Two Small Men with Big Hearts Moving Company - Regina

Furniture was damaged during a move and company will not honour additional insurance and repair damages. On August 29, 2015, I contracted Two small Men moving company to move various bedroom and living room furniture. The insurance that was provided as a basic insurance was not sufficient, in my mind for the value of our furniture. Additional insurance was purchased and I was under the impression that it would cover any and all repairs or replacements of our furniture up to $10,000 if anything was to happen to it in transport or during the moving process. Once the extra insurance was decided upon the movers then began loading the furniture onto the truck. Before the furniture was moved I had discussed the possible ways of proceeding. I suggested that the dresser and the tall boy were too heavy to lift with the drawers in them. My suggestion was to remove the drawers and first move both dressers, then move the drawers to the dressers and put them back in their spots, blanket the dressers and secure them to the walls of the van. They had asked me if the clothes were staying in the drawers and I had said yes. Instead of replacing the drawers, the more experienced one had decided to wrap each drawer individually with a moving blanket and transport them in the moving van. He had said that he had done moving this way before and the drawers would be secured in the van. I had assisted the movers by putting blankets down on the floor for them to put the drawers on them and carry the bundles out.Upon arrival at the new location, they had started to unpack the furniture. I was told by the company which we bought the furniture from that the drawers needed to be put back into the specific places otherwise the drawers would not function correctly. Prior to moving we had marked the drawers with painters tape on the inside of the drawers. Once the I had started to put in the drawers in their respective spots, I had noticed that there was pieces of wood in the blankets. Upon further inspection I noticed that the some of the drawers had damage to the backs of them and also in the dove tailing near the front faces of the drawers. I brought it to the attention of the movers and they had taken pictures of them to document the damage. Once all pieces had been moved, I was told to contact the office on Monday (August 31, 2015) and see how to proceed with the insurance claim. I had talked to the office that same week and the first thing that I was told was that I would be given $100.00 to cover the damages. I reminded them that I had paid an additional $150.00 for extra coverage. I was then told that they were unable to find a copy of my contract, so I scanned my copy and sent it through email. After time had past, I contacted the business again to see how the claim was coming and the owner/operator had told me he talked to his employees and needed to come and see the furniture for himself. I had also had gone to [redacted]'s [redacted] where the furniture was purchased and talked to one of the employees, and was informed that the only way dove tailing could've been damaged was from the drawers being dropped. After hearing this, I went home and took a closer look at all the drawers and discovered that even more of the drawer boxes had been damaged than originally thought. The owner/operator then came on Thursday August 17, 2015 and examined the furniture and said that the damage wasn't on the drawer faces and they seemed to work fine. He then left and said that he would once again have to talk to his employees. After a week of no contact, I called the office and found out that I was being denied coverage "because the drawers weren't emptied during the move." I questioned what that had to do with the damage and I was told that the insurance wouldn't cover it because of that reason. I realize that the appearance of the dressers is fine, but this furniture are pieces that are of quality and will last for years. The furniture should have arrived in the quality that it left in and that is why we purchased insurance. It did not.Desired SettlementBecause there wasn't any damage to the drawer fronts, the drawer boxes are the only thing that needs to be replaced. I was able to get a quote from [redacted]. Each drawer box has a cost of $83.00 + tax and there is a $100 service fee for old drawer fronts to be attached to the new drawer boxes. So, I am looking for the replacement of the damaged drawer boxes and the service fee to be paid. Business Response This gentlemen booked a 9am spot with us never once asking any questions about insurance. Extra insurance is something that is supposed to be purchased prior to the start of the move. When our guys arrived to start this move the customer then told our guys he would not let them start, & would not pay us for our expense of already coming out unless the they would sell him extra insurance. The guys called me asking what to do, stating they didn't know what he was worried about, the only thing to move of any real value was the dressers. The customer knew his dressers were extremely heavy, & would not be able to be moved with the drawers inside if the drawers were left loaded. He chose to leave the drawers full anyway. If the drawers were actually damaged the insurance would not cover them because of this. We were not booked for packing that day, so our guys did not have boxes on hand to unload the drawers into. I however did not see any damage. What he's claiming is damage is lines in the weaving of the drawers being wider then they were before. However all drawers still fit, & slide inside the dresser perfectly. It's not reasonable to say that the drawers were looked at closely enough before hand to notice such an insignificant difference. The customers deductible on a claim such as this would be $1000.Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)When inquiring about hiring this company to do my move I also inquired about extra insurance. The receptionist at their local office told me that I would be able to purchase extra insurance. No mention was made that it would have to be purchased prior to the day of the move. On the day of the move, I spoke with the driver and I didn't believe that the insurance coverage was adequate so I wanted to purchase the extra insurance. For ALL my furniture since I do own furniture of value outside of my bedroom furniture (heirloom buffet, living room furniture and tv stand), that cannot be replaced or repaired for $.60/lb. Either way, the contract for moving and extra insurance was agreed upon and signed prior to any furniture in question being moved. If the drivers had followed my suggestion of putting the drawers back into the dresser for transport and wrapping the dresser with blankets then I believe the drawers would not have been damaged; same as the 2 other dressers that were moved. If leaving the clothes in the drawer were to damage the drawer it would damage the drawer bottom. The damage was done to the dovetailing, which would take a hard fall, bounce or hit to that side of the drawer. That being said, I had boxes and such in which to put the clothes but no one told me that I needed to do that in order to maintain the insurance. The drivers even asked if I wanted to remove the clothes and I said "I wasn't going to" and they told me that was fine. There wasn't any damage to the dressers prior to this move. The furniture company, [redacted]'s, brought the dressers to our home that we moved from and put each piece in the spots that the 2 Small Men moved them from. The dressers were in pristine condition until this moving company arrived at our current home. As for the deductible we will be seeking the $150 deductible since the damage did not exceed $1000 and neither piece of furniture has a declared value over $5000.Final Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)The damage is visible because the dovetailing and the cracks spidering from and through the dovetailing is visible. You know this because you came to our home and saw this for yourself. I do claim that the furniture store said that this could only be caused by a hard fall or a hard knock to the drawers because I spoke with them and you can speak with the gentleman too. His name is [redacted] from [redacted]. I did not claim there was a millimeter difference. And the cracks to the dovetailing would not affect how the drawers move within the dresser since they're at the back of the drawer. All I want is for my drawers to be fixed because, yes! I bought them brand new this year! And yes...you claim to be financially responsible for all damages! And yes...I have a receipt, in storage. But don't worry, the furniture store that makes this quality furniture has a copy of my receipt and has provided me with one. [redacted] at [redacted]'s is also willing to stand behind his product if you would like to speak with him about the drawers since we took a drawer into show him and told him about this situation. And just because something works fine, doesn't mean it's not damaged. The damage to the dovetailing has now compromised the integrity of the drawer box so it may not work in the coming years!Final Business Response When I attended your home I could notice these differences in these lines you were pointing out to me. The drawers slid in, and out of the dresser better then any dresser I'd seen before. There is no proof we caused any damage here! You knew that your dresser was to heavy to be moved full, but chose to leave the drawers full anyway. It is common sense to know you should discuss insurance prior to booking a company, and not when your trades people show up at your door to work. It is also unreasonable to think everybody hired to move furniture would have complete knowledge about the insurance. The insurance does not cover the drawers while being moved full. If we had actually dropped them, and did some damage that could be seen we would do something for you. The insurance you purchased from us has a $1000 deductible. In an effort to appease you I will offer you the $150 you paid for the extra insurance back.