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Legal matters

Removal Company Problem

7 replies

AfternoonDelight · 19/11/2011 21:10

Hello all

I'm posting this on behalf of my father. He's just moved house from London to Kent.

He paid a removal company to come and pack for him and then transport his things to Kent. Before this happened an estimator came round and gave him a price based on how much stuff he had in his house. He agreed to this price.

Today, they have come to pack up his things and discovered that the estimator has got it very wrong. They couldn't fit everything in their van so had to pack up what they could and then transport it to Kent and go back. They came back with the second load and demanded that he pay an extra £300 cash or they would not give him his things. He doesn't have the money available - he doesn't get paid until the end of the month - so they took his things away and have put them in storage until he can pay. They are also charging him for this storage. His TV, and his and my stepmother's clothes are in there as well as other things (he didn't tell me everything that was in there).

Is this legal? Can he take any action against them? Surely they shouldn't be able to hold his things hostage until he pays?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

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Sam100 · 19/11/2011 21:23

I think an estimate is an offer to do a job at a certain price and then when you agree to that price that constitutes acceptance of the offer - these are the 2 fundamental basics of contract law.

Your dad should call the local trading standards team first thing on Monday morning and get some advice from them. If the estimator has made a mistake then that is a problem for them to sort out internally. Did your dad get other quotes of a similar amount?

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AfternoonDelight · 19/11/2011 21:40

I don't know about any other quotes he got - I can't imagine he got many as he was in a bit of a rush to move because of his new job that starts on Monday.

He told me he has to go in wearing jeans and a t shirt because that's all he has to wear :(

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Collaborate · 20/11/2011 06:55

The "estimator" gave him a quote, I presume. That's awful on the part of the company. He should see what the police has to say.

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dilbertina · 20/11/2011 07:00

The estimator got it wrong in our case too and they had to do an extra trip. We were not charged anything for this.

It sounds like a very dodgy company. Does he have anything in writing? If I was him I would be contacting the police.

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libelulle · 20/11/2011 07:08

I'd call the police and trading standqrds also; they are holding his possessions to ransom, that can't possibly be legal! A quote is a quote. Our removal man ruefully told me that despite pricing jobs for 20 years he'd woefully underestimated in our case. But that was his problem not ours; other than giving them a generous tip we didn't have to pay a penny extra.

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DiddyMary · 20/11/2011 21:18

I'm not a lawyer, but I think there is a distinction drawn between an estimate and a quote - quote is firm price for the job specified, an estimate is only an estimate. So the exact wording used could be important.
Beyond that though the company sounds like they're behaving dreadfully in impounding his things.

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Thistledew · 21/11/2011 11:41

DiddyMary is right, there will be a difference between an estimate and a quote. If it is the latter, they have no right whatsoever to impound his property.

If he was given an estimate he will have to pay the extra. However, unless the contract clearly states that the company has the right to hold his goods pending the payment of any additional charges they cannot do so, and to do so is a civil wrong known as trespass to goods. Your father could, in theory, spend a reasonable amount on replacement clothing etc to use until they return his belongings.

However, on a practical level, the first thing he needs to do is carefully read the terms and conditions of his contract with them. If the contract does not provide for them to hold his goods he should write a strongly worded letter demanding the return of his property within 24 hours, failing which he will take legal action for their return. If they agree to return the items immediately it would probably not be worth the cost to pursue them for damages under trespass, but if they resist, that is his course of action.

I doubt the police would be interested, but trading standards might help.

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