Sighs and Hallelujahs Stories and thoughts about the adventures of life without arms

An Appeal to Jesse

For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you've likely picked up bits and pieces of my story involving a prostitute this past month. Yes, a hooker!

Well, tonight I sent an email to Jesse Jones at KING 5 TV (for his "Get Jesse" segment) to ask him to help me get the money I feel I'm owed by Allstate. Read below for the full letter to Jesse, which includes the details of the initial incident and Allstate's response.

Hi Jesse,

I've followed your reporting on KING 5 for the past several years and I love the Get Jesse segment. My name is Greg Buell and I'm a 34-year old male that lives in north Seattle. I was born without arms (I mention this because it factors heavily into the story that follows) and, around age 16 or 17, I was featured on Evening Magazine with my newly-adapted car that allowed me to drive with my feet.

I never imagined that I'd need to reach out to you for help, but here it goes...

In the early morning of Saturday, July 3rd, I returned from an outing to a friend's house on Alki Beach and arrived home around 12:45 a.m. As I approached the 4-way stop near my condo, I noticed two people crossing the street across the way and I proceeded to turn right and head toward the gate of my condo's parking lot. Seeing someone waving at me, I decided to ignore it since my neighborhood is known to include some shady characters late at night. As I pulled up to the gate I began feeling around on the floor with my foot for my remote and couldn't immediately locate it. Just as I located it and hit the button, a few seconds later, the passenger door of my car opened and I fully expected a man to get in and pull a weapon. I figured I was being car-jacked and was just hopeful to escape alive.

Instead, a large woman plopped into the passenger seat and immediately said, "You wanna have some sex, baby?" In shock and still fearing for my safety I responded, "No. Get out of my car!" She replied, "Oh, c'mon. We'll have some fun and have sex." I responded with the same phrase -- this time louder and with more anger. "Well, you at least owe me 20 bucks since you solicited me," she suggested. I responded with a couple choice words not suitable for TV and basically told her I didn't offer her anything and screamed at her to get out of my car.

She said she wanted at least $10 -- which would have been easy for her to get at since she was sitting on my wallet that was laying in the passenger seat! I told her that I was going to pull into the parking lot (the gate had now fully opened) and that she'd get stuck in there since there's no manual way to get out. Then, I offered that she either get out now or get stuck within the gate and that I'd call the cops to arrest her. She quickly said, "Okay, I'll get out," and opened the car door. But, almost simultaneously, she reached over with her left hand and grabbed my set of keys out of the ignition and ran down the street to the stop sign some 25 feet away.

I hopped out of the car and she asked me for $20, "since I have your keys." I said no and told her that I'd just call the cops instead. (As an aside: this night was one of the rare occasions I'd asked a friend to put my cell phone in my pants pocket as we strolled the beach earlier, as I can't get it out without taking off my pants. So, I had no immediate access to call 911.) After requesting $10, then $5 and being met by silence on my part, her friend (a pimp, I assume) started yelling, "Lisa, Lisa! Hurry!!!," as he spotted headlights of an oncoming car getting closer. She said, "F#ck it," and threw my keys back to me and they went under the car. After several seconds trying to kick them out with my feet -- and closely watching her as she crossed the street -- I picked up the keys and turned to get into my car. It only took me a second or two to realize she'd stolen my car key off the chain -- something the police suggested would allow her to return later to steal the car.

A very long story somewhat shorter, the police were called, a report was filed and I moved my car into the parking lot with an extra set of keys I had in my condo. After disabling the battery and having my roommate park me in at a T to prevent theft that night, the next morning I moved down to my parents' house in south Seattle for the next couple days (in order to keep the car from being stolen) until I could reach my Allstate insurance agent after the Independence Day holiday to determine how to best deal with the situation.

After calling her (Michelle Tullius) on Tuesday morning, July 5th, and determining that rekeying the car was the only way to keep it from being stolen in the future, I began researching the options to get that done. The dealership wanted $1,200 to do the work (it ended up costing $934.80) and various locksmiths were quoting me anywhere between $350-$800. So, I talked to Michelle about my options and she referred me to a locksmith that was a "partner" of her agency that said he could do it. I discussed it with him and he estimated around $600, but noted that he may not be able to find time to work on it until that weekend or even early the next week.

Meanwhile, although costing a significant amount more, the dealership in Renton could get me in just a day and a half later and I would have a warranty of sorts with them in case something went wrong with the locks in the future. I called Michelle again and explained that I was having trouble deciding what to do and I inquired about my comprehensive insurance deductible. "Well, you have a $500 deductible. So whether you spend $600 at the locksmith or $1,200 at the dealership, your out-of-pocket cost would be $500 either way since Allstate would cover the balance on either of those." She encouraged me to do "whatever is most expedient and what that you'll feel safest with." So, I scheduled my appointment with the dealership that afternoon and Michelle said she'd help me file the claim once I got the receipt for the work.

A week or so later I went online to allstate.com one evening to get the process started. After reviewing what I sent in, an Allstate rep called me to tell me that they were processing my claim -- but warned me that they often didn't cover the rekeying of a car. I called Michelle the next morning and asked her to look into it since she had advised me to do that. She said she'd call to the claims rep to get it resolved.

Later in the week, Michelle called me to tell me that Allstate would not be paying the claim since it was "preventative" in nature and was not covered. Michelle noted that she had pulled in a Customer Advocate to look into ways to get it covered, but that they just couldn't do it. As she explained over the phone, "I have a customer that Allstate could have paid $500 to have a tree cut-down that was jeopardizing their house. But, Allstate doesn't cover preventative work -- so, we ended up paying $100,000 to repair the house and cover their housing expenses while the work was being done." I clarified with Michelle that Allstate would have covered the cost of my car -- foot-steering included -- at an estimated cost of $15,000 if it had been stolen, but not their $434 portion of the rekeying repair and she answered, "Yes." Yeah, sure would have liked to have been advised to that when I called her at the beginning of the process to seek out my Allstate agent's guidance!

I've unsuccessfully appealed to the Allstate corporate headquarters (HQ) and I received an official denial of my claim by phone this past week. As I explained to Michelle and to the HQ Allstate agent, had I just gone out and gotten my car rekeyed I could understand a denial based on their stated policy. But, I intentionally went through the proper channels and reached out to my agent for guidance before I even got estimates. Since she referred me to a locksmith and we discussed the way to proceed at length (through a few different phone calls), I assumed that the work would be covered. I see this as her job as an agent -- to offer me good advice and to look into any issues that might lurk in the distance.

Apparently I'm not in such good hands with Allstate after all!

Although I'm very glad that the initial event didn't end much worse (it sure could have), a month later I still jump at noises and I'm very cautious everywhere I go -- something that I hope will improve as time passes. But, Jesse, tonight I'm writing to seek your help in dealing with Allstate to get the $434 that I am owed.

Thanks for your time and understanding. I hope to hear from you soon.

Greg Buell
(Phone Number)