Opinions?

[Bonnie Campbell]

I had everything moved by a moving company last July. During the move they busted the mirror arm off of a Davis Cabinet Company dresser. Unbeknownst to me before, their furniture is considered 'collectible'. The dresser is solid cherry and the idiot driver, trying to cover up the breakage, glued the arm back with gorilla glue. It's an obvious violation in the contract by trying to cover up damage done by them. Now my question.... Is it 'fair' of me to demand that it be now repaired/replaced by the Davis Company? Or do I have to accept it being repaired/replaced by any joe blow they opt for? It really isn't repairable, not after the gorilla glue fix.

Another reason I'm leery of an 'expert' repair in my area is due to the adjuster/repairer they sent to my home last week. He repaired some things that had gotten broken with 'special' super glue. I watched him and commented on him using super glue. His response was that his glue was special... 'because his uses an activator'. I might look a tad dumb, but activating super glue for faster adhesion is NOT special. So, do I trust guys like this repairing a $4500 dresser?

[Callan Campbell]

No. They've gone from bad to worse, and you already spotted the "activator" BS right in front of you. You should print a picture of some dead common spray can of Activator and hold it to their faces. Oh, you mean this stuff? At any rate, get some "REAL" people in there to access the damage before it gets any worse. Get an estimate or two in hand, and take a deep breath as you're about to do battle with the moving company. Have your contract with them looked over carefully to see what rights or limits you may have agreed to in the fine print. I wish you luck, and lots of patience....:(

[Lee Ludden]

I had a client several years ago that had a moving company move them to a new office. They dropped the client's solid granite desktop (4'x9'x2") and it shattered. The client had purchased a $100K insurance policy from the mover to cover damages. The fine print on the policy was basically worded this way: The policy covers the entire move assuming all items valued equally so that the max payout per item was $100K/number of items moved. Since they had well over 1000 individual items moved, the company would only pay $100 to replace the desktop.

I am not sure if you would run into a similar situation, but it is something to look out for.

[Ron Conlon]

Best of luck. I have had nothing but bad luck with moving companies. I had the misfortune of having them show up on the day of the move and demand payment up front and a higher amount than originally quoted, which is a common scam I have found out. They have you over a barrel because it is too late to line up anyone else. Then after damaging multiple pieces of furniture, in addition to ruining our hardwood floors, we ran into the typical runaround when trying to make a claim. By the time we jumped through all their hoops, they were out of business and opened up under a new name.

[Lee Schierer]

If you look closely at the shipping manifest in all likelihood you dresser was marked as damaged, or at least scratched and dented. They mark every thing that way even if it is new. We had to make our movers turn things on and show us the scratches and dents before we would accept their general note.

Our last move, I had three brand new lamps that I had just finished in my work shop marked as scratched, dented and worn. When they arrived at the destination, the floor lamp was broken in half. We received no compensation from the mover for the damage.

[Jim Koepke]

I grew up moving furniture for my dad.

He had a furniture and appliance store.

Some of the people who would work for him only once or twice were supposedly "professionals."

My knowledge of the difference between furniture movers working for a retailer of furniture as compared to those doing it for a moving company is why I will never use a moving company to move anything of mine if it can be avoided.

Many home appliance and furniture sellers contract with moving companies these days.

Even when my father moved a few thousand miles my brothers rented a truck and moved his household items.

We have moved millions of dollars worth of household items without damage. If there was damage, it was on us, no questions or buts.

Don't ask me about what we would like to do to some of those architects who could design a house that was next to impossible to get furniture or appliances into the parts of the house where they should be.

Truck rentals are another scam. I think they are run by moving companies.

Now I should go lay down and see if I can get my blood pressure to go down.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

I had everything moved by a moving company last July. During the move they busted the mirror arm off of a Davis Cabinet Company dresser.

Let me guess, did they move the dresser with the mirror attached?

If they did not remove the mirror and wrap and move it separately, they are not professionals.

I would almost guarantee breakage if the mirror and the base are attached during a move. Even a move across a room can end in disaster if not done carefully.

Just being able to lift something and walk with it does not a mover make.

jtk

[Bonnie Campbell]

They actually had removed the mirror from the bracket. In fact the bracket was removed from the dresser. The one driver admitted to my daughter he had slid the bracket in with something else (not labeling it so) and when it(?) was being carried in the house the bracket slid out, caught on the door jamb and broke.

Being a nationwide company of many years, I look to see them still being in business down the road (no pun intended). I can guarantee I won't recommend the company to ANYONE.

The dresser will probably be a minor point since the also totally destroyed a 150 year old violin. Ummm, let me see... let's just pack a box of fine china, two heavy boxes of silverware, 35mm cameras and whatnot into ONE box with a fragile violin. Of course this stupidity goes along with them not following the contract in other areas too that have been documented.

I'm most likely going to need a lawyer to fight them, and I will get one if needed.

[Bryan Slimp]

I would get certified/professional appraisals for replacement values for the item(s) damaged beyond repair and several invoices for professional repair of the other items. Itemize the list inside of a letter and send three copies to the company. First to the CEO/President. Second, send a certified letter with the tracking and return options to their "general counsel". Third letter goes to the manager/estimator that went over the initial contract with you. Allow them 30 days to rectify the issue. State clearly that if you do not have a clear plan of action from them you will contact the appropriate Attorney General(s) for your state (and your old state if you moved across state lines) to file a complaint. Also, contact the BBB and file a claim.

If that doesn't get there attention - hire an attorney. I would guess that you have somewhere in the $10,000 neighborhood of damaged/destroyed items. If you are persistent you can get what you want. Don't accept anything less than your items returning to their pre-move condition.

[Belinda Barfield]

Go for getting the professional repair Bonnie. My company has done a lot of repairs of broken marble furniture tops, and replaced some as well when they were too far gone to repair - at the expense of the moving company. Funny, it's never the cheap Chinese marble that gets broken. It's always someone's grandmother's antique Italian marble that was the only thing brought over from the old country (or a similar story). I'm not sure why that happens unless the old stuff is just more fragile.

[Charlie Reals]

Bonnie,
Many many years ago I worked for a moving company. When I did an inventory of your household goods we were taught to mark everything. I mean to the point I could make a brand new in the box china hutch look like a goodwill special. It was part of the job. Good luck. I sincerely hope you get satisfaction. Always, when dealing with a mover, check the inventory list before you sign it.
The company I worked for had the contract for the local Air base. What a rip off. I will use my kids and 5 pickups before using a mover.