Moving company drama - advice please? (Austin: movers, credit card, lawyer)

[atlanta hope]

During my move, I had some issues with the moving company. When taking out my refrigerator, there was a slight water drip from the plumbing where the ice maker had been hooked up. When I asked the guy to tighten it, he was having problems getting it turned off and then turned it the wrong way and it came off the wall and started spewing water all over my kitchen island, over the kitchen sink and started flooding the floors around it. I ran over to a neighbor's house to see if they could help turn off the water main. He was able to turn it off thankfully. Meanwhile my kitchen, dining room and living room (thankfully tile) floors were covered in water. The movers used my wet-dry vac while I mopped and then they borrowed the neighbors. I don't get any apology, just attitude about how they were trying to help me out and they've never seen this happen before and now he's wet and cold and can get pnuemonia, as he's prone to do. Meanwhile, I haven't said anything accusatory or mean -- I just want them to finish packing the garage and get my stuff moved and we're behind at this point. I had even bought them lunch before the water drama.

So they hurriedly leave (and leave some things still in the garage and front yard) -- as I'm locking up, I notice part of the formica countertop is damaged. An edge by the refrigerator is missing and had left exposed wood showing. I take a photo with my iphone to show them when I meet up with them later at the new place.

At my new place, they unload my stuff. Shove my washer and dryer in a small cramped space, scratching it up a little. At the end, I thank them and then ask them what they can do about the formica and scratches. The guy almost had a melt down. He had some goof off that he wiped on the washer and that seemed to take care of most of the scratches. Fine.

As far as the formica goes, he meets me at the house to see the damage.
(And luckily for me, the tile floors were fine the next day, just really dirty with muddy footprints.) He removed the whole edge to take somewhere to see if he can match it. I tell him if he can't, maybe if he paints it nicely that it'll suffice. So I leave the key for him and don't hear back. The next day I return to the house to see a crappy paint job done. I've emailed him and called him but to no avail. I'm not sure what to do now. I paid him with a credit card. I don't want to cancel payment but at the same time I want him to make it right with the formica. Any advice?

Thanks for reading this... and any advice.

BTW, this is a highly reviewed local company here in Austin. I'm waiting to see how it shakes out before I post my Yelp review.

[Trainwreck20]

Ahh...the fun of moving . Assuming that this is just a moving crew (and maybe crew chief of some sort) that you are dealing with, I would run it up the ladder a bit. This doesn't seem like an expensive fix (especially if you are amenable to painting!), so I would think that someone with a little more stock in the reputation of the company would help take care of it.

[CarnivalGal]

Stop dealing with the actual movers and contact the company itself. They usually have procedures in place to handle these things.

[muti6000]

If it's a bonded/insured company, which it sounds to be, they have to fix it to your satisfaction, no question, and pay for anything they've damaged. Also, log in under about 100 different names at yahoo, google, etc., and write terrible reviews for them !

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

Originally Posted by muti6000

. Also, log in under about 100 different names at yahoo, google, etc., and write terrible reviews for them !

That is a terrible suggestion! If, at the end, you are not satisfied then go ahead, write your review. Entering "terrible reviews" to get revenge or to vent your anger is dirty pool.

Many people now cannot trust the "reviews" because of people actually doing what you suggest.

Maybe you have your own "review" company that wants us to pay for the reviews eh?

[bjaxon]

Originally Posted by oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots

That is a terrible suggestion! If, at the end, you are not satisfied then go ahead, write your review. Entering "terrible reviews" to get revenge or to vent your anger is dirty pool.

Many people now cannot trust the "reviews" because of people actually doing what you suggest.

Agreed. All that accomplishes is lowering yourself to the level of the apes that did the move & damaged the property. Give the company-owners a chance to make it right before going off on ‘em.

[atlanta hope]

The owner WAS the mover. So no going up the ladder on this one. He's a member of the BBB so I might file a complaint there if I don't get a response from him in the next day or so. And he is bonded/insured. I don't know why he's acting so unprofessional about things. Surely in 8 years of his business, he's faced issues before. I guess that's a good thing to think about in the future when looking at movers... ask them what is the worst experience they've had and how did they handle it.

[Mrs.JT]

...probably the same movers we used. LOL We had drama on top of drama, but we just swallowed the loss and moved on.

In retrospect, I think I would have pushed the issue. File a dispute with your cc company. They will investigate the situation and proceed accordingly.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by atlanta hope

The owner WAS the mover. So no going up the ladder on this one. He's a member of the BBB so I might file a complaint there if I don't get a response from him in the next day or so. And he is bonded/insured. I don't know why he's acting so unprofessional about things. Surely in 8 years of his business, he's faced issues before. I guess that's a good thing to think about in the future when looking at movers... ask them what is the worst experience they've had and how did they handle it.

If he is bonded you should be able to file a claim against his bonding company.

[rickc007]

Reminds me once when Sears came to install a brand new Washer Dryer

The guy didn't check to see if the valve shut the water off, disconnected
the hose, and water was gushing out. It was to hard to put the hose back on with the water gushing.
And neither of us could find the main...

The guy panic'd and left ???

I get a call from Sears, from some kid, that wants to sound like a lawyer wanna be
telling me, it's not the installers fault, this right when I'm still mopping and wet vaccing ???

Long story short, everything dried, and I didn't have damage.

Sears called me again, and said if I wanted to file a claim, they would have
to come out, view the damage, and they would make the decision if a claim was warranted.
WRONG ! I would have put them in small court whether they approved it or not.

Long story short, at least your guy is making an attempt.
If not suitable, have it repaired by a professional, and send them the receipt to
give them a chance to make good. they are probably insured.
If they don't ... small claims court, simple and easy

OR ... write it off to the cost of moving.
I move a lot, something always gets dinged

But I remember the panic of trying to find the main myself :-)