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It's official. Bank of America is a big, evil corporation.
When he parked his Plum Crazy 1973 Dodge Challenger in his deceased mother's garage for the winter, Aaron Dahrooge expected it to be there when he came to retrieve it in the spring. But after a contractor hired by Bank of America to winterize and secure the house, the car was gone.
Neighbors told the Worchester Telegram & Gazette that they saw the contractors do their work — which included pouring antifreeze in the drains and putting a padlock on the garage door — one day, then return another to tow the car. The house was in the early stages of foreclosure, but Dahrooge said Bank of America officials have been uncooperative in helping him find out what happened to his classic muscle car. They've even declined to respond to a subpoena served by the detective working on the case Dahrooge filed with the Worchester, Mass. police department.
We're not sure what options the car has, but a '73 Challenger in decent shape is worth anywhere from $20,000 to more than $30,000, according to the NADA guides. Dahrooge told the Telegram & Gazette that he had fully restored the car, and from the look of the picture he gave to the paper, it's a pretty sweet car that's worth a few bills.
Dahrooge has accused Bank of America of stonewalling him, and said he has been subjected to an extended corporate run around in his many frantic calls to the bank's headquarters. So far, he hasn't been able to pry the name of the contractor out of the giant bank.
Dahrooge owns a repair shop in Worchester, and had all of his business accounts with Bank of America. But after being kicked out of the bank's local branch office when he demanded to know the name of the contractor who stole his car, he later withdrew all of his money and closed his accounts there.
A bank spokesperson offered a pretty standard line in response to Dahrooge's claims.
"We continue to research the issue and are in full cooperation with law enforcement and legal authorities on this ongoing investigation. Should evidence be produced that shows wrongdoing by the vendor, we will act swiftly and take appropriate action."
Dahrooge isn't the only one who's been robbed by B of A-hired contractors. The company faces lawsuits for similar cases in California and Texas. A Pittsburgh woman managed to wrest an apology, but not much else, out of the corporate behemoth when some papers were shuffled the wrong way and it sent contractors to change the locks on her house. In addition to damaging her carpet and making a mess of the place, they also took her pet parrot, and didn't give it back even after B of A had admitted to the foul up. She eventually had to drive three hours to claim her kidnapped bird.
Long story short, Bank of America sucks, and not just because of its role as a bailed out bank amidst the Great Recession. It's terrible because it's the kind of company whose employees redirect and hang up on customers whose lives have been screwed up by the company's fuck ups. It seems truly not to care about its customers, and even its sharehoders, who are all left to beat upon the windowless steel doors of a massive, unfeeling corporate fortress when their rights are trampled by by the faceless operators inside.
We hope Dahrooge gets his Challenger back.
Photo credit: Aaron Dahrooge
