As the busy moving season begins, experts suggest researching moving companies extensively and thoroughly reading through your contract before signing the dotted line.
Priya Kiran learned that lesson the hard way after an 1,800 mile journey from Austin, Texas left her with missing and broken items. She has battled her moving company since January.
“The day the stuff came here, we were taking a look (at) all the things,” said Kiran. “Then, we noticed we are missing the mirror—the mirror for the dresser, which we recently bought in Austin.”
Now, when Kiran walks through her apartment, she’s reminded of the move that just won’t end.
Along with the mirror, Kiran said the Florida-based moving company, Colonial Van Lines, arrived to her family’s new home in Avon with a broken dining room table and a missing box full of personal items and speaker cables.
“We have lost so many things,” said Kiran. “ And this cable is very expensive.”
She contacted Colonial several times in the following weeks, each time speaking with a different agent. She said each agent told her she could file a claim for just one of her missing items, or the broken table.
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“So either we file a claim for that, or we file a claim for the mirror or we file a claim for the cable,” said Kiran. “So, we don’t know.”
NBC Connecticut contacted Colonial Van Lines and helped connect Kiran with an agent to exclusively handle her case. The agent confirmed the company did lose the mirror, and allowed her to file a claim for all of her missing and broken items.
Per industry standard, claims are resolved by weight for everyone except customers who buy additional insurance up front. Kiran expects to receive 60 cents per pound, or between 100-200 dollars total in compensation.
In hindsight, Kiran sees the line in her contract subjecting her to such settlement. She also notices Colonial has 216 complaints filed against them on the Better Business Bureau.
Spokespeople for Colonial Van Lines did not comment on those reviews.
