Upon seeing Qin Muās message, he quickly had someone contact the resident of 2801 to discuss the car-scratching incident.
I hope things donāt get blown out of proportion,
he sighed softly.
I just hope this family will be reasonable, honestly pay the compensation, and not escalate the situation. As a property manager, I only hope for peace and stability, and no more incidents. If this gets on the news... it will also significantly affect our propertyās reputation.
ćHalf an hour later.ć
The parent from 2801, along with Qin Mu and the eight other car owners whose vehicles were damaged, all arrived at the property management office.
He Bimin looked at everyone, cleared his throat, and began, "Alright, hereās the situation. Weāve reviewed the surveillance footage, and it confirms that the child from unit 2801 is responsible for scratching the cars."
As he spoke, he specifically glanced at the parent who came from 2801, a middle-aged woman in her fifties named Bai Shuirong. When she arrived, her face was full of indifference, and she seemed somewhat impatient.
"Weāve gathered everyone here today primarily to discuss the matter of compensation," He Bimin continued. He then attempted to mediate, hoping to resolve the issue internally.
"Damn it! I need to use my car tomorrow, and itās not even roadworthy in this condition!"
"Thereās nothing to mediate. Just pay up."
"I just called the after-sales service at the 4S dealership. There are many scratches. Itās not just the base paint; the car body itself is severely damaged and needs to be replaced. Thatāll be around eighty thousand yuan."
"Mineās about sixty thousand. The scratches are too deep; a simple repaint wonāt fix it."
"..."
The damaged car owners were clearly still furious and not in the mood for pleasantries. They directly demanded compensation.
As soon as they finished speaking, Bai Shuirong immediately exclaimed, "Eighty thousand? Sixty thousand? Itās just a few scratches, right? You can fix that for just several hundred yuan! Are you trying to swindle us?"
"My grandson did it, sure, but heās just a child! He was just playing; he didnāt mean to damage your cars intentionally."
"I only came here out of consideration for our neighbors. If youāre going to be like this, then thereās nothing more to discuss!"
Her shrill voice filled the property management office. She stared at Qin Mu and the other eight car owners, her face a mask of indignation, as if she were the victim.
In her eyes, what her grandson did was just a few scratches, nothing serious.
Seeing both sides getting agitated, He Biminās expression shifted slightly, and he quickly intervened. Looking at Bai Shuirong, he earnestly advised, "If the car body is damaged, it can indeed be quite expensive. However, I assure you they arenāt trying to swindle you. Once they get an exact repair quote from the 4S dealership, they will certainly show it to you. Then, you can compensate them based on that quoted price; it will be clearly itemized."
Upon hearing this, Bai Shuirongās expression softened somewhat. She snorted, "Thatās more like it. Iām no fool. This is a matter of a few thousand yuan at most; donāt try to quote me some outrageous price!"
"This... Iām afraid it might not be resolvable with just a few thousand yuan," He Bimin said cautiously, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. He knew a thing or two about cars. He had personally reviewed the photos of the damaged vehicles taken by the property staff. One of them, parked in the space registered to Qin Mu, was valued at 1.8 million yuan. It was far from cheap. Given the extent of the damage, replacing its bodywork would cost no less than one to two hundred thousand yuan. When you added in the other eight damaged cars, the total compensation would likely be at least seven to eight hundred thousand yuan. And that was a conservative estimate.
"What?!" Upon hearing He Biminās estimate, Bai Shuirong immediately glared at the car owners. "What kind of junk cars are these? A few more scratches, and they can still be driven, yet youāre demanding so much money?"
She didnāt know much about cars. Her gut feeling was that a few scratches on a car should cost a few hundred yuan to fix, tops. But now the property manager was suddenly telling her that the nine cars combined might require seven to eight hundred thousand yuan in compensation! And possibly even more!
These people are completely out of line! The culprit is just a six-year-old child, and they have no sense of leniency or tolerance whatsoever!