laundromat woes..

You have lost me Royce

I thought it was responibility of transport company and those who load it to
ensure its done correctly.

Further more you have said they have already made a decision based on weight
and they could have left 2 behind.

Maybe you should tell them your even because you won't be
making a claim for the scratch on one of the units.

Robin Miller

Hey Royce

A written quote is a legal document, If they tell you it is x amount to supply there trucks and labour then that is what it is.

It is the drivers responsibility to ensure that the load he is carrying is legal, If the driver gets a fine it is his responsibility.

If it takes 2 trucks to deliver the load it is the companies problem not yours, I would tell these guys to a deliver your good and all of them as you paid for.

If they refuse then I would go to the transport authorities, consumer affairs and just take these pricks to the cleaners.

Tell these guys you have spoken to you solicitor and you will take legal action and see how quick they move.

I can't give you a quote for a tour then take your money, then turn around and say look I made a mistake I need to charge you more, I wouldn't expect to be in business very long.

Cheers Steve.

geez, not another laundromat thread

:) G'day Royce

Hi Royce,

I work in the transport game and I suggest you DON'T pay their fine. It is the drivers, transport company and loaders responsibility but more so the drivers to make sure his is not over weight. How big was the truck? Did they have other freight on as well? Was the truck over the gross limit or over on one axle group?

By the way, if they are not a "common carrier" (in the leagal sense) and you have not organised your own transport insurance on the goods, I would strongly suggest you make other arrangements to get the last dryer. Basically, because the "all care but no responsibility" clause will come into it when the last dryer goes missing or is damaged in transit.

Refuse to pay. It's their responsibility (and they are the "experts") to load their truck correctly - would they want you to pay if they had driven over the drink-drive limit or been book for speeding? Bloody cheek!

As for the ransom... tell them "No problem, keep them as long as you choose - I'll be suing for $2000 per day lost income".

Mike Harding

Maybe some British businessman will come forth and help... :-)

I would stay calm (wife laughs at this stage) and hand the driver a nice looking letter with solisitors letter head stating his quote (or company agreement to deliver the goods ) is binding and if the equipment is not delivered safely and not damaged as per thier quote, I have no option but to sue you personaly and also the company for loss of income, cost to get the equipment delivered by other company, breach of contract, also failure to allow access to the goods will require police action for theft of the goods etc etc.

Oh what the hell and a few cartons for stress :)

Stick it up them ................ but alas this is only one side of the story are there bits of info missing in the heat of the moment......... ?

Hope all works out
Brian

Tell them that had they called you when they LOADED the goods that it was going to be a bigger job than first quoted then you may well have agreed to extra $$$ but to tell you AFTER they left one unit behind that they could not carry out the job quoted is sheer incompetence.

As for you paying the fine issued personally to a driver who should be professional enough not to be done for that sort of thing....they are whistling dixie.

Failure to deliver while trying to extract possibly an illegal payment is tantamount to stealing. A call to the local cop shop may clarify this.

Just handle it by the numbers and they won't have a leg to stand on. A legal threat (properly worded) for an action to recover lost income should see your machines delivered. I would possibly even go them for lost income on the machine that they left behind.

One phone call when they were loading the machines in the first place may have made all the difference. I take it you were not present at the loading???

Muddy

Okay... so for those who have continued to read on....

What I did was ask the driver exactly what had happened. He explained and in effect admitted that he was liable, then the company and not me.

But!!! He had been directed NOT TO UNLOAD UNLESS I PAID THE MONEY!!

Nice bloke, who undertood my position.

My priority was NOT to establish who was right or wrong.

Hey!..... that bit was easy. I was in the right. I did not legally have to pay up... but they could have driven off and put my stuff into storage.... maybe months of legal stuff to get it back.

So.. costly but for me the best outcome, I negotiated. I paid half the fine.

They still have another dryer to deliver. I still have to play things carefully.

I will make the 'shirt hit the fan' once I have my equipment and haven't lost any time that I could be trading as a business.

I have the truck rego, the weighbridge documents, I still have the ability to approach consumer affairs and Transport Regulatin Board...

Most importantly, for $25 extra per unit, I have them landed in my shop and tomorrow the plumber and electrician get to make inspections and quotes.

Thanks everyone for your support. Nice to know I was in the right and also I negotiated instead of confronted and am still ahead of where I might have been.