Help a Canadian with some info please!!!!

[backbacon]

What is the name of your state? New York

I have had a receiving acct. at a brokerage house in the Western NY area for over a decade. They were used on a frequent basis to accept packages on behalf of myself to save the hassles and costs of having the items sent directly to Canada. Arrangement went well even as the moved from the Peace bridge to the Tonowanda area. The company was swallowed up by a larger firm and their head office has relocated to the Eastern NY area. The receiving house is still there but no longer accepts packages. Problem is that they have misplaced two expensive items that they signed for and received in the past couple of months. After a few phone calls I feel like I am just getting the runaround. I would value the items around $1000 US. How can I put some pressure on the company to reimburse me. I have the tracking numbers and the proof that they signed for the items. They are talking about some $5 a pound joke. If they had lost some potatoes I would say ok but $50 won't replace these items.

Help me please....

 

[JETX]

How can I put some pressure on the company to reimburse me.

You can 'put some pressure' on them by filing a suit in THEIR home court. However, you very likely have NO case, because it is very common for you them to have you sign a 'no liability' clause in their agreement.
Further, they can very likely claim that your doing as you did was to illegally circumvent the Canadian customs laws, etc., which would violate the theory of 'clean hands'. Simply, they cannot be held liable to you for them doing something you knew was illegal.

 

[backbacon]

I better clarify!!!

I should make it clear that NO laws were broken in these transactions. The fees being avoided are the brokerage charges from UPS and the like for doing nothing more complicated than filling out a customs form when an item is imported. The taxes are paid at the actual border when the item is picked up. The brokerage house accepted a fairly large sum of money many years ago to open the acct. and there was a per charge fee for every package received on my behalf. How than can they claim that they aren't responsible for the actions of their employees?

 

[seniorjudge]

I should make it clear that NO laws were broken in these transactions. The fees being avoided are the brokerage charges from UPS and the like for doing nothing more complicated than filling out a customs form when an item is imported. The taxes are paid at the actual border when the item is picked up. The brokerage house accepted a fairly large sum of money many years ago to open the acct. and there was a per charge fee for every package received on my behalf. How than can they claim that they aren't responsible for the actions of their employees?

Q: How than can they claim that they aren't responsible for the actions of their employees?

A: A good question to be settled in an American court.