For their recent move, Derek and his wife selected a local operator of North American Van Lines. Things went pretty smoothly, except for one IKEA Expedit bookcase that was somehow cracked while leaving the couple’s previous home, and subsequently fell apart when it was brought into the new house. Someone gave Mrs. Derek what she assumed was a claim form to sign, but ended up being a “Particle Board Furniture form” absolving the movers of any responsibility for cheap furnishings.
My wife and I recently relocated for her new job. After shopping around for moving prices, we decided on the steep, but within our limits, [redacted], an operator of northAmerican Van Lines. When inventory was complete, the mover offered us their optional, “full valuation,” coverage; working in the rental car industry, and knowing the coverage business, I decided to consult my rental insurance company to see if our household of junk would be covered while in transit.
My agent let me know that our stuff would not be covered and that it was up to us whether we would like to risk damage or not. January 13th and 14th in the place we were moving to were marked by severe winter storms and this led us to accept the coverage.
That said, at this point, we assumed all of our stuff would be covered. When the movers started moving stuff out to the truck, they man handled one of our Ikea Expedit bookcases to the point of making a loud crack noise. They continued to move it with no further problems. The following day when moving the bookcase into our house, the bookcase fell apart when similarly torqued.
I appreciate the fact that this is an Ikea bookcase but I also understand I’ve moved a great number of times and have never replaced one of these bookcases for lack of durability. We asked the driver/mover what we would need to do to further the claims process at which point he provided what he called a claim form and requested my wife sign it in my absence.
The mover wrote in the bookshelf information, asked my wife to sign the form, and then asked her if she could find the inventory number on the bookshelf. At this point, we assumed the claim process had begun and we followed up that Monday with a call to the movers to get the claim process in action. After repeated calls, 2 full weeks later, our claim was denied. The moving company claims, “…prior to the move of your household goods you signed a Particle Board Furniture form,” which is clearly dated the day our stuff was delivered to the house.
Dear Consumerist, Does a mover simply say, “What you wanted moved was too delicate, I have no liability for this item…” or should my bookcase have been handled gently assuming they knew of the fragility of such bookcases. And what of my wife being conned into signing a waiver?!
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I had to sign that waiver BEFORE they movers would touch it. And they did just fine.
I remember when my wife and I moves from our first apartment together to a rental townhouse with a similar experience. The move was handled by movers our new landlords provided as part of our signing the lease.
Moving our furniture out of the apartmend they damaged 2 corner desks that I was able to combine into one good one at the new place. Cracked a cheap bookcase and gouged deeps scratches in a matching cherry dining room table and buffet that we had bought the previous year.
The rental office for the townhouse never would accept responsibility and apparently the movers must not have been bonded. We ending up selling the dining room set to pay for out move away the next year.
In my youth, I was a mover. I assure you, a reputable moving company with a reputable crew leader, the one who has you review and sign paperwork, is to take the time to go over the documents with you. The particle board waiver forms should be gone over thoroughly BEFORE ANYTHING IS MOVED.
Historically, particle board furniture is a pain into butt to move, it is flimsy and falls apart very easily and is generally not designed to last long. Also, when on the truck, a properly loaded truck, particle board can compromise the integrity of the load. PB frequently breaks and with the lenghty and labor intensive claims process, became very expensive for the agent to deal with. So, the waiver was born.
From a helper’s POV, the person actually moving the furniture, any well trained mover will use the utmost care when moving objects. Even particle board items. There are inherent challenges present when wotking with PB. It cannot be takrn apart because chances are, it cannot be put back togethet again, it is usually very awkward to carry and you can seriously get injured moving it. IKEA ptoducts are very well built and very sturdy, much more so than conventional PB. But, most of it is still consideref PB. So, with the waiver in place, some movers will mistreat PB furniture. Plus, most movers these days are day laborers without proper training, so unfortunately things are more likely to get broken.
If you want to ensure the survivability of your PB furniture
1) keep the instructions and disassemble it prior to the move.
2)Make sure the instructions and hardware is in a container, or Ziploc bag and is easily accessible. This makes reassembly easier.
3) With the flattened parts, have the movers wrap them in moving pads to minimize scratches and damage.
In my youth, I was a mover. I assure you, a reputable moving company with a reputable crew leader, the one who has you review and sign paperwork, is to take the time to go over the documents with you. The particle board waiver forms should be gone over thoroughly BEFORE ANYTHING IS MOVED.
Historically, particle board furniture is a pain into butt to move, it is flimsy and falls apart very easily and is generally not designed to last long. Also, when on the truck, a properly loaded truck, particle board can compromise the integrity of the load. PB frequently breaks and with the lenghty and labor intensive claims process, became very expensive for the agent to deal with. So, the waiver was born.
From a helper’s POV, the person actually moving the furniture, any well trained mover will use the utmost care when moving objects. Even particle board items. There are inherent challenges present when wotking with PB. It cannot be takrn apart because chances are, it cannot be put back togethet again, it is usually very awkward to carry and you can seriously get injured moving it. IKEA ptoducts are very well built and very sturdy, much more so than conventional PB. But, most of it is still consideref PB. So, with the waiver in place, some movers will mistreat PB furniture. Plus, most movers these days are day laborers without proper training, so unfortunately things are more likely to get broken.
If you want to ensure the survivability of your PB furniture
1) keep the instructions and disassemble it prior to the move.
2)Make sure the instructions and hardware is in a container, or Ziploc bag and is easily accessible. This makes reassembly easier.
3) With the flattened parts, have the movers wrap them in moving pads to minimize scratches and damage.
In my youth, I was a mover. I assure you, a reputable moving company with a reputable crew leader, the one who has you review and sign paperwork, is to take the time to go over the documents with you. The particle board waiver forms should be gone over thoroughly BEFORE ANYTHING IS MOVED.
Historically, particle board furniture is a pain into butt to move, it is flimsy and falls apart very easily and is generally not designed to last long. Also, when on the truck, a properly loaded truck, particle board can compromise the integrity of the load. PB frequently breaks and with the lenghty and labor intensive claims process, became very expensive for the agent to deal with. So, the waiver was born.
From a helper’s POV, the person actually moving the furniture, any well trained mover will use the utmost care when moving objects. Even particle board items. There are inherent challenges present when wotking with PB. It cannot be takrn apart because chances are, it cannot be put back togethet again, it is usually very awkward to carry and you can seriously get injured moving it. IKEA ptoducts are very well built and very sturdy, much more so than conventional PB. But, most of it is still consideref PB. So, with the waiver in place, some movers will mistreat PB furniture. Plus, most movers these days are day laborers without proper training, so unfortunately things are more likely to get broken.
If you want to ensure the survivability of your PB furniture
1) keep the instructions and disassemble it prior to the move.
2)Make sure the instructions and hardware is in a container, or Ziploc bag and is easily accessible. This makes reassembly easier.
3) With the flattened parts, have the movers wrap them in moving pads to minimize scratches and damage.
In my youth, I was a mover. I assure you, a reputable moving company with a reputable crew leader, the one who has you review and sign paperwork, is to take the time to go over the documents with you. The particle board waiver forms should be gone over thoroughly BEFORE ANYTHING IS MOVED.
Historically, particle board furniture is a pain into butt to move, it is flimsy and falls apart very easily and is generally not designed to last long. Also, when on the truck, a properly loaded truck, particle board can compromise the integrity of the load. PB frequently breaks and with the lenghty and labor intensive claims process, became very expensive for the agent to deal with. So, the waiver was born.
From a helper’s POV, the person actually moving the furniture, any well trained mover will use the utmost care when moving objects. Even particle board items. There are inherent challenges present when wotking with PB. It cannot be takrn apart because chances are, it cannot be put back togethet again, it is usually very awkward to carry and you can seriously get injured moving it. IKEA ptoducts are very well built and very sturdy, much more so than conventional PB. But, most of it is still consideref PB. So, with the waiver in place, some movers will mistreat PB furniture. Plus, most movers these days are day laborers without proper training, so unfortunately things are more likely to get broken.
If you want to ensure the survivability of your PB furniture
1) keep the instructions and disassemble it prior to the move.
2)Make sure the instructions and hardware is in a container, or Ziploc bag and is easily accessible. This makes reassembly easier.
3) With the flattened parts, have the movers wrap them in moving pads to minimize scratches and damage.
I really have to admire Ikea’s operation. They’re easily getting at least a 40% markup on their furniture and probably more like 100%+. They have made the idea of buying furniture made from particle board that you assemble yourself mainstream. Their showrooms are fantastic. I like visiting for the cheap food in the cafeteria and browsing through the displays, but I have yet to buy any of their furniture. Actually, the only items they carry that I am ever likely to buy is their “Swedish” food items and maybe a pillow to two.
that’s what you get for buying cheap furniture from a fictional store!
(seriously, I have never seen one of these supposed Ikea stores that people keep buying this supposed furniture from. you all have to stop making up items from this made up place!)
My movers had the same clause; they don’t want to take the risk because Ikea is cheap shit. Figures, since they broke some of my Ikea furniture in the move. It’s either don’t use movers or don’t buy Ikea’s disposable furniture.
RTA furniture can not be moved reliably deal with it!
I have several versions of these exact ikea bookcases and I have no idea what you would have to do to them to BREAK one. They hold over 50 lbs a shelf and are pretty heavy. Mine have lasted for years and have been moved (gruffly) by amateurs (me and my friends) and are still going strong.
The being lied to about the form is just typical movers, unethical. We used “movers” once. We have less damage and better moves just doing it ourselves. Oh and we save a whole bunch of money.