Swindled by Moving Company

[daniel330]

Through email and phone, both of which I have records of, I agreed to a contract to have my apartment items moved from CA to WA through a specific moving company. Although, the contract states that the items at latest would arrive at 1/27/10 at latest, I was told over the phone that they would be delivered 1/23/10. My items were not delivered until 2/7/10. I was also initially told my items would be picked up 1/19/10-1/20/10 early morning The movers (which ended up being a different moving company contracted by the company I did business with) did not arrive to my house until midnight on 1/20/10 at my inconvenience at to that of my neighbors due to noise as well as making me miss my scheduled departure for my drive to WA by car. I arrived in WA 1/22/10 and was told that my items were delayed because of "weather" issues, and was given a 3 day delay time estimate. However, this was very inaccurate. Upon my arrival to WA state, because of the moving company not delivering my items as promised, I was forced to buy items that I already owned (such as pots, pans, eating utensils, food, sleeping bag, etc..) because all of my items were with the moving company and I was now in an empty apartment and starting a new job with nothing other than my car and 2 days worth of clothes. To make matters worse, I had to constantly badger the moving company to find out when my things would arrive (the date of which they changed a minimum of 4 times). Upon arrival of my items, I also was disappointed to find out that over $700 worth of my personal belongings had been stolen as well. Initially, I had been told that I would be compensated $25 a day for every day that they were late (which of course doesn't cover the time and money I had to spend out of my own pocket). I never received a single penny in compensation. So far, I have contacted the better business bureau and filed a complaint against the company and hope to resolve the issue through them. If, however, that does not resolve the issue, small claims court would be my next move. I've never had to go to court for anything...so any specific advice for my situation would be greatly appreciated. Although I did not think about it until a few days later after my arrival in WA, I did start saving a few of my receipts showing items I had to purchase due to the company's inability to meet their contractual requirements.

 

[army judge]

Are any of the things you were told (promises) in writing?

If they aren't, any recovery in court is doubtful.

Even if you recover, how do you propose collecting on the judgment?

You do know the court won't make the moving hand over money to you in the courtroom, even if you prevail?

You could write a complaint to the ICC. They regulate interstate movers and truckers!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[daniel330]

I do have promises of the delivery date in writing both by email and contract.
I am not necessarily looking to get a full refund for the move..but I am looking to recover the extra money I had to spend out of my pocket due to them not meeting the signed contract.
Would taking this to court be a worthless cause?
I will definitely write the ICC and file a complaint

 

[Hockey_Mom]

Though I'm not a Lawyer, I have had a handful of bouts in Small Claims, always a learning experience.

As a small business owner, it always makes sense to settle if ANY judgement against my company is a possibility. For a company to be branded unlawful never helps a business. Because after the fact, there is nothing that can be done about negative press, since it's all there in the judgement! And collecting a judgement from a company is much easier than from an individual.

I say take them to court. However, you must consider jurisdiction of where the transaction took place. Otherwise, sounds like a slam dunk. Send them the 30 day demand letter first, do it properly, and go from there. There are laws, so do your research. It'll be work, and you most certainly will get what you put into it.

Here's a list for California.

www .dca.ca.gov/publications/legal_guides/m-1.shtml

 

[daniel330]

i will definitely look into the link and do my research. Part of me wanted to just forget about the whole thing...even though I lost an extra $1800 out of my own pocket because of their inabilities....but at the same time, I know that I am not the first person that they have done this to..and if nobody stands up to them, they will keep doing it. Of course recovering the money I lost would be nice, but I just want to prevent them from doing this ever again to anyone else. It's frustrating...especially when all of your posessions are in someone else's hands

 

[Hockey_Mom]

Small claims court fees are inexpensive. The greatest cost to you would be your time and effort into properly carrying out your claim, and if it goes to court, being prepared for a potential "mediation" or judgement. And all of that may take in excess of four months, depending how swift your courts move.

So yeah, I believe $1800 is worth it.

How many fancy dinner dates will that afford?

Anyways, begin with a proper demand letter, send it certified, and go from there.

 

[daniel330]

i definitely appreciate the input. I will carry out as you suggested and go from there. hopefully, it will all work out and go smoothly.