Q: My partner and I recently moved to a place together after living in separate places. We both hired the same moving company. I was moving from a one-bedroom, third-floor apartment while my partner was moving from a small house. There were two movers for both moves. One of my movers suffered from asthma and had to constantly take breaks, which prolonged my move from the originally estimated 6 hours to over 12 hours. Eventually, the one mover stopped coming up and packed the truck, leaving me to one mover to move my belongings and furniture. Furthermore, the movers took an hour lunch break on my time. In the process, many of my boxes were dropped and some of my furniture was damaged right before my eyes. My partner’s move was worse. This company damaged several antique pieces of furniture (and I do mean damaged) as well as damaged the new home we moved to. The damages include: gouges in the wood door frames and hardwood floors, a damaged handrail with plaster everywhere, damages to the brick wall next to our driveway (broken bricks from backing in sloppily), etc. We have been in touch with the moving company, but so far, they have been defensive. Do we have any rights here? (Bridgeville, PA)
A: I put this under “litigation” as you may get more responses. I hope you have not paid them. You have more leverage if you did not or you can stop payment on the check. These moving companies are notorious for stalling and delaying-they probably have no intention on paying you. Have an attorney read your contract. Gather your evidence-photographs, documents, your written log of what happened, estimates for furniture repair and home repairs. If your evidence is good, and your damages are high enough, an attorney may take the case. Do not wait too long to file this. There are applicable statutes of limitations.