Shattered Window, Almost Shattered Bank Account

Yes, I’ve already posted three times about San Francisco, but the follow-up to the window incident is epic, so I have to finish the story. Basically, in the few days following our return, I was on the phone with the people at the hotel accepting fault, working out payment, etc. As I mentioned in the previous post, we were told as we were leaving San Francisco that it would probably cost around $600 to repair the window. And that really stunk. But not nearly as badly as what the actual cost turned out to be. Scratch $600. Let’s talk about $1400. Um yeah. $1454 to be exact. Let’s just say that when I opened that e-mail words were said in my office that are probably a notch below professional. 

So I panicked. I mean, $600 is no small thing, but $1400 for a freak accident really is not cool. Not cool at all. As I'm freaking out, I'm also brainstorming how to get out of this mess. I'll call my brother – surely he has some lawyerly advice, right? Like, maybe since they said $600 and then went ahead and did it for $1400 without getting a second estimate, I don’t have to pay. Right? Something? Anything? Please!!! But when I called, Mike was busy so I moved to plan B – USAA.

I have USAA car insurance and renter’s insurance, and although there’s absolutely nothing about either of those related to me karate chopping a window, I was desperate, and USAA is awesome, so I gave it a go. First, I talked with some young(ish) guy who said that although he wasn’t the person who could tell me for sure, he didn’t see anything that said my $9/month renter’s insurance WOULDN’T cover it. Flash forward about 35 minutes later, when I get a call from Heather. Saint Heather, from USAA, to be exact. For WHATEVER reason, the window is covered under my renter’s policy. Turns out, the policy is basically personal liability insurance, so window bashing is covered. Oh, and my deductible? Nada. That's right, NADA! I mean, you should have seen me after receiving this news. Sarai and I had already started brainstorming what kind of donation parties and bake sales we could host to support the window fund. But, no need. Because USAA rocks the hizouse. I told Heather that I loved her and that I was a USAA customer for life. True story. And with that, I’d like to write a few more words about USAA:


USAA you are so great,
USAA there’s not a thing about you that I hate.

Such a nice little gesture to pick up the tab,
even when I know it’s cuz we were acting bad.

USAA, so sweet you are,
to cover things so unrelated to my apartment or car.