Over the Thanksgiving holiday, while I was out and about jaunting around in Legoland or the zoo, the door of my parked car jumped out in front of a vehicle and got itself hit. The damage wasn’t that bad (from the looks of things) and the person responsible was kind enough to leave a note, so all was good.

Well, a day or two ago I got a call from the body shop that the repairs have been made. Great! Today was the day for me to pick it up. So this morning I walked to the body shop from my apartment (they’re conveniently close), paid the kind gentleman at the body shop (who insisted on shaking my hand literally 6 different times), and then drove off – not, of course, before first checking for things like making sure automatic door locks and windows were still functional. After all some of those mechanics are in the door so it would be a good idea to make sure they continued to work after the body shop got through with it. All was good so I headed home.

My normal spot was taken. No big deal. There’s another spot on the next block which will work; I just need to circle around. I do just that and park. Be-YOO-tiful parking job, mind you. I couldn’t have gotten it better. I was quite proud. So I turn off the car, unlock the doors and get out to… and get o… get… I couldn’t get out! The door was stuck! Lock, unlock, lock, unlock – still stuck!

Luckily the shop was right down the street, so I drive back and start waving my hands at one of the employees there that he needs to let me out. The guy I dealt with earlier (who, as far as I can tell, owns the joint) approaches and asks whats wrong. Not even saying anything I roll down the window, unlock the door and tug at the handle to show him. Confused he starts playing with it himself. Lock, unlock, lock, unlock – still stuck! Pressing firmly on the lock he was able to get it dislodged and the door opened.

“Give me 5 minutes!” he said hurriedly as he took the car from me and pulled it into the garage.

Sure enough, about 5 minutes later he comes back and has it fixed. He explained how paint was to blame and that he got everything cleared up, greased up, and ready to go. After demonstrating it out a few dozen times in front of me, I was convinced that it worked now.

After some apologies and another hand shake, I was off! …hopefully for good.

I get home, park, turn the car off, unlock (so far so good) and pull the handle. It opens! As I open it wider to get out, the door falls right off its hinges and slams into the street!

OK, that last part isn’t true. But I did have to laugh the first time I made it home and couldn’t get out. And the truth is, for future body work (should I need it), I would certainly use this place again. They provided excellent, friendly service – well beyond my expectations.