A man from BC didn’t have an ideal moving experience, so he instigated a civil case against the movers who handled his move with the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal.
He claimed $1,569.12 in damages, alleging that the movers lost and damaged some items. He also claimed he was charged a transfer fee he never agreed to. The tribunal case doesn’t mention where the move was from and to.
2 Burley Men Moving, the moving company in question, told the tribunal that it explained the billing to the resident, including the fee. It also claims that he didn’t notify them of any damaged or missing items in time, prohibiting him from receiving compensation based on the company’s terms and conditions.
The resident first contacted Burley in May 2021 for a long-haul move. Burley quoted him $750 per 1,000 pounds and a $75 scale fee. Based on a phone call with Burley, he submitted handwritten notes, as no written contract was submitted into evidence.
In Burley’s terms of service, which the resident took notes of, it said that it could charge specific fees based on certain developments during a move. For example, Burley charged a $400 transfer fee, claiming it was necessary because they had to transfer belongings to a different truck because the first one broke down.
“Based on Burley’s own description of the circumstances where a transfer fee applies, I would have found this was a breach of contract had I not already determined the parties never agreed to a transfer fee,” said the tribunal.
Burley was ordered to reimburse him $420 for the transfer fee.
In addition to that $420, Burley owed him lots of money for allegedly damaged and missing items. The resident claimed Burley lost pieces of his shelf-desk combination, broke his dishes and glassware, damaged a bike, and lost his cycling gloves, multi-tool, headlight, and Ray-Ban sunglasses.
To support his claim, the resident submitted photos and videos as evidence.
Burley says the resident didn’t notify them about the damages within 14 days, disqualifying him from reimbursement. This would have been enshrined when the resident signed the waybill. Curiously, the tribunal said the signature on the waybill looked different from a signature on a tribunal document that he had signed. He’d also denied signing the waybill altogether.
The resident claimed $151.42 for pieces of his shelf desk he could replace and $472.52 for a replacement desk. He added $24.90 for the milage to drive around trying to replace the damaged or lost items, $47.25 for bicycle repairs, $50 for broken dishes and glassware, $50 for the lost cycling gloves, multi-tool and headlight, and $200 for the Ray-Ban sunglasses. The tribunal found these damages reasonable.
After calculating all damages, Burley was ordered to pay the resident $1,785.22 within 30 days of the tribunal decision.
You can read the entire decision posted online here.