A BC moving company took a resident to court because of an unpaid fee and she filed a counterclaim, winning big.
The BC Civil Resolution Tribunal posted the final decision in a small claims case between the resident and a moving company called 2 Burley Men Moving.
Shubi Jiang filed a counterclaim against the moving company because she claimed they had damaged some of her goods and overcharged her.
Jiang was getting her belongings moved from Vancouver Island to the Lower Mainland.
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According to the information presented in the tribunal’s decision, 2 Burley Men Moving had charged Jiang a “holdover fee” of $826.88 because it had to hold a shipment overnight, a fee that she didn’t pay, and that’s why they filed a claim.
In Jiang’s counterclaim, she says 2 Burley Men Moving overcharged her and damaged several of her belongings. She asked the tribunal for a refund of $1,574.99 for overcharges and $1,441.7 in damages.
Jiang represented herself, while an employee of the company represented 2 Burley Men Moving.
The two main factors, in this case, were whether Burley was entitled to the $826.88 holdover fee and to what extent Jiang was entitled to compensation in her counterclaim.
Burley said that Jiang agreed to pay the holdover fee, but the court found the specifics of this fee unclear. The court found insufficient evidence to prove that she agreed to a holdover fee. While there was internal documentation about the fee, there was no evidence that Jiang saw it. The final invoice that Jiang got also did not mention the holdover fee. Instead, 2 Burley Men Moving sent her a text asking for an additional $708.75, then an email the next day increasing that amount to $826.88 without explanation.
In the end, the court dismissed the claim around the holdover fee.
Jiang’s counterclaims
According to her calculations, Jiang claimed a refund of $1,547.99 for alleged overbilling.
According to Jiang, Burley missed a 9 am ferry which delayed the move, a claim that Burley does not refute. Jiang also says she should’ve been charged $75 per hour for travel time instead of $225 per hour, including a two-hour reduction in moving time because of the missed ferry, citing previous cases against Burley. Instead, she was charged for 10 hours, and she said she should’ve only been charged for eight. The court supported Jiang’s claims and said she was entitled to reimbursement of two hours of billed time at $225 per hour, including tax, equalling $525.
Jiang said Burley damaged some of her belongings, including a piano, a corner table, and other smaller items. For these damages, she claimed she was owed $1,441.79.
She showed photos of the damages and suggested costs for the repairs. However, the court only agreed to the total amount for the damage to her piano and partial damages for other items, and she was entitled to $1,127.
Of her total claim, the court found that Burley was responsible for $1,796.40.
While Jiang didn’t get the total amount of her counterclaim, it was still a big win for the inconveniences she suffered and an excellent case to remember in case you find yourself in a similar situation.
We all have moving horror stories — let us know yours in the comment.
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