We hired Mayflower Transit's agent, Clark Moving and Storage of Schenectady, NY, to move us from Albany, New York on April 19, 2006 to Rogersville, Tennessee on April 24th.
1) The movers did considerable damage to the walls and door frames of the New York house. All had just been filled and painted prior to moving.
2) Packers were not careful or even logical. A flexible plastic cover to a bowl was wrapped with three sheets of paper. A hand made ceramic lamp was wrapped with one sheet of paper and dropped into a trash can, where it banged back and forth for the trip, utterly ruining it. Several other items were broken because of poor packing, including another hand made ceramic piece. Nothing was labeled adequately. For example, a box containing one shoe along with various clothing items should not be labeled as "shoes."
3) Our entrance driveway in Tennessee is long, narrow, hilly, and gravel, and crosses some small creeks. We didn't think the truck could make it, and were willing to pay for a smaller shuttle truck. The driver’s helpers also felt he shouldn’t attempt it. The driver was in a hurry, and after looking at it insisted he could get in and out OK.
On the way in, he ripped out the gate mounting post and folded up the steel entrance gate. He dug up the lower lawn with the tires. The weight of the truck collapsed and broke a three-foot diameter steel pipe under the driveway, and broke a concrete pipe further up the driveway. Subsequently the driveway developed a slowly enlarging hole where the steel pipe was broken and the bed rock and gravel was falling through. The driver has admitted doing the damage.
Aaron Beckler, then company claims representative, told us to hire a local contractor to repair the damages and that Clark would pay for the work. We did so, and paid the contractor $3800. Mr. Beckler was sent photos of the damage and of the new pipes after installation, along with a copy of the contractor’s bill.
Now the company refuses to pay damages. To quote their representative, Julie Rossi, "we had no way of knowing this was going to happen, and therefore we feel we are not responsible." Well, who IS responsible then? When a driver has a car accident, is he responsible for damages even though he didn't know his tire was going to blow? Of course! And besides, they had already promised to pay the repair bill.
Anyhow, it has now been almost three months with no progress towards a settlement. We did not even ask for the damages to the old house or damages for the items broken during the move. Apparently we will have to sue to recover the $3800 we paid to get the pipes and gate replaced and the driveway gravel replaced in those areas. Note that Mayflower charged us $9422.88 for the move. They later sent us an invoice for credit for overcharges on weight, but have not yet sent us a refund check for that, either.
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