On July 31 I had contracted a move from Somerville, MA to Palo Alto, CA with U.S. Express Van Lines. On the night of July 31 I am notified by U.S. Express that they are unable to do my move and that they contracted the job to Dolphin Relocation Services.
After a long night of phone conversations and the Dolphin Relocation Services drivers getting lost, they appeared at my door the morning of August 1, a full day later than I planned to move.
I had all of my belongings boxed and labeled, except for the major pieces of furniture and two television sets. The agreement with U.S. Express was for them to pack those items and move them with my other belongings into storage until I had a delivery location established in California.
After a half day of moving, I was asked to pay for half the services up front. The original estimate had been for $3.80 per cubic foot, but Dolphin wanted to charge me $5.50 per cubic foot. I agreed to pay them $600 by credit card with the rest due later after we negotiated the remaining price.
In addition, I signed up for insurance thinking I was fully covered. The driver explained to me that I would be fully covered on all of my goods. As I would find out later, I was only covered to $1.25 per pound.
Once they had left, I made repeated attempts at coming to a settlement with Yaron Israel at Dolphin Relocation. Towards the end of August I called Yaron Israel and asked him to deliver my belongings. It was not until mid-October that my belongings were finally delivered.
When they finally arrived, Dolphin Relocation delivered my belongings in various states of damage. The damage ranged from torn mattress, to destroyed desk, to broken glasses, to non-delivery of a television and futon frame.in total, I claimed $2,947.75 in damages.
I immediately filed my claim and did not hear back from Yaron Israel until December. He offered a settlement of $198.60, far short from my claims. I then acquired the services of a lawyer who drafted a letter asking for a settlement of $1,500.00 (about half of my original claim). As of today, two and half months later, there has been no response and my lawyer has been unable to reach them.
Akiva
Palo Alto, California
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