Colucci Tile & Marble cost me $500.
Morning of September 23, 2014 I was driving to work and got hit from behind by a 3-ton delivery truck owned by Colucci Tile & Marble, Inc. We had both taken off at a green light: I was waiting to turn left, the delivery truck was going forward in the right lane.
It was no contest against my 2010 Toyota RAV-4: The right rear bumper-to-fender was crushed in, the tire destroyed, the rear passenger door bulged out from the frame.. I rolled it down a hill to a parking area off the road. The driver and I exchanged insurance and registration information, and he drove off. Only then I noticed the vehicle registration was EXPIRED.
Obviously I had to get a tow & I was without my car for a couple weeks during repairs. I paid a $500 deposit that ? I was told ? I?d get back from Colucci?s insurance company when they paid my insurance company for the accident. Getting struck from behind at a traffic light, I assumed fault was a no-brainer.
Fast forward 6 months: my insurance company said they couldn't get my deposit back. Colucci claimed the accident was my fault. According to their story, we were both driving down the street, when suddenly I stopped and backed up into the tile truck. That's not what happened but it also defies common sense, and the physical evidence: if I backed into a 3-ton truck going the speed limit my car would have been destroyed, and I?d have gone to the hospital. I wasn't hurt at all, just surprised to get hit at 5 MPH.
But to the insurance mediation judge at the subrogation hearing, the competing stories caused doubt about fault so Colucci got off free. The only good thing is my insurance company did not raise my rates, because they didn?t believe I could have been at fault. Colucci LIED about the facts to avoid responsibility.
End result: because I had the misfortune to share the road with a Colucci Tile & Marble delivery truck, I?m out 500 dollars as sure as if someone had stolen the cash. Maybe $500 isn?t a huge deal to some of the readers here, but it sure is to me.
For all I know, Colucci might be great at laying tile. I have no idea. And I?ll never hire them to find out. But I think character means something, so I'm leaving a review. There?s a lot of competition out there. Why hire a company whose delivery vehicle could be running an expired registration and, if anything happens, has a history of dishonesty?
For the record, this is NOT otherwise personal: I didn?t know the business before this happened, and generally I support local businesses whenever I can.
I can back up all statements in this review. I have pics of the expired registration & our insurance info, and the driver's business card. I have pics of the damage to my vehicle. I have my insurance company's report. I have testimony on the damage from my dealership, and the body shop I used for repairs.
To be clear: I am NOT making an evaluation on Colucci?s tile and marble abilities, I have no idea about that. I AM making a judgement on the business? treatment of me after hitting my car in traffic. I won't get my $500 back, but I can make a case to the people of Pittsburgh who want to hire a tile company -- they can do better than hiring Colucci.
Thank you.