Can a mover company charge me for their time and gas if they weren't able to complete

[justalayman]

To the op;


You "signed" a contract when you agreed to pay them for services and they accepted. It's called
An oral contract and is very much enforceable in many situations. Whether your state require a written contract may come into play here as the moving industry often has very specific laws they must comply with due to the ongoing "cheat the customer and hold their property for ransom" issues that happen all too often.

I'm posting from my phone and research is difficult or I would whip up some Google fu and do some lookng but not practical while on my phone.

Then, depending on all of the facts, the mover may have a valid claim against you for the damages he incurred. Even if not under a contractual basis, he may have one under a tort claim. Without all of the facts I am not going to say either way whether he has a valid claim or not but just that depending on all of the facts, he may have one.

 

[quincy]

To the op;


You "signed" a contract when you agreed to pay them for services and they accepted. It's called
An oral contract and is very much enforceable in many situations. Whether your state require a written contract may come into play here as the moving industry often has very specific laws they must comply with due to the ongoing "cheat the customer and hold their property for ransom" issues that happen all too often.

I'm posting from my phone and research is difficult or I would whip up some Google fu and do some lookng but not practical while on my phone.

Then, depending on all of the facts, the mover may have a valid claim against you for the damages he incurred. Even if not under a contractual basis, he may have one under a tort claim. Without all of the facts I am not going to say either way whether he has a valid claim or not but just that depending on all of the facts, he may have one.

What terms of the contract did the moving company meet, justalayman? They met none.

The moving company promised to pick up and deliver, and ayase promised to pay on delivery. The moving company neither picked up nor delivered. That alone releases ayase from the contract - but, in addition, the driver wound up calling ayase, apparently not for directions but to say he was no longer going to do the job.

When a company is in the delivery business, it is up to them to know the area well enough to do the deliveries. Most delivery vehicles have GPS systems, and most delivery drivers will have cell phones. It is on the delivery business to ensure their customer gets the delivery. If they cannot find a location, they need to call and verify the delivery address, not turn around and go home and charge for the gas they used driving around.

The "west" on the end of the address, that ayase inadvertently left off, could potentially have been a problem for the driver, yes. It depends on how the street in question is numbered. But it is not a problem that justifies an hour and a half of driving around, because it could be easily solved with a phone call. The driver was given contact numbers for both the pick up location and the drop off location.

 

[justalayman]

They got in their truck and attempted to pick up property as contracted.


If it is determined to be the op's fault as to why the could not fulfill the contract, op could be liable for costs incurred.

Again, a lot is going to depend on the address issue.

 

[quincy]

They got in their truck and attempted to pick up property as contracted.


If it is determined to be the op's fault as to why the could not fulfill the contract, op could be liable for costs incurred.

Again, a lot is going to depend on the address issue.

An address error is one that any delivery service should know how to correct easily. All it takes is a simple phone call.

IF ayase's mover had driven around for an hour and a half (which, quite frankly, would be silly) and THEN called to verify the address when he couldn't find the pick-up location and THEN picked up and delivered as promised, the extra time and gas could potentially be a legitimate charge. As it stands, though, the moving company failed to take measures standard in the delivery business to fulfill the terms of the agreement.

An example of how this could work otherwise: I start a delivery company. I sit at home instead of delivering anything and I call those expecting delivery and say I cannot locate the address but send me money for my time and gas.

ayase is not responsible for paying for a pick up and delivery that never happened, or for the time or gas of a delivery driver who failed at his job of picking up and delivering. Again, an address error is an easily correctable problem in this day of cell phones (and it is not an unusual problem, as street numbers are often transposed).

 

[LdiJ]

They got in their truck and attempted to pick up property as contracted.


If it is determined to be the op's fault as to why the could not fulfill the contract, op could be liable for costs incurred.

Again, a lot is going to depend on the address issue.

I honestly disagree. The driver never called for clarification or directions. He drove around for an hour and a half and then called and bailed. Now, had the driver called after 30 minutes or so of not being able to find the place to clarify the address, I could maybe see tacking on a little extra for the extra mileage. However, he never called until he decided to bail.

 

[justalayman]

I honestly disagree. The driver never called for clarification or directions. He drove around for an hour and a half and then called and bailed. Now, had the driver called after 30 minutes or so of not being able to find the place to clarify the address, I could maybe see tacking on a little extra for the extra mileage. However, he never called until he decided to bail.

Did he have a cellphone? I haven't seen too many pay phones around lately

 

[cbg]

Most people do have cell phones these days. Not all, admittedly. But most.

 

[quincy]

Did he have a cellphone? I haven't seen too many pay phones around lately

The mover managed to call ayase to let him/her know that he quit the job.

And it would be a pretty sad moving company that could not contact its drivers during deliveries.

 

[LdiJ]

The mover managed to call ayase to let him/her know that he quit the job.

And it would be a pretty sad moving company that could not contact its drivers during deliveries.

I would even suspect that a cellphone would be a requirement for the job if the company themselves didn't provide one.

 

[justalayman]

Most people do have cell phones these days. Not all, admittedly. But most.

I am actually precluded from carrying my cellphone while on the job

 

[justalayman]

I would even suspect that a cellphone would be a requirement for the job if the company themselves didn't provide one.

As I replied to cbg (no, I am not a delivery guy though) I am
Precluded contractually from carrying my cellphone while at work. There is no obligation the employer provides me with one either (and to make it more analogous to this situation, I work at various job sites often times with no other employees around)

And how do we know they didn't call once they returned to the home office?

And a sad company where they couldn't contact their drivers? Yes but it is often a sad world.

But take note: op admits they provided an incorrect address. That definitely opens up the op to some liability for costs. Essentially they sent the driver to the wrong address. That error cost the truck company money. Even if not under a contractual requirement, I clearly see a claim under a tort claim.

 

[quincy]

As I replied to cbg (no, I am not a delivery guy though) I am
Precluded contractually from carrying my cellphone while at work. There is no obligation the employer provides me with one either (and to make it more analogous to this situation, I work at various job sites often times with no other employees around)

And how do we know they didn't call once they returned to the home office?

And a sad company where they couldn't contact their drivers? Yes but it is often a sad world.

But take note: op admits they provided an incorrect address. That definitely opens up the op to some liability for costs. Essentially they sent the driver to the wrong address. That error cost the truck company money. Even if not under a contractual requirement, I clearly see a claim under a tort claim.

I have never run across a delivery driver who was not able to contact the main office or the customer from his/her vehicle.

That said, even in the unlikely event this particular delivery driver did not have a cell phone or a vehicle-to-office communications system and, even if the driver had to return to the home office to make the phone call to ayase because he could not locate a closer pay phone, he should have made the call to ayase LONG before he drove around futilely for an hour and a half. He had contact numbers to both the pick up location and the drop off location.

AND, once he made the phone call to ayase, he should have verified that the address he was given was the correct address, and he should have returned to his truck to make the pick up and delivery as he was contracted to do. THEN he could be entitled to the extra gas and the extra time it took to make the delivery.

This mover failed to live up to any part of the agreement that was made and he quit when he failed to deliver on his promise to pick up and deliver. An error in an address is NOT an unsolvable problem that would prevent the terms of the agreement from being fulfilled. The most such an error might cause is a delay in delivery.

The driver may, as I mentioned earlier to ayase, try to make this an issue. But, despite your arguments justalayman, I still do not see that the driver has any valid legal claim to reimbursement for his gas costs and time.

 

[justalayman]

How do we know it wasn't a hAlf hour drive to the address provided, half hour back to the shop and the guy looked for a half hour in an attempt to find the address?


Let me give you a situation, similar in results for the company.
Somebody calls in and intentionally gives a wrong address just to cause the driver to waste his time attempting to fulfill the presumed contract. Do you believe that company would have a valid claim for the losses time and truck costs in that situation?

If so, the only thing different here is the op accidentally provided the incorrect address rather than intentionally doing so. The actions of the party requesting services were the proximate cause for the losses incurred by the company and therefor the company would have a valid claim for compensation

 

[Just Blue]

I did not sign anything. We were to pay after the job was done, so but we contacted the moving company via phone and communicated via email after. So he says he's going to be sending me an invoice for time and gas; I can simply refuse?

(Thank you for any help and info!)

I would refuse. If the mover was so dim that s/he could not pull over and give you a call or have a GPS to get to the job...that is their bad.

This is not legal advice...just my common sense.

Good luck
Blue

 

[quincy]

How do we know it wasn't a hAlf hour drive to the address provided, half hour back to the shop and the guy looked for a half hour in an attempt to find the address?


Let me give you a situation, similar in results for the company.
Somebody calls in and intentionally gives a wrong address just to cause the driver to waste his time attempting to fulfill the presumed contract. Do you believe that company would have a valid claim for the losses time and truck costs in that situation?

If so, the only thing different here is the op accidentally provided the incorrect address rather than intentionally doing so. The actions of the party requesting services were the proximate cause for the losses incurred by the company and therefor the company would have a valid claim for compensation

We don't know if it was a half hour drive to the address or a half hour back to the shop. It doesn't matter. ayase contracted for a pick up and delivery service and the moving company neither picked up nor delivered. Nor did the moving company call ayase except to cancel the job. That SAME phone call could have resulted in the terms of the contract being satisfied.

As to your hypothetical: I don't see the similarity.

Seriously, justalayman, you can throw out some more hypotheticals if you want to, but I am still not going to waiver in my belief that the moving company has no valid claim to gas costs and time spent trying to find a location, when a call to the pick up location or ayase could have easily saved both gas and time and allowed for the terms of the agreement to be met. IF they had made the pick up and delivery after calling for the correct address, THEN they could be entitled to the extra expenses.

I think Blue is nicely showing she does, indeed, have common sense. The mover showed none.