Do you carry a weapon when you drive. Sound like that's a hostile area!
"Geek Squad" Road-Rage Madness!
So I'm driving back from Washington D.C. where I'd gone to install an Etna cartridge in an AMG Viella turntable for a friend. His politics are 180 degrees diametrically opposed to mine. In fact, he's a consultant to "those people". But you know what? Politics stops for me at the lead-in groove.
I get within a mile or so of the final toll on the Garden State Parkway and I'm in the left lane doing about 80—okay, that's speeding but if you don't go that fast you get eaten alive on that road—when this van comes charging up behind me and gets so close a credit card wouldn't fit between my rear bumper and his front one.
He pull over to the next lane and passes me in his Best Buy "Geek Squad" van, must have been going 100, and then of course he pulls back into the left lane just clearing my bumper, to let me know he's "king of the road" with anger management issues. By that point the toll plaza was just ahead and there were more than half a dozen open lanes for him to use, but no, he had to pull in front of me to make his point.
He goes zooming through the plaza at a high rate of speed and disappears. I go through and make my way to the next exit. I head down the ramp and there he is at the bottom waiting for the light. Now this is the exit for the giant Garden State Plaza Mall, so there are two lanes turning left and two going straight into the mall or turning right. He's in the left-most lane behind a few cars, but the right left hand lane is open so I take it.
As I get the bottom, he sees me and begins to pull into my lane to cut me off! My choice is to continue in my lane or make a sharp righthand maneuver into another lane without having time to see if someone's coming. In other words if I do that and someone hits me, it is my fault. So I stay in my lane and he bumps into my rear left side wheel well. It's a gentle touch but I look over and he's screaming and cursing and giving me the finger.
This Geek Squad guy is deranged! I'm not getting out to "talk it over" with him. So I go home and assess the damage. Not bad, probably a few hundred bucks that my deductible won't cover. Nonetheless I call the insurance company and report the incident.
A few days later I get a call from the Paramus, NJ police asking about the accident. I tell the officer that yes, there was an "incident" but i wasn't about to get out and confront this maniac given his display of ongoing anger and I describe the entire incident from the tailgating part on. He asks for me to email images of my license, registration and insurance card and I do.
A day later I start calling the Geek Squad "customer satisfaction" center about this crazed maniac and I'm promised return phone calls and for three weeks I get none. Three weeks! Finally I get through and I explain what happened and ask to speak to the local Geek Squad manager. No can do. The guy I talk to explains that the local manager has the police report and that the Geek guy has filed a "hit and run" accident report against me even though he hit me and he didn't make any attempt to pull over. And I'm told, the police "sided with him."
Now that is B.S. since the police just take down the information in these cases, they don't draw conclusions.
I again ask to speak to someone at Best Buy/Geek Squad just to let them know that they have a reckless, angry Geek working for them who drives like a crazed maniac and that one of these days they will be sorry. But no one wants to talk to me.
So I contact the Paramus police to get the accident report and I read it. This POS claims we both turned left and that during the turn I hit him! Lying sack of crap! But worse, my accounting to the officer mentions nothing about the "road rage" incident before the encounter and worse turns it into a "he said, he said dispute where we both turned, but I claim he hit me! That is NOT what happened! This happened at the bottom of the ramp at the red light before the turn.
So this guy, who is a Class A road rage driver is also a liar and he's on the Best Buy, Geek Squad payroll to boot. So you can be sure of one thing: my Best Buy shopping days are 100% over. You can do as you wish of course.
i realize this is mostly "off topic" but the "Can I Have My Money Back' section is where I can vent non-related stuff. So I did and now I feel much better. Thank you.
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COMMENTS
Do You Really Believe That?
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Sun, 2014-01-19 09:24
That is an opinion not grounded in fact. I was unable to find any such statistic in an extensive online search. So that's your supposition. I know plenty of liberal gun owners and liberal hunters. Gun owership is more about location and leisure activity choices than political affiliation. Only 27% of Americans own guns anyway according to a Gallup poll.
This reminds me of the other cannard about how conservatives and/or Republicans in Congress are more supportive of the military and that more of them served. In fact far more Democrats than Republicans in Congress served.
Interesting
Submitted by Lazer on Mon, 2014-01-20 21:20
We are all here because of our love of music and analog music specifically, most would believe a pretty small group. Yet subjects unrelated to our common area of interest lead to the most interesting discussions. Liberal gun owners and liberal hunters? I know lots of them, it anecdotal but true. This reminds me of CCR's Song "fortunate one ." More liberals serve in the military because they are not the "fortunate one...I'm not the Senators son.".
I always thought John Fogerty was a hypocrite for singing(writing) that line. I viewed him as a fortunate one because he was a rich, rock star. Now, I dont think his message hypocritical, it was a message of the time, and a message that needed to be said. Its a message that sounds better on a turntable!!
Crazy is as crazy does.
Submitted by Jim Tavegia on Fri, 2014-01-17 15:00
Thanks for the heads up. Sorry for all your trouble, but you are right not to persue it "out of the vehicle". Probably a full moon to boot.
I see people driving my 15 miles to and from school and there are some people who need to be off the road. I am all for no "real" High School diploma, no DL. Standards need to be raised.
It's Paramus
Submitted by burnspbesq on Fri, 2014-01-17 15:00
What did you expect?
(yeah, I grew up in Ridgewood. What of it?)
Sorry..
Submitted by longlivethequeen on Fri, 2014-01-17 15:22
but that was the funniest thing I've read online in a long time. It's an awful situation, but brilliantly decribed.
We've made this a cruel world. That's why I'm grateful everyday that I have music to help me escape it.
Music Escape!
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Fri, 2014-01-17 15:45
Me too! But not in the car. Mine has a Bose system so I mostly listen to Howard Stern, CNN or MSNBC. Occasinally "Little Steven's Underground Garage" with Andew Loog Oldham. I do a wicke impression of him that I really should post to my YouTube channel...
Bose System
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Sat, 2014-01-18 07:35
The car came with it. It was a lease. I bought out the lease so I probably should yank the Bose system and replace it with a music system...
Bose
Submitted by Lazer on Sat, 2014-01-18 23:15
I was just teasing you but a funny story, my college age son was just bragging to me about his $189 Bose headphones he just bought. I told him he was an idiot, he said "they sound great, you haven't even listened to them." so I listened to them, and then I said "now you listen to them." after he listened to them, I said "now listen to the headphones I gave your Mom( Bowers and Wilkins)", that cost just a little more. He listened, and said "dad, you are right, I was an idiot."
Yea yea
Submitted by Lazer on Mon, 2014-01-20 20:07
It probably was bad parenting. But he loves led zeppelin, Elton John, and Stevie ray Vaughn. That's good. When he was 7 , I picked him up from school, said I wanted him to listen to a special kind of music...he looked at me expectantly...I said this is called jazz. I put "kinda blue " into the CD player in my truck...after 2 songs he looked up at me and said ,"dad, I don't like Jazz.". .. Too soon :))?
I hear you
Submitted by Pauler1 on Wed, 2014-01-22 07:41
My Toyota came with Bose, wish I had realized that. So I end up listening to Limbaugh, Levin, etc...
Road Rage
Submitted by Billf on Fri, 2014-01-17 16:48
Maybe I'm just getting old, but my reaction when I encounter a road rager is to avoid him/her, slowing down if necessary. Life's too short.
How fitting that your loser works at Best Buy.
The death watch is on for that chain. He'll undoubtedly be out of work within a year, the Geek Squad disbanded to just disburse throughout the country, adding joy in its wake.
Geek Squad Crazy
Submitted by ravenacustic on Fri, 2014-01-17 17:06
Unfortunately Mike if you want to be sure you aren't gonna get rear ended in the metaphysical sense after being tail gated in the real one you need to pull over and call the police immediately and file a report with the other guy's license plate. My parents years ago had a fender bender in a parking lot and they and the other person agreed to forget it and move on. Six weeks later they received a summons in the mail because they were being sued for bodily injury. What can I tell you about people? Makes me grateful to crawl into my listening position and shut the world out.
Has happened to me
Submitted by volvic on Fri, 2014-01-17 20:03
Someone hit my car, calmly filled the report with the police then told a different story to the insurance company so he wouldn't be liable, insisted I was insane claiming he hit me. As a newly arrived resident to the US it amazes me the lack of foresight state politicians in NY and NJ have, if you want to slow these crazies down simply install photo radar in areas where there is high speeding and fatalities. You would think these guys would make the investment to save lives and in the process fill the state coffers with a bit of cash to offset the high cash outlays states are expected to have but no...........
If you have a good body shop just pay for the repair and forget about it, in the meantime I recommend some retail therapy, drive to your favourite record store or purchase something online to forget the Geek jerk - and yes have seem them driving like maniacs here in Manhattan.
Happy Listening
volvic
New Jersey & Republicans
Submitted by StonedBeatles1 on Fri, 2014-01-17 23:17
Hilarious but not uncommon at all. People have no time to get to nowhere to do absolutely nothing. And, what about a damn traffic light camera? There has to be several of them along that exit!
1-This is why I don't befriend anyone affiliated with The Republican Party. It's bad karma Fremer. NJ has a big fat Republican governor and a cop is a cop and a big corporation is just that.
2-This is also why I long to leave NJ once again living in Cherry Hill which is actually worse than Paramus.
Maybe your Republican boy in DC can make a few calls for ya or at least hook you up with some Stones tickets? :)
I feel better too!
Funny You Say That...
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Sat, 2014-01-18 07:42
He did hook me up with some Stones tickets last Fall. Really good ones. We went together and had a great time. And my car has a bumper sticker on it that says "Not a Republican" and "Dump Scott Garrett". He' my Tea Party Congressman...a thoroughly repulsive individual with a voting record that makes me puke. He voted against health care for 9/11 first responders and against Hurricane Katrina relief. I called his office at the time and said "New Jersey has a huge shoreline. At some point we are going to get hit by a big one and Scotty will have to vote 'yes' and be one giant sucking hypocrite." And that's what happened. Although i was told he actually considered voting "no" on Sandy relief. I wish he had because then maybe we could have booting him out of office and sent him packing back to his tax subsidized "tree farm".
political car stickers
Submitted by rlw3 on Wed, 2014-01-22 11:43
Since the body politic in this country has more than enough hostility and fear to create irrational behavior displaying political stickers invites the crazy. The demonization especially by the right of anyone to the left makes people believe they can act on their crazy impulses. I am sure this happens in nearby Berkeley to cars with conservative stickers but i would bet that nationally most of it is by propagandized right wing folk. Sadly this behavior has expanded in a way unthought of during earlier decades.
Difficult to Prove
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Sat, 2014-01-18 07:44
He claims as we were both turning left my left rear brushed up against his front bumper. Of course it's impossible. But this is a no fault state so it's not going anywere. Writing the story here and knowing he's a lying SOS is satisfaction enough. I'm moving on...
Republican governor has what to do with this?
Submitted by Jim Tavegia on Sat, 2014-01-18 01:42
I am and R and am glad that Christy is in NJ and not down here messing up our state's budget. BridgeGate vs ObamaCareGate...not much difference when incompetence reigns. There is something that seems to happen to seemingly intelligent people once that get elected into office in that all common sense seems to fly out the window and they just do what ever they want. Now we have a president who cares little about the constitution and who really make the laws of the land. Create your own line-item veto. The Supreme Court is about to put and end to that starting last Monday.
One of the very problems ObamaCare was supposed to fix, getting all uninsured covered, including the young, is not working, while millions of other who did like their coverage lost it. That was brilliant. Since no one read the bill who voted for it, what can one expect.
And in the next big election all I can see on either side is "none of the above". I am cynical now in that you will never fix the mess this country is in. Too many people think this government owes them something,
To paraphrase George Will: If you really want to know why one man, one vote is becoming a bad idea...just talk to the average voter for 5 minutes.
I have a rule about legislation in that you must answer 3 things: Who benefits? Clearly state how that is accomplished, Who gets hurt? And finally, who pays for it? Of course if one lies about the legislation all bets are off.
Well we know where you get
Submitted by AnalogJ on Sat, 2014-01-18 22:47
Well we know where you get YOUR uninformed political talking points from...
Nothing on a Bentley can be
Submitted by infohou on Sat, 2014-01-18 07:01
Nothing on a Bentley can be fixed for a few hundred:)
Anthony?
Submitted by infohou on Sat, 2014-01-18 06:59
Cordesman is your R buddy right? Smart guy who rights good reviews in TAS. I, like you, do not agree with most of his politics. I do appreciate Jim's comments, there is some wisdom there. Jim is an asset to this site.
Happy Listening,
Robert A. Ober
AHC
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Sun, 2014-01-19 09:31
Cordesman is more of an analyst than a "politico". He keeps his political opinions mostly to himself. In fact, I had dinner with him and a few others on the eve of the Congressional vote to give the president the tools needed to bomb Syria (not granted of course) and Cordesman's analysis was 100% free of political criticism. It was all about the possible consequences of bombing or not bombing, of getting involved or not getting involved. I found what he had to say astute, especially since he didn't advocate.
Sorry to hear it
Submitted by barrysconspirac... on Sat, 2014-01-18 14:19
That is very upsetting and unfortunate. The Geek Squad is so over-priced.
It reminds me of a rude punk who cleaned our pool. I asked him to move his beater van so I could get out of the garage. He moans and reluctantly drags his drugged out behind into the rusted out jalopy. My neighbor's 7 series BMW is parked in the street and he barrels right into it. He drives down the street and waits there, hoping I will leave. I waited for him and marched him up to my neighbor's front door. He accepted responsibility. Then when he got back to the company, he changed his tune and said that the dent was already there. The insurance company used it as an excuse to pay only half of my neighbor's claim.
If politics stop at the lead in groove....
Submitted by recordhead on Sat, 2014-01-18 16:46
why even mention it?
Why?
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Tue, 2014-01-21 08:07
Because more people need to separate politics from the personal. Today Barbara Bush said she and George H.W. both "loved" Bill Clinton. They are good friends, though they don't share political perspectives. The point is, there's too much hate going around as Stevie Wonder once sang.
Disappointed
Submitted by atomlow on Sat, 2014-01-18 19:28
I don't think this is the forum for a lame road rage story and then add politics to it all. Is this even a true story and have you ever shopped at Best Buy? Please add a disclaimer to the title so I don't have to read this nonsense next time. There are other reasons I don't shop at Best Buy and it's usually the staff doesn't know shit about audio equipment, that's usually why I check out Analogplanet.com - come on you're better than this. Now I feel better.
I Feel Better Too
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Tue, 2014-01-21 08:09
Yes it is a true story. And yes, I have shopped at Best Buy. The disclaimer is in the post category "Can I Have My Money Back?". That's where I get to feel better about a wide variety of topics, some "off-topic". I use it very infrequently. I don't abuse the opportunity but now you know what to look for.
Well
Submitted by atomlow on Tue, 2014-01-21 12:42
That's good we both feel better. You have the right to write anything you like on AnalogPlanet. I will check the file under category next time, but I suppose I'll still have to read it anyway. It's too bad he hit your car, but next time I'd lock my doors and call the police right away. Hopefully it works out for you.
Road rage / Best Buy
Submitted by AJMHobby on Mon, 2014-01-20 07:54
I have shopped in Best Buy.. and they suck. I went into a BB in Monroe NY to buy a car stereo for my wife's Escape. After waiting 20 minutes because no one was around, we started to walk out. As we were walking out there was a few sales people standing around BSing. One of them asked if we needed help, I said no thanks and we left the store. I found the same stereo at Crutchfield for the same price, plus they threw in all the stuff I needed to install it myself. BB wanted to charge extra for all the additional parts plus the price to install it. I complained to BB online and they said they were sorry and it wouldn't happen again... I was thinking to myself, your damn right it won't happen again because I won't go into BB anymore.
Road rage.. In short a friend of mine lost his wife & 2 year old son in a road rage accident. Some guy was trying to run his wife off the road and wound up hitting my friends' wife's car killing her and their son. I have no patients for idiots who drive like that. That son of a bitch on the geek squad should not have a job at BB or a license because he drives like an asshole..
On The Road
Submitted by forshac on Mon, 2014-01-20 13:30
Sounds like GSP is the new Route 17!
The Emerson-Escapee Kid
Republican governor has what to do with this?
Submitted by StonedBeatles1 on Tue, 2014-01-21 13:32
Sorry I may have started this one Jim. I guess I may cause political havoc wherever I go? :)
With that said, it's time for a mono KOB break and just chill out in this cold snowy day.
Cheers to all and here's to MIchael!
Unfreakinbelievable
Submitted by Jay on Thu, 2014-01-23 05:41
I'm glad to hear you weren't hurt Mikey. What the hell is it about some people when they get behind the wheel of anything with an engine they think that they can leave anything they have resembling good manners or even basic sanity outside? Morons like that are a bloody menace!
Can you stop by my house and
Submitted by Russo7516 on Sat, 2014-01-25 03:50
Can you stop by my house and install my cartridges for me . I would like to see if I am installing them correctly . Thanks
can't condemn all conservatives now . . .
Submitted by thomoz on Sun, 2014-01-26 13:57
Some of them are big fans of your writing,
I hate best buy and geek squad
Submitted by AndersKH on Tue, 2014-11-25 21:55
I stopped shopping there when they dumped SACDs.
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