Straight-up trade: Lombard for MacBook Air

[adamyoshida]

So, in way of venting, here's a little story. A year and a bit ago, I bought a box of four broken-down old Lombards off Craigslist for $50. Through extensive surgery, I managed to transform those into a pair of working units. One I gave to my Dad and another to one of my roommates.

A year later, after I'd moved out (and after she'd moved out, actually), a pipe burst in the kitchen and flooded the whole basement. Among the items destroyed was the Powerbook.

Long story short, her boyfriend played the insurance claim very skillfully, even to the point of purposefully referring to the unit as a "MacBook Pro" in all of his correspondence. So, in the end, the insurance company agreed to replace the Lombard with a MacBook Pro, which he switched out (at her bidding) for an Air.

Heh. In the same claim, he turned four old Pentium 3 and 4 PC's, which were playing various functions (a server, an arcade machine, and a media centre, plus one in general use) into brand-new Core 2 Duo models. As well, a 55" fifteen year-old rear projection TV was replaced by a 1080p DLP model.

Bastard. Ha.

 

[PlaceofDis]

insurance fraud, isn't it?

 

[AliensAreFuzzy]

So, in way of venting, here's a little story. A year and a bit ago, I bought a box of four broken-down old Lombards off Craigslist for $50. Through extensive surgery, I managed to transform those into a pair of working units. One I gave to my Dad and another to one of my roommates.

A year later, after I'd moved out (and after she'd moved out, actually), a pipe burst in the kitchen and flooded the whole basement. Among the items destroyed was the Powerbook.

Long story short, her boyfriend played the insurance claim very skillfully, even to the point of purposefully referring to the unit as a "MacBook Pro" in all of his correspondence. So, in the end, the insurance company agreed to replace the Lombard with a MacBook Pro, which he switched out (at her bidding) for an Air.

Heh. In the same claim, he turned four old Pentium 3 and 4 PC's, which were playing various functions (a server, an arcade machine, and a media centre, plus one in general use) into brand-new Core 2 Duo models. As well, a 55" fifteen year-old rear projection TV was replaced by a 1080p DLP model.

Bastard. Ha.

I could be wrong here, but wouldn't that be considered insurance fraud?

 

[Anderson3133]

insurance fraud, isn't it?

Yep...

and he just confessed it. lol

 

[adamyoshida]

insurance fraud, isn't it?

I don't think so.

Replacement value insurance. I mean, it was a flood - the insurance company has all of the stuff, and they're the ones who valued it.

Not that it doesn't make me mad. Obviously, it does.

 

[TEG]

Actually, there was no need to say it was a MacBook Pro, as most insurance pays the original value of the item. So for the original cost of a Lombard, you could get two MacBook Pros.

The rest of the items were probabily replaced with original value equivilants.

I only know this because my Aunt and Uncle have had more electronics destroyed by lightning than I've ever seen, and they have been able to take a 36" projection TV and have it upgraded by their insurance company to a 64" HDTV (over 20 years). Their only cost has been the deductable. They were even able to get a WebTV system replaced with a computer. Completely legit, as their Insurance company paid original retail price on each item that has been destroyed.

TEG

 

[PlaceofDis]

I don't think so.

Replacement value insurance. I mean, it was a flood - the insurance company has all of the stuff, and they're the ones who valued it.

Not that it doesn't make me mad. Obviously, it does.

hm. said that it was a MBP when it wasn't. screams fraud to me.

 

[adamyoshida]

Actually, there was no need to say it was a MacBook Pro, as most insurance pays the original value of the item. So for the original cost of a Lombard, you could get two MacBook Pros.

The rest of the items were probabily replaced with original value equivilants.

I only know this because my Aunt and Uncle have had more electronics destroyed by lightning than I've ever seen, and they have been able to take a 36" projection TV and have it upgraded by their insurance company to a 64" HDTV (over 20 years). Their only cost has been the deductable. They were even able to get a WebTV system replaced with a computer. Completely legit, as their Insurance company paid original retail price on each item that has been destroyed.

TEG

Yep. Pretty much. It wouldn't annoy me, save for the fact that this particular friend and I have engaged in a life-long electronic competition.

 

[robrose20]

So, in way of venting, here's a little story. A year and a bit ago, I bought a box of four broken-down old Lombards off Craigslist for $50. Through extensive surgery, I managed to transform those into a pair of working units. One I gave to my Dad and another to one of my roommates.

A year later, after I'd moved out (and after she'd moved out, actually), a pipe burst in the kitchen and flooded the whole basement. Among the items destroyed was the Powerbook.

Long story short, her boyfriend played the insurance claim very skillfully, even to the point of purposefully referring to the unit as a "MacBook Pro" in all of his correspondence. So, in the end, the insurance company agreed to replace the Lombard with a MacBook Pro, which he switched out (at her bidding) for an Air.

Heh. In the same claim, he turned four old Pentium 3 and 4 PC's, which were playing various functions (a server, an arcade machine, and a media centre, plus one in general use) into brand-new Core 2 Duo models. As well, a 55" fifteen year-old rear projection TV was replaced by a 1080p DLP model.

Bastard. Ha.

Its called insurance fraud. It is why we all pay higher prices for insurance. It is a felony punishible by up to 5 years in prison for each offense and $250,000 fine. I would turn your friend in .... I hate paying a lot for insurance ... thats why I use Geico.

 

[robrose20]

I don't think so.

Replacement value insurance. I mean, it was a flood - the insurance company has all of the stuff, and they're the ones who valued it.

Not that it doesn't make me mad. Obviously, it does.

It is fraud .. if he misrepresented the item to the insurance company it is most definitely fraud with a capital "F".

 

[Cybergypsy]

Karma is worse then Fraud..........just wait

 

[PlaceofDis]

Karma is worse then Fraud..........just wait

read that as Freud at first. hehe. got a chuckle from that.
but this is true too.

 

[dahcheet]

read that as Freud at first. hehe. got a chuckle from that.
but this is true too.

I read it the same way and had a quick chuckle.

 

[Jiddick ExRex]

It's morally wrong to state that he lost new stuff.


Insurance corporations usually don't pay back the value of the items as they are today but rather the value based on how much it would cost to get a new similar item.

So this was technically not fraud but simply 'lucky' that they had the insurance.

 

[Applespider]

He should have just said what they were and got the equivalent.

I've just had a somewhat major insurance claim but I was straight up and told them that the laptop that went missing was a 4 year old Powerbook and they still gave me the cash for a current higher-spec Macbook Pro.

 

[Xfujinon]

It isn't fraud unless you have an insurance policy that covers only the PRESENT appraisal value of the item, and not the ORIGINAL cost of the item.

Case in point:

When I got my renters insurance, I opted to pay a mere 50 dollars more (a year) for the reimbursement for the original retail value of the items should they be lost, stolen, destroyed, etc.

Now, since I am a penny-pinching b*stard, all of the things I now own are used, refurbished, pawn shop treasures, etc. However, thanks to the miracle of my upgraded insurance, supposing one of my 50 dollar G4 Cubes disappears, it will magically become a Macbook Pro according to my insurance company. Same for my 2000 dollar guitar I paid a scant 580 dollars for. Now, I don't PLAN on losing these things, and if they were gone I would be pretty bummed, but I can't say that having them reimbursed at former retail value would depress me too much.

Such insurance exists, but I must side with the floor when I say that defrauding an insurance company is a punishable and despicable offense. Be warned.

 

[adamyoshida]

He should have just said what they were and got the equivalent.

I've just had a somewhat major insurance claim but I was straight up and told them that the laptop that went missing was a 4 year old Powerbook and they still gave me the cash for a current higher-spec Macbook Pro.

To make it clear, I suppose that - in a legal sense - a MacBook Pro is the modern-day equivilant of a Lombard.

And, in this case, I doubt if the insurance company was fooled by words - since they had the actual unit they replaced in their possession, and first attempted to fix it.

Still... Grrr...