Who is your biz insurance through?


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## JustJeff (Sep 9, 2009)

I've been a carpenter for 20+ years. The last five doing only overhead doors. The operator (opener) has absolutely nothing to do with the tracks. Other than lifting the door, the operator has absolutely nothing to do with the door, tracks, springs or anything else. The only way the tracks would be damaged are if something (a vehicle or something else) hit them. They are trying to use you as a scapegoat for something they did themselves. As others have said, they waited over a month to contact you about damage you supposedly did? Is this overhead door used often, like daily? Do they park their cars in it? If so, were they lifting the overhead door by hand for a month since you were last there? Personally I wouldn't give an inch on this one. What are you calling "tracks"? The tracks are on either side of the door. The "rail" is what attaches the operator to the door. Are the tracks damaged, or the rail?


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## 1olddogtwo (Aug 6, 2007)

OK......Let's say you did shoot snow, hard pack, ice and the newspaper (hidden under a foot....)

There is no way you are going to hurt the rail.....The door opener, maybe but you would have to be intentionally aiming for it..... what the hell are spindles?

I once fill a garage with snow and the over head door was closed. Once I finished stacking, I got the hell out of Dodge


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

1olddogtwo said:


> I once fill a garage with snow and the over head door was closed. Once I finished stacking, I got the hell out of Dodge


Pics or it didn't happen.

And you were driving a Dodge?


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## GrassManKzoo (Oct 8, 2016)

Well I just hope you don't plan on going back to do any work there. I've slid into a garage door plowing before. Pushed the 4 door sections in. Didn't damage track bolted to the wall or anything else other than the rollers popping out.


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## kimber750 (Sep 19, 2011)

Was this blower mounted to a large tractor? If not I would assume you would have to really try do all that damage.


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## 906Yooper (Sep 7, 2016)

Sad part is that your insurance co will probably pay the claim, rather than going to small claims court. Then they may jack up your rates because there was a claim filed. ****ing insurance. Worse than lawyers.


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## ktfbgb (Jan 31, 2016)

If it were me, I would hold fast and not pay. But, if it came down to it, I would pay the $1400.00 before I filed a claim on my policy. That will be cheaper in the long run than the increased rates over several years. Let them take you to small claims court, and defend yourself. Worst case you pay $1400.00. But if there is no proof and no pictures time stamped from the day you you serviced, you will win.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

906Yooper said:


> Sad part is that your insurance co will probably pay the claim, rather than going to small claims court. Then they may jack up your rates because there was a claim filed. ****ing insurance. Worse than lawyers.


I share your intense dislike of insurance companies, but they are not so easy to pay out. They are in business to make money just as you and me, and they see bogus claims every day.

Few years back I had a new driver back into a car in a parking lot. $6K claim that would have gone on our record. Then the other driver made this statement: "I thought I had enough time to sneak behind him." She was moving, no longer our responsibility. Only if it was a stationary vehicle would it have been our claim.

Had an alleged slip and fall years back. Turned in our paperwork, weather reports and conditions. Adjuster denied the claim and never heard another word.

They will work for you, especially when it's in their interests.

PS If we did cause the damage, I wouldn't turn in a $1400 claim either.


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## Dogplow Dodge (Jan 23, 2012)

So far, everyone here has said reasonable opinions of your situation. Now its time to tell your unreasonable customer to take a hike.
Been doing garage door replacements lately.
Just replaced a torsion spring on a 16' garage door the other day. Easy peasy. Ripping a track out seems like you'd have you'd have to be inside the garage in order to accomplish.

I hate dishonest people...and I photograph every snow plowing or contracting job I do, both before and after. Might want to think about doing the same.

Btw, where is the police report? Filing a false police report something they should be concerned with.


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

The snow blower would have to have been shooting rocks, and still would not have done all that damage.


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## Dogplow Dodge (Jan 23, 2012)

What the hell are door spindles?


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## ktfbgb (Jan 31, 2016)

Dogplow Dodge said:


> What the hell are door spindles?


I thought maybe he was talking about the torsion bars or the wire drums?


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

Dogplow Dodge said:


> What the hell are door spindles?


I was thinking the same thing.


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## ktfbgb (Jan 31, 2016)

Hey Dog, ever had a tensioning bar slip out of the spring pocket to have the other one come back and smack you? A long time ago I worked for a overhead door company for like 6 weeks. The guy that was giving me the safety speech on how to do it had it happen to him. Luckily it didn't break his arm, but I will never forget the demonstration he provided me lol.


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## JustJeff (Sep 9, 2009)

The 3/8" winding bars will slip out of the winding cone all the time if you're not paying attention. It also happens a lot in limited headroom to work in situations.


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## ktfbgb (Jan 31, 2016)

JustJeff said:


> The 3/8" winding bars will slip out of the winding cone all the time if you're not paying attention. It also happens a lot in limited headroom to work in situations.


Those were the terms I was looking for lol. It was a long time ago.


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## Dogplow Dodge (Jan 23, 2012)

ktfbgb said:


> Hey Dog, ever had a tensioning bar slip out of the spring pocket to have the other one come back and smack you? A long time ago I worked for a overhead door company for like 6 weeks. The guy that was giving me the safety speech on how to do it had it happen to him. Luckily it didn't break his arm, but I will never forget the demonstration he provided me lol.


Well, that would depend.....

The first 4 or 5 full turns, aren't that bad regarding what could happen if you miss time your placement / removal of the bars. Once you're up at 7 turns (and this 16 ' door did 7.5 full revolutions), it can get a bit hairy as the bars attempt to push you back / knock you off the ladder if again, you're not placed correctly / paying close attention (as I'm sure Jeff would know).

What I do is to stand at the same height of the spring on a small ladder. I utilize the height of my shoulder to land the lower bar, so I can give my arm a rest or two when needed. That door took 30 quarter turns, and having arthritis in my shoulders, I was in some discomfort by that second spring / 28th quarter turn. Resting that lower bar on my shoulder helps me regroup for the next revolution.

Most important thing is that if it goes, to make sure you have BOTH bars in your hands, and out of the spring receivers. this way, it spins on it's axis, makes a hell of a bang, and goes nowhere. IF you leave that one bar in there, you're gonna get hit, and it aint gonna be good.


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## JustJeff (Sep 9, 2009)

Been doing the winding bar on the shoulder trick for as long as I've been doing overhead doors. I try to be positioned on the ladder to keep my shoulder at or a little above spring height, with my face as far away from the winding bar as possible. Before going out on my own I worked for a small company with 14-15 service/install techs. As small as that company was, there were always 1 or 2 guys out on workman's comp. The owner use to try call the time about how high his workman's comp insurance was. I know he was telling the truth.


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## jasonv (Nov 2, 2012)

Start off by arranging an appointment to see the damage first hand and take pictures of it. You say that it is policy that you need to document it and have your people validate the claim before you can settle it. If they refuse or say its already been fixed, then you say sorry, without being able to inspect the damage, there is no way for you to correlate it with your having been there and you therefore can't get authorization to pay a settlement.

Remember that when you get into a car crash, the insurance adjuster first has to look the vehicle over in order to generate an estimate before they can authorize repairs. Same idea.


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## fireball (Jan 9, 2000)

Maybe this could be a farmer's insurance ad. You pay good dollars for insurance, give it to your agent and let him earn the money the hard way. Could be worse, the coroner could be calling you to tell you the garage door fell on the customer when the slush you accidentally blew on the garage rails refreeze causing the door to derail


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

Op, what was the end result with this?


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

fireball said:


> Maybe this could be a farmer's insurance ad. You pay good dollars for insurance, give it to your agent and let him earn the money the hard way. Could be worse, the coroner could be calling you to tell you the garage door fell on the customer when the slush you accidentally blew on the garage rails refreeze causing the door to derail


More like a "Mayhem" commercial.


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## FredG (Oct 15, 2012)

I don't think I would even sweat it. Your insurance company will never buy into this guys BS. People always try to blame contractors for something they don't want to pay for. I had a guy try to say I collapsed his sump pump discharge pipe with a small track machine. I ended up getting hired by his insurance company to install about 100' of pipe.

Good thing the fire department was out there pumping his basement out before I was on the property.


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