Moving Company Pays Customers After Complaints Against Damage

The families called Five On Your Side because they felt their efforts to reach a resolution with All My Sons Moving and Storage in Raleigh were going nowhere.

Liz and Dave Pfeiffer hired the company to moved their large furniture from Cary to Apex in May of 1999.

Liz says a table that was "showroom quality" wa gouged and scratched along with a lot of other furniture she and her husband own.

The couple was so disgusted they videotaped the damage. The tape shows wood ripped from the bottom of a dresser, scratches on an armoire; a piano leg; a secretary; and a china cabinet and a broken ping pong table.

The Pfeiffer's say on the way out, the driver of the All My Sons Moving and Storage van rammed a section of the gutter.

Greg and Brenda Tillman say they had a similar experience when All My Sons moved them last July.

Glass and wood tables, and a pedestal dresser were all broken, chipped and scratched. A timer was missing from an exercise bike.

In the year since, the Tillmans and Pfeiffers have been going back and forth with the company.

"We thought everything was moving along," says Spero Georgedakis, who owns the All My Sons Raleigh business.

Because he had not seen the damaged furniture, Five On Your Side showed Georgedakis the Pfeiffer's video.

"It's not good damages. It's not what we expect from a move," he says.

Georgedakis contends the delay in reaching a resolution has nothing to do with the damage.

"Their claim was never questioned to how valid it was. It's never been an issue. The levels of liability are an issue," he says.

That is because both couples opted for standard insurance coverage of 60 cents per pound.

With the Tillmans, All My Sons claims that amounts to $250, plus replacement of a glass tabletop. An estimate the Tillman's received shows repairs could top $2,500.

All My Sons initially offered the Pfeiffers $126 for their gouged table and paid for the gutter repair. The Pfeiffer's furniture repair estimate tops $1,200.

After Five On Your Side's request for an interview, Georgedakis finally agreed to pay the Pfeiffers $1,277, although he claims it is a complete coincidence.

Georgedakis and the Tillmans have now agreed to get additional repair estimates and settle for the averaged amount.

Industry experts suggest consumers can avoid these headaches by being covered with insurance -- either through a homeowners policy or by opting for extra coverage through the mover.

For example, full replacement coverage on $35,000 worth of property with a $500 deductible would cost $165.

That is nothing compared to the aggravation Pfeiffer's have been through.

"Next time we move we're going to have to buy the extra insurance, because it's just been horrible," says Liz Pfeiffer.

The Pfeiffers received their check Thursday afternoon. The Tillman's case will be worked out once the estimates are done.

For the record, the N.C. Attorney General's Office has 13 complaints on file against All My Sons Moving & Storage in Raleigh; Five On Your Side has received three complaints against the company.

Georgedakis says his company does more than 3,500 moves a year and does a good job 95 percent of the time.