After researching where to park our car for an extended trip originating from JFK Airport in New York we picked Air Park JFK. Prior to parting with our car (August 8th) on "Lot A" I quickly eyed the property, inquiring about it's security and such. I was assured by one employee that in his 18 or so years, they'd never had a problem. Reassured, we embarked on our trip to Africa.
Upon our return (August 20th) to JFK airport and subsequently to the Air Park lot, we were informed that approximately 40 vehicles had been moved from "Lot A" over to "Lot B" which, unfortunately, had flooded during a storm on August 13th, totaling most if not all of the vehicles parked there. They gave us a claim number established by their insurance company for this event, told us to call/file with our insurance carrier, then call a cab! Call a cab!?! To Baltimore??? We'd just returned from a 16,000 mile trip, been up for 44 hours and we're told to call a cab??? Of the however many affected families, 2 were in front of us, both with lots of suitcase and children in tow. They were getting the same treatment and in fact had been ahead of us for 3 hours trying to make sense of it all.
We called State Farm, filed a report, then went back to the terminal to rent a car.in contacting their insurance carrier I received zero satisfaction from the arrogant Claims Adjuster III based in Chicago... Why, from his perspective, until his adjuster surveyed the situation, there was nothing to talk about. I learned of this pompous/arrogant position when I contacted him on Friday, August 26th. Last week I received a registered letter from this individual essentially positioning his options... Either it was an act of god and or, the insured wasn't insured for this specific parcel in the first place.
Here's my take: AirPark JFK had a duty to me and approximately 40 other property owners to safely park and guard their vehicles; They failed in this duty when, through what else, but greed, they moved the vehicles from "Lot A" to "Lot B" where they were subsequently flooded and totaled; Their violation of this duty has caused me and others damages and great inconvenience. I have the addresses for Lot's A & B but it is much easier to follow in this context.
AirPark JFK's arrogance is best summed up by their insistence that we do indeed owe them all of the fees charged for parking on their lot over this two week period... Even though their "service" includes totaling the vehicles! Throw in their insurance carriers arrogance and you have a classic case of "Pigs get fat, Hog's get slaughtered!"
I won't detail how inconvenienced we've been through all of this but suffice to say that there are a number of expenses which remain un-reimbursed (eg. Car rental) never mind the process of replacing a perfectly great automobile with another has yet to happen... Takes time, research and money. I'm sure that there are 40 or so other families with similar stories.
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