<p>marylandmom
has your daughter looked into alocker rental at the music school she attends?
D did keep her flutes/picc in her dorm room until they had a mini flood from the air conditioner condenser (in arizona, it was in the ceiling above their heads) It scared her so she got alocker right away.A bit of a pain when you need your instrument for another purpose but at least locked up safe and sound and climate controlled.</p>
<p>Consider geting a lawyer and suiing the young man for damages. He might even have some umbrella coverage though his parents.</p>
<p>Ah yes, get a lawyer, a fundamental problem in the US. I’d agree had the parents not immediately offered with no prodding to cover damages and have already demonstrated good faith by replacing the printer via overnight delivery.</p>
<p>Not denying that it’s a tragic and traumatic event, but the common wisdom that “litigation” is the answer to every evil is in itself, a major and unproductive evil to everyone except attornies…</p>
<p>Well, if his parents are covering most damages then you don’t need a lawyer. Had this not been offered, I certainly would have gone after this kid and his parent’s insurance for damages.</p>
<p>I am ill just reading this! My d is a flautist and her flutes are so much a part of her! I would speak to a lawyer only because there is a difference between verbal and written agreement. Although it does seem they are being extremely cooperative, I would just make sure. You never know what might happen if they have to replace a 6 - 8,000 dollar flute. 
Also, we have additional riders on our d’s instruments. Homeowners will cover only certain losses. Are you comfortable with the person who is repairing the flute? This person should be able to tell you if he feels he can get it back to original playing condition. I am told that the mechanisms in Japanese flutes are so incredibly precise…you do not want to compromise that. We deal with an absolutely wonderful person in NY. We completely trust him with all d’s woodwinds.<br>
Your d must be going through so much now. I hope this all can be put behind her so she can move on. However, I know it is hard when there is not only the bond that an instrumentalist has with their instrument, but also an emotional tie to how they actually got the instrument. My heart goes out to her…my d would be devasted. I cannot even imagine.<br>
My husband and I are also non music people. But we have two musical girls!!! We are often asked where their talent comes from, and I have to reply…not from me! I will be keeping an eye on this thread. I look forward to seeing that everything has been taken care!!!</p>
<p>I think my d has started to see a light at the end of the tunnel. She finally was able to move into another room tonight. There were no completely empty rooms but when she went to her new room, she realized her new roomie is in one of her classes and she said the girl has always been real nice. Her new roomie said “I have something to tell you. See the space on the floor. Well sometimes it becomes my closet.” My d was like wow, I have the same closet. No more compulsively neat rommie. Six of her friends helped her move tonight so she said it didn’t take long.
Her professor talked to the repairman today. He can repair the headjoint and realign all the keys and replace the bent ones. He will need to replace the “b” foot. He asked for an estimate from Muramatsu for the cost of the “b” foot. He said it looked like the flute was repeatedly banged against something.<br>
One of the piccolos from marching band heard what happened to my d. The piccolo has given up all of her music activities except for marching band. She offered to loan my “d” her flute. It is a professional flute and on the level of my d’s flute. The one she was borrowing was just an intermediate flute. When I talked to her tonight she sounded like her old self again. She said that one of the piccolos (they are a very close group) was having a party tonight. So her and her friends were headed there after she unpacked. She deserves to relax with her friends for awhile. She is excited because her flute professor is taking her students to a flute conference in VA next weekend. I was so relieved after talking to her, just to hear happy again, talking about other things. She did say that the most helpful person was her professor. I’m not sure what any of us would have done without her. She gave us her cellphone number so we could call whenever we had a question.
I still don’t have the final estimate for the flute yet so will let you know when we do.</p>
<p>""She finally was able to move into another room tonight. “”</p>
<p>(I haven’t figured out how to highlight quotes yet)</p>
<p>MarylandMom, I am SO relieved to read this and see that your D is able to move into a new safe haven. I have been following your story with horror and despair … for all of you – her to go through this, and you as parents who are far away. </p>
<p>Now that my D will be heading off to college eight hours from home, I can only imagine how we’d feel if something similar happened to her. </p>
<p>It really sounds as if she has a great support community there, from her teacher to the flutist from Knoxville who helped out to the new roommate. </p>
<p>And at least the jerk’s parents seem to be a tree that is pretty far from their apple!</p>
<p>I’m also a Maryland-er (go Terps!), and though relocated originally from NY, am proud of my new adopted homestate so consider you my homies by proxy :)</p>
<p>Finally, last week our D received her new flute and the insurance mailed a check for its cost! Just to update everyone my D’s flute was estimated to have about $3500 in damage. The repair person claimed he could repair it and make it sound the same but said he could not remove all the dents in the flute. We felt that it needed to be replaced. (When a car is hit, people don’t say, “Oh, well, it runs fine. It is okay if it has a few dents.” So we insisted that it be replaced. The boy’s parents offered us $3000, which didn’t even cover the repairs. I think maybe they were trying to get us to bargain with them. We just said, “No, thanks,” and called the insurance company. Our insurance company was very coorperative. Then my D begin a search for a new flute. Then it had to be ordered. Finally she received her new flute last week. She is thrilled with it. And so happy to have her own flute again. She says she will never, ever take her flute for granted again! She loves her new roommate. They are perfect for each other. She has an on-campus apartment for next year with 3 friends…two music majors…two are not. We said we don’t care where you live just live with people you know. What an experience to have to have as a freshman 500 miles from home but she survived and I am sure is a stronger person.</p>
<p>marylandmom3, thanks for the update. Glad everything worked out ok, albeit probably took a bit longer than originally anticipated.</p>
<p>Best of luck to your with her new instrument.</p>
<p>Glad to hear your insurance company came through…but there still should be some kind of serious consequence for the young man who damaged it.</p>
<p>BEK, In lieu of payment the offending party should be forced to listen to first year elementary string students on a daily basis. That’ll fix him. :p</p>
<p>First year oboes are pretty awful too!!!</p>
<p>Glad to hear the new flute has arrived.</p>
<p>When we were auditioning at Northwestern there was a news clipping posted on one of the bulletin boards regarding the 10 most annoying sounds…violin was listed just below retching (honest!), but I’m sure that pertained to beginners only.</p>
<p>Thumper…I concur about the oboe as that is what my S attempts to play!</p>
<p>we also learned about the first year of oboe…it was LOUD!we were told it would take at least a year before one could learn to play softly…
Glad to know the flute saga has ended happily; a good reminder for us all to check on instrument insurance!</p>
<p>Ahh, so true about the oboe. There is no sound to compare to an “inexperienced” oboe…however, there is also no sound to compare to the beauty of an “experienced” oboe! (Well except for the incredible sound of a beautiful flute! ;))</p>
<p>So very glad to see all ended well with your daughter’s flute. I can only imagine what your d went through. It was disturbing enough for my flautist d when I told her what happened!</p>
<p>I’m also troubled by the male student in question having no fiscal or disciplinary responsibility for his actions.All well and good that the insurance company paid up,the new instrument is excellent, and the roomate situation worked out well for your D but what has the offending student learned from all this? If you or your parents lowball an offer to settle or try to negotiate, the offended party will just go away?</p>
<p>Does the insurance company that paid for the new flute know who damaged the old one? They might try to recoup what they had to pay as is often done on automobile insurance collision claims when one party is judged to be at fault.</p>
<p>I should have mentioned this. The insurance company called last Friday. The exact words of the person were “Hi, I am the person who is going after the flute basher.” Her next words were “Please tell me your daughter has a new roommate.” She said they would start with a phone call, then there would be a bunch of letters, then court if they didn’t collect with the phone calls and letters. She wanted to make sure we knew if they tried to contact us not to talk to them at all. My D was not too happy about it all. For awhile whenever she ran into her ex-roommate, her ex-roomie would yell things like “you don’t need a f------ new flute.” She is afraid that this will stir everything up again. But she has just over a week left so hopefully it won’t happen. Also he was charged and arrested. Not sure what will happen when his court date comes up.</p>
<p>It’s good to know the insurance company will seek reimbursement from the party responsible for the damage, and personally I hope they get it.</p>
<p>Were you recompensed for other of your D’s damages? I wasn’t clear if the instrument was under your homeowners or a seperate instrument policy.</p>
<p>This was a particularly malicious act of destruction; the kid who did it has issues and needs to be financially responsible for these behaviors.</p>
<p>Regards contact, harassment from her old roomate: if this escalates, I would not hesitate to consult an attorney, the police departments involved, and if necessary seek a restraining order. </p>
<p>I hope this resolves quickly. Best of luck to all of you.</p>
<p>marylandmom
glad to hear the insurance company is going after the “basher”, and that he was arrested and charged in the first place.</p>