Settling property damage with NYC moving company?
Hey folks. I hired a moving company to help a move from Brooklyn to Queens. The moving company damaged my TV and lost my bed frame's support leg (and so I have to scrap the whole thing). It was my first time booking movers so when they asked my permission to move forward with the contract, I just clicked "Yes" without reading that my stuff would be insured at $0.60/lb if I didn't purchase additional coverage.
Normally I would consider this just a learning experience and take it on the chin. But I have two reasons I've been pushing back.
- The foreman claimed that I was the one that packed the TV, so he could not have verified the operational status of the TV upon the move. But as a gesture of goodwill they would honor the basic $0.60/lb insurance policy.
- The problem is that he falsified his report - they were the ones that packed the TV! Luckily I have video evidence showing the TV in working condition, unpacked amongst all of my packed things, and an email thread where I'm making sure that they would provide the stated complimentary TV packing service.
- After going back and forth, the company is now firmly offering around $200 for these items which are likely valued at around $900
- After I mentioned I would be interested in taking their offer, they sent over a non disparagement clause that would prevent all past AND future negative reviews on any form of social media.
- So it's pretty much "take the offer, get muzzled", or "refuse the offer, get $32 dollars back". I think this is legal and common, but it rubs me the wrong way
- This also makes me think that past and future customers could also be victims to the foreman/team completely falsifying reports, but are similarly getting muzzled (the company has a 5 star rating on google reviews right now)
I contacted a NYC small claims court representative and they pretty much said it's impossible to know what a human judge might decide, and that the process is likely to take 7-10 months because everything is so backed up right now.
I'm looking for anyone that's had experience with bringing a moving company to small claims court. Also looking for opinions - $200 is certainly a good amount of money and maybe it's not worth pushing harder on this.