Motorcycle not delivered

[ajkroy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? state of origin: CA; state of (non) delivery: NH

Hi all. Every day reader and some time contributor here. I wasn't sure where to post this, but this seemed like the best place. My brother is on terminal leave from the Marines and is staying with me this summer until he starts school in the fall. The government paid to have his motorcycle shipped from his base at Twenty-Nine Palms, CA to my house in NH. My brother dropped it off on 6/16/15 and was told it would take about three weeks to ship. He confirmed the shipment last week via telephone and also received a confirming email.

The motorcycle didn't show, and dozens of phone calls later...it is still in the warehouse in CA. No one can give him any information of when they even think it will ship. I looked over the documents he signed and there was plenty about what they aren't liable for, but nothing about what they actually are.

I don't expect that there is anything that we can do to compel them to actually ship it (is there?), but I am wondering if we can transfer it to another shipper that will actually do the job it is paid to do. I would assume we'd have to pay the new shipper upfront and then sue these guys, right? Which means traveling back to CA? ::wince::

Does anyone have any advice? He is technically still active duty, so he has been overly polite and patient with these people and just calls them multiple times a day. Not once has he received a call from either his base or the warehouse that is holding it.

I appreciate any help you can offer.

 

[Dave1952]

Who is shipping this? The Marines? Your brother via a shipping company? Does your brother have good contacts at twenty nine palms? Has he asked his JAG to give the shipper a call?

 

[ajkroy]

Thank you. Yes, the Marines paid roughly $2K to ship it through a company that is located on base, but is a civilian company. They have been rude to my brother and just today have taken to hanging up on him when he calls.

He has contacted his TMO at his base, but they have also been giving him the runaround. He thinks that is mostly because it is just kids at his base without any real sense of responsibility toward the job and no real power to do anything. He has explained his situation no fewer than two dozen times to nearly that many people -- not one has returned his call.

Neither one of us considered JAG. Thank you for that suggestion.

 

[Dave1952]

Stop phoning the shipping guys, you're becoming a nuisance. Here's the way shipping works. You have something but it does not fill a truck. The moving company will eventually get a full truck trailer going to the Northeast. The cycle will end up in a warehouse in New Jersey, until there's a full load going to Boston. Et c. It's puzzling that the shipping company hasn't been able to move the cycle to the East coast. That should be a no-brainer
You need someone in Cal. to investigate what's happening with the shippers. Why is the cycle still at 29 palms? So, does your brother know an E-5 or E-6 from his old unit who'll do him a favor. Not on the phone, an in-person visit with an E-5 or E-6 at TMO. Sergeants do favors for sergeants.
There should be a delivery date somewhere in your paperwork. You can't file a loss more than 75 days after the delivery date, so find the delivery date and keep 75 days in mind. Ask the shipper, in writing, to send you a form 1840 so that you can fill it out.

 

[ajkroy]

Thank you! I'll ask if he has any friends there. I know that his unit was recently deployed back to Afghanistan...but he could easily know other people who might check into this for him.

The delivery date on the paperwork was 7/6/15. So 75 days would put it around mid-September. That doesn't give us much time to resolve this.

Thank you so much for all of your help. I'll post back with updates.