Moving Company Lied and Destroyed Furniture...Advice Needed (apartment, insurance)

[whittywhit0678]

I hired a moving company on July 11th. They were supposed to simply move my boxes and furniture from 1 apartment to the next. In the process they broke my flat screen television, broke the side leg off my headboard, and damaged both mattress sets. The move itself would have cost us $400 ($465 including the deposit we paid beforehand); however, the television they broke was $529.80, headboard was $193.20, and the mattress sets were $200 each. The company lied on their website claiming that they are licensed, bonded, and insured. This is NOT true. The only solution they came up with was to clean the mattresses to remove the dirt and to put a mattress cover over them to hide the holes. They are now trying to deduct the cost of the damages from what I would have paid them for the move and make no other payments to me. Anyone ever have a similar situation? What are my options?

I have taken countless photos and contacted the stores where my items were originally purchased to get proof of pricing.

[bUU]

Do you have a written contract or any documentary evidence that they misrepresented themselves? Do you even have enough information to establish who you actually contracted with (company name, etc., that you could use to register complaints against)?

[whittywhit0678]

Yes. I printed screen shots from their website showing their add clearly stating "we are licensed, bonded, and insured." I also found them on the BBB and filed a complaint there as well as a police report on the day of the incident. My concern is that the address listed on the BBB and the website might actually be a fake address. This is the only thing holding up my filing a small claim. Is there another way to locate an address if I have the name of the supposed owner and company?

[columbusgametro]

You have too watch out for this moving company's they will break your stuff in a heart beat and sometimes steal from you. I would not trust strangers with my stuff at all. This is just an unsafe world anymore.

[ellie]

You should have insurance, too. Even if you're a renter. Sorry this happened to you.

[cwkimbro]

You really have to look at contracts and understand what you are getting.

Not all insurance is the same.

First and foremost the reason the phrase "license, bonded, and insured" often has much more to do with liability beyond the small things. ie, what if one of the workers blows out his back picking up your heavy bed and ends up with 15 years of workman's comp and medical bills that easily will run into the six-figures very fast. You wouldn't ever want to be involved in a 3-way lawsuit between the moving company, yourself, and the worker. It is essential companies have base levels of insurance that is far more important than most will ever know, luckily.

There is often a liability insurance in situations where the truck catches on fire and gets flooded out and clearly never finished the job. The big ticket things. It is often insurance on a fixed rate by pound. The pro and con to this is some items (like your TV) are far more valuable than the weight at the common rates. If all your stuff was lost (truck fire) once you factor in cheap things, cheap heavy things, things you were holding onto but were really past the point of use/depriciation (old books, old clothes, old pots and pans) the total value would go much further at replacing your needs.

Lastly, you need to look into deductibles too. Insurance companies will often have different levels of insurance options, especially for larger homes and commercial moves.

The idea that a few things break in a move is common by the nature of what all has to be done in a short time. So insurance runs more expensive the better the coverage. It is important to know the details, whether or not it is an add-on cost involved or not.

When my parents moved houses years back we had a contract with these specifics written. There was one item damaged and there was a deductible involved. We got a little bit, but not a whole lot. (admittedly, I moved the Televisions, breakables, and family heirlooms myself... always have, always will)

At this point you should be going over the fine print of the contract.

This Link: Protect Your Move | Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

...should provide you to links of resources for you to read into and hopefully find some good news. There is also a link explaining common insurance types and how they work in practice.

Good Luck!