The French Have A Way of Complicating Things

Our apartment was broken into last month.

They broke the door and the lock but didn't get in. Of course, the door was left partially open for days because our neighbors and the concierge either didn't notice it or didn't do anything if they saw it. We'll never know for sure. It couldn't have been quiet.

Now, the hard part -- fixing it and getting our insurance to pay for it.

Fixing it should be easy. The first guy who came out to fix the lock and the door didn't align the door properly. The door would only open a little bit and even that put big scratches in the hardwood floor.

He came back to fix it. In fixing his first work, he burned two patches in the hardwood floor with a blow torch.

The door is fixed. The floor is a wreck.

Insurance should pay for the door and the lock, but it's the locksmith's insurance that has to pay for the floor damage, I think. Hard to say for sure.

First we'll have to prove that we didn't burn the holes in the floor using a blow torch. Kinda hard to imagine since we don't own a blow torch. Next we have to prove that the scratches weren't there before the door was fixed. Harder to prove but still shouldn't be a problem.

Also, we'll have to get the floor fixed. How many steps should this take? Not many. But, I'm sure it will take multiple visits and steps. Since it's right at the front door, we won't be able to go in or out and we probably won't be able to close the door.

I'm sure this is the tip of the "complication" iceberg. We're just happy the damage was as small as it was.

We'll be waiting for the check from the insurance company since we had to pay for the work "up front".