Audio By Carbonatix

Jose DeAguiar adores his silver Subaru WRX wagon. He loves it so much, he keeps it under a cover when he’s not behind the wheel to protect it from the elements. For added security, he keeps a security camera pointed at his usual parking spot.  He put up the camera because he anticipated people trying to break in or steal it. It is New York, after all. What he didn’t see coming was an Amazon van driver crashing into the side of it.

“He rams right into the side of the car,” DeAguiar told WABC. “He just cuts the wheel, presses the gas, and goes right into my car.”

His cameras caught the driver getting out of the car, evaluating the damage, and driving away as though nothing had happened.

“He comes out, looks at it, shrugs his shoulders, and leaves. No note, nothing. No care for anyone else’s property,” said DeAguiar.

His insurance company said the damages totaled almost $6,000

Like any wise car owner would do, he took his Subaru to a body shop to get a repair estimate. According to the statement, the van caused $5,876.26 worth of damage. He submitted the claim to Amazon…and was shocked by the response. 

“We have reviewed the claim and determined that it needs to be handled directly by the delivery company’s insurance carrier,” the email to DeAguiar read. “We are unable to file a claim on your behalf.”

Amazon provided its insurance company’s information, which also denied the claim for the same reasons: not their truck, not their driver. 

“It made me feel extremely frustrated,” he said. “I feel like I’m getting bounced around, and I’m tired of it. I don’t have my car.”

His car sat in a body shop’s lot for three months as he deliberated with the two companies, with no success. He racked up $5,000 in storage fees during that time. His boss at one of his two jobs recommended he call WABC investigators. 

When the media stepped in, Amazon approved DeAguiar’s claims

After the media became involved and sent the security camera footage to Amazon, he quickly received an apologetic phone call. The company vowed to pay to repair his car and picked up the storage fees he had accumulated.

His Subaru was fully repaired after just seven days.

“I missed this car,” he said, starting it up. “It feels great to have it back.”