Yes, Joulee the Free Salvage Tesla is finally home, but not without more drama.
Matson was supposed to call us (or our broker) today to let us know if she was available for pick-up. They didn’t call, so we got on a conference call with our broker and the Matson rep. Who apologized (weakly) and said that the car was still at the Big Port. “Are you sure, because your employees at the local port said she was already here—” “No, the car sails from [the Big Port] on November 3rd.”
“Well, the problem I have with that is that the car’s telemetry tells me she’s already on this island.”
“Oh. Well, then the car is at [a subcontractor’s facility] and we can’t do anything until they release the car to us.”
“But it looks to me as though she’s about 25 feet from the Matson office door at the Matson pier. And that’s consistent with what your employees told us to expect.”
But Matson was firm that the car wasn’t available, though they finally admitted that they didn’t know where my car was or when she would be available for me to pick up. This is reassuring news from the folks to whom you’ve trusted your car.
Given that the people at the local port seemed honest and helpful, we decided to just drive there even though it’s over an hour away. They had given us their direct phones, but in the chaos around here while we’re still trying to unpack, I couldn’t find the numbers.
We arrived at the port to see Joulee parked and gleaming in the sun, albeit with some minor damage.
The port folks were great, and even had the good news that a person who’d picked up their Prius earlier at the local port had found Joulee’s key in it, so the lost key was recovered (though Matson still claims they never had the key).
So there will be some paperwork getting a claim filed for the damages, but Joulee’s 71-day oceanic odyssey is finally at an end.
—2p