Possible Emergencies When Moving Furniture and How to Deal with Them

To most homeowners, moving is one of the most dreadful activities. To try and handle the matter, they will make a lot of preparations prior. However, emergencies occur despite having excellent preparation skills. What separates right movers from bad ones is how they handle emergencies and how they resolve conflicts on a moving day.

As a mover, you should know when dealing with furniture, trucks, and clients, you are bound to hit a snag somewhere along the way. But if you prepare well, your customers will be impressed and recommend your services. Below are common emergencies that might occur on the move day and how to resolve them.

1. The Truck breaks down

Your truck may break down because of a mechanical problem or a hitch on the road. The first thing you are supposed to do is to inform the client and apologize in advance for any delays. For the customers to be satisfied, you must be prepared to offer them resolutions. The resolutions include:

• A discount if the delay takes more than the stipulated time.

• Arranging for another truck and compensating the client for the delay time from the total cost they incur with the move.

• Renting another truck is another alternative if no other truck is available on your fleet; your company should cater to the expense.

Also, ensure the company has a stand-by mechanic who can rush and check what has happened. The issue may be a small hitch that needs a few minutes or a complex one needing hours to fix.

2. Furniture not fitting

If the customer’s pieces of furniture don’t fit either at the end of his or her elevator, the mover should be creative. You can arrange a sturdy lift from the window or schlepp things upstairs. If hoisting the furniture or using stairs leads to extra cost, inform the customer before the service takes place.

3. Mover Cancelling the job

Unfortunately, sometimes, the mover’s duties can be interrupted by various things such as scheduling conflict, elevator or parking lot cut-off time, personal emergency or an injury on the job.

Regarding building cut-off times, the company should do due diligence before starting any moving exercise. The aim here, is to find whether there are building restrictions. Call the customer to confirm the time and date of the scheduled relocation.

Breaching of time limits occurs when movers underestimate the amount of time the entire exercise will take, or when they have not finished moving one customer while another other customer is waiting. In this case, unload most essential things first, arrange for overnight holding, and then deliver the other items within the shortest time possible.

If the problem is injury or personal emergency, ensure there’s a replacement who can step in and continue with the exercise without a hitch.

4. Rain

Having good weather on your moving day is a big plus. However, there is a good chance of not having a pretty whether on your moving day. It’s the responsibility of the moving company to protect customers’ properties from damage. If there’s a chance it might rain, use proper packing materials such as bubble wrap, shrink wraps and plastic bags to pack customer’s furniture. Emergencies are a double-edged sword; they cut both sides, the mover and customer. Both the mover and customer should be prepared. What are the possible emergencies for clients on a moving day? How should they react to them?

5. Lost or broken furniture

In general, moving companies are responsible for loses or damages of customer’s household properties during the move. If your furniture gets lost or damaged, you can file a claim with your mover to request for compensation. If the company rejects the application, you can file a lawsuit or pursue arbitration.

6. Movers’ lateness

Anything can happen on your moving day. Movers can go a wrong address, get stuck in traffic, have a flat tire, or suffer other technical issues. Whatever the reasons, you will find yourself stranded and you items not picked or delivered within the agreed time. What are you supposed to do?

• Don’t panic- even if in the worst scenario the mover doesn’t show up at all, relax, your prized items are by your side.

• Call head office- Call the head office to explain the way forward to you.

• If the delay takes a few hours, use the time the time to disassemble some of your furniture.

7. Inexperienced movers

It’s not easy to know your mover’s experience until they unload or offload your furniture. Inexperienced movers are very reckless with the manner they handle households due to lack of technical know-how. Don’t lose your cool; you already have an agreement with them. All you need is to be cautious on the way they handle furniture and give instructions where necessary.

If you are keen enough, you can know incompetent movers before you reach an agreement. Inexperienced movers have glaring issues such as bad ratings, unmarked truck, and weird estimates.

8. Accidents and injuries

In every moving operation, safety is the number one priority. Accidents and injuries affect both the mover and the customer. Common moving accidents are stubbing a toe, smashing head against the ceiling, and cuts by sharp objects. These occur due to loss of concentration or due to the heaviness and bulkiness of some of the furniture.

It is advisable to put every safety measure in place before moving heavy furniture. You can pad the floors with cushioning materials such as carpets to soften furniture blows. Also, install corner guards or foam padding.

Ensure movers are aware of their surroundings and no one standing nearby, in case the furniture hits objects or falls. You should have with you a first aid kit in the event of an injury or accident. The equipment will help in patching up wounds or small bruises. In the worst case, call an ambulance to send the injured person hospital.

Emergencies always occur no matter how ready you are for the move. Both the mover and the customer should know how to deal with emergencies to reduce unnecessary tussles. With the help of experts such as Platinum Furniture Removalists Redcliffe, most of your worries will be dealt with beforehand, and you will not have to wait approach the move with a dreadful attitude.

 

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