10 February 2009

Delivery Men Damage - What can I do?

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I recently had a chest of drawers delivered by a furniture company in fyshwick, I paid the $55 delivery fee to have two drawers delivered to my house.

First of all, the delivery was set for midday, the delivery guys showed up at 6.30pm.

They unloaded the drawers from the back of the truck, my husband told them that they should turn the drawers around as they would be facing the other way in the room they will be in. That suggestion was ignored.

They drawers were brought in and then they had to be turned around as they were facing the wrong direction – instead of backing out of the room – the guys lifted the drawers up high and turned them around – which would have been fine had they not taken a big chip out of my door frame!

They left pretty quickly, once they had gone we noticed the big chip out of the door frame.

As it was outside business hours, I rang the company the next day and told them what had happened, they said that one of the delivery drivers was a carpenter and would come out and fix it. No one has come and now they will not return my phone calls. Do I have a right to ask for my delivery fee back? The refund would go towards repairing the door frame!

During one phone call the woman at the store said that she didn’t believe that the guys would do that and that if there was no damage to the drawers she found it difficult to belive that it was done during delivery! All I know is that it wasn’t there before they came and now it is!

Any advice on our options would be greatly appreciated.

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Mitchell Family Removals. Can’t remember the owner’s name – Col, Con ? Might be the guy Sepi is talking about. Anyway, he looks just like Chopper Reed but great bloke and helped me move to the coast a couple of years ago.

He is professional, careful and even told me ways to reduce the cost of my move. Would highly recommend him.

Colin Mitchell and sons. I can’t remember the price, but it added up to a lot – it took a whole day (although I do have a lot of stuff). They were good really – just cost more than I bargained for. They provide boxes for you to pack yourself ahead of time too, which helped.

tylersmayhem1:34 pm 11 Feb 09

Who were they Sepi, and how much per hour?

Trev Fincham1:18 pm 11 Feb 09

NAME THEM. EASY.

NO ONE HERE WILLUSE THEM, OR GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO USE THEM.

send pastor danny round to them…

Our removalists were the opposite – soooooo careful it took all day as they wrapped up crappy kitchen chairs in their felt blankets, and packed the truck as if our crummy old furniture was priceless antiques. They did take the mirrors and doors off the two antique things I do have, so that was good. But the rest could have been slapped in a bit quicker really…

Nothing was broken or even scratched, but we paid by the hour and it was huge.

tylersmayhem11:53 am 11 Feb 09

This sucks, and yes, pursue them until you get both your delivery fee back and the damage to the door frame and/or drawers fixed to an acceptable level.

If they are not prepared to do this, remind them of the inconvenience caused by you, and you’ll be sure to be quite vocal as to your experience with them. Maybe even make it clear to them that the world is watching their move of RA, and as consumers, we’d all see it as a good gesture to do the right thing.

As for medievalists, I’ll always move my own stuff. The last time I moved in August, I hired a company who provide to kids and a truck to move the heavy stuff. I’m glad I was there to keep an eye on them. I have an old school liquor cabinet which was my grandparents, and it has crystal glass panels etc, and I instructed them on the best way to move it t avoid any chance of damage. I turned my back for 30 seconds, and they were trying to hoist the heavy piece up on their shoulders and it fell forwards towards the banister to the split level. I don’t realise I had super human speed, but I somehow made it up the 6 stairs and grab hold of it before it tumbled.

Add to this the fact only one of the 2 guys could be bothered doing anything, and then had a go at me helping load things in to the truck, and me having to referee the on-going arguments between the two of them, watching them insist on carrying items which need to people (like my top loading washing machiebe) and seeing the potential damage they were doing to the inside workings etc, convinced me to never use a removalist again.

I have heard SO many stories from people who have had things moved and damage covered up, and no responsibility ever taken for it, or simply told they’d be given money to replace a smashed hand crafted Spanish guitar given to them by a grandfather.

Removalists are the scum of the Earth in my opinion, and I won’t even get started with Holbrook’s.

buttons said :

And yes, the company does start with a F… and a W.

I laughed. 🙂

UPDATE: I rang the company again yesterday afternoon, she said that she thought the issue was all sorted, I told her that I would be coming in on Saturday to collect a refund for the delivery fee. She told me that she would organise someone to come and fix it. About 1/2 an hour later, a guy called me to apologise for not calling me earlier – he had my job on his job list but his “wife washed his pants and he couldn’t read his job list and couldn’t remember my details”… yeah right!

Anyway, he came over last night to look at the damage, said he would have to send someone else back to fix it as he was unable to do it.

Drama continues!

And yes, the company does start with a F… and a W.

Holierthanthou11:09 pm 10 Feb 09

Try the following: stalking, fireworks in letterbox, pit-bull terrier.

Did you sign anything when they delivered it? Usually they make you sign a reciept of delivery. There are usually clauses on that doco. saying that the item was delivered n good condition, that there was no damage caused etc..etc.

Signing that in itself does not remove their liability for any damage caused. But it does make it harder for you to pursue anything.

Does this place begin with F? I’ve had trouble with them too.

Felix the Cat8:45 pm 10 Feb 09

Most likely the delivery guys are subcontractors and don’t actually work for the store you purchased the furniture from. This will complicate things as the store will wash their hands of any responsibility and buck pass to the delivery guys. Also, not disputing that damaged occurred, but it’s your word against the delivery guys and they probably won’t admit to it.

Even if the delivery guy is a carpenter (highly unlikely, good carpenters earn a lot more than delivery drivers) get a proper qualified independent carpenter to fix your door frame, not a quick patch it up job like the delivery guy would most likely do.

I have also had dramas with removalists.

Firstly, when they moved all my stuff from one place into storage, they dented my 4k fridge.

No they did not tell me about it.

Then they delivered my stuff to the new place and both of my leather lounges had an oily type substance on them.

And, when they were placing said fridge into new place they scratched my timber decking with the fridge.

To top it off, themanages alo didn’t want to know about it and I had to chase and chase to get any compensation.

I finally did though. And who signed the cheque……

HOLBROOKS

I cannot think of the name of the place, but was this by any chance a large shop on the hill on Gladstone street opposite Fantastic Furniture?

The reason I ask is a few years back my old mum brought something from there only to be given a lot of greif by the place. In her case one of the doors was warped but of course she didn’t notice until they had left so it was her fault! Yeah right. The relationship between customer and supply got so bad that I am now barred from the place after giving them a peice of my mind in front of other customers. One of the MO’s was the delivery guys were carpenters. yeah sure, why would a carpenter be delivering furniture?

barking toad4:18 pm 10 Feb 09

go and buy a cup of coffee and tell us about it

ffs – no wonder I drink!

Take a photo of the damage done with you, that way you have covered all bases & Good Luck!

Thanks for your help! If they fail to return my calls this week I will be heading out to Fyshwick for a face-to-face discussion.

If it was me I would pursue the line of getting the door fixed pronto as getting your delivery fee back could be taken as indemnity of the facts.

If they fail to co-operate, contact consumer affairs.

I would be making them pay, what company was it?
By the sounds of it you would be better off hiring a trailer and picking it up yourself, would be less hassle and by the sounds of it cheaper in the end too.
hope all goes well and they fix it for you.

I do believe that you can make the company pay for repairs. If nothing else this is why they (should) carry insurance.

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