Litigious B.C. movers lose in court after overcharging $2,300
A B.C. moving company that overcharged a customer $2,300 has been ordered to pay the money back after the small claims court ruled the firm provided no evidence for why it overcharged in the first place.
According to a March 27 B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, 2 Burley Men Moving held Tim Anderson's belongings in storage for eight months when he moved to B.C.
The decision says Anderson agreed to pay $1,200 for six months of storage and when the six months were almost up called 2 Burley Men Moving to get pricing to extend the storage.
Anderson says Burley told him it was $350 per month after the six months was up.
However, when he came to collect his belongings after eight months, Burley presented him with a $4,300 bill - $2,300 more than he'd agreed.
Anderson paid the bill and then took 2 Burley Men Moving to the online small claims court.
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The moving company is no stranger to the small claims court and this case is its eighth so far this year.
In 2022 the moving company was involved in more than 35 small claims cases and is often successful, recently recouping a $3,000 unpaid bill.
While in another recent case, 2 Burley Men Moving won the majority of its claims but the Tribunal still ruled it had overcharged by $500.
And it's not always so successful.
Early this year it went after a customer over an $800 unpaid pill, only to have the case backfire and it was ordered to pay $1,800.
In another recent case, the tribunal ordered it to pay back a couple it had overcharged $1,200 for travel time for a one-kilometre move.
While it clearly lost the case, 2 Burley Men Moving general manager Marc Parent told iNFOnews.ca at the time the company would take more legal action against the couple.
He then questioned why iNFOnews.ca was writing about them saying "there are far worse movers than us."
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In this recent case, Anderson argues Burley agreed on $1,200 for six months, and $350 per month after that, not $4,200.
Burley Men says the initial quote of $1,200 for six months was based on an estimated weight of 2,000 lbs, when in fact the belongings weighed 3,560 lbs.
However, the tribunal didn't buy it.
"The problem for Burley is there is no evidence the belongings’ weight impacted the storage fees," the tribunal ruled. "Further, Burley has not explained how the belongings’ weight ties to the storage costs. Nor has Burley explained how it came up with the $4,200 charge, such as a per month storage fee."
The Tribunal goes on to say that it's worth noting that Burley Men didn't address Anderson’s evidence regarding the agreed charge.
"There is simply no evidence the parties agreed to anything other than the $1,200 for 6 months, and $350 per month after that," the Tribunal ruled.
Ultimately, the Tribunal ruled 2 Burley Men Moving had overcharged Anderson $2,300.
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The company is also on the hook for $160 in fees and interest.
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