My furniture arrived damaged. What can I ask the removal company for?
When furniture arrives damaged, the ACCC says the answer starts with one question: is the problem minor or major? A minor problem is fixed by the business; a major problem lets the consumer choose, up to ending the contract. The guarantee underneath is the Act’s due care and skill, for a consumer’s household move, and a term that tries to exclude it is void.
General information about removal companies, drawn from government sources. It is not legal or insurance advice.
6 Responsibility for damage or loss
The guarantee of due care and skill, and the rule that no term can take it away: “If a person supplies, in trade or commerce, services to a consumer, there is a guarantee that the services will be rendered with due care and skill” (s 60). A term is void to the degree it sets out to exclude, restrict or change the guarantees, the use of any right they give, or any liability for breaching them (s 64). For a consumer’s household move, the guarantees apply: the services guarantees do not cover transport or storage of goods for a business, but that exclusion does not apply where the consignee of the goods is not carrying on a business in relation to them (s 63).
Checking goods, from the official advice. Before the move, the NSW Government says the contract should contain a household inventory of the goods being moved. The Queensland Office of Fair Trading says to prepare an inventory of everything the movers will move, noting any scratches or dents, to take photos of your items and boxes, to mark fragile or glass items, and to number each carton and item. The Northern Territory’s Consumer Affairs says the inventory is signed by both parties and you keep a signed copy. Consumer Protection WA says to build a detailed inventory, with photos or video as evidence, to guard against loss or damage. No source here gives a deadline for reporting damage at delivery, and none sets out a check at the door.
At the door
What to have ready before the truck arrives. The advice is unanimous and it is all before the move: the NSW Government says the contract should contain a household inventory of the goods being moved. The Queensland Office of Fair Trading says to prepare an inventory of everything the movers will be moving and note any scratches or dents as you go, to take photos of your items and boxes, to mark fragile or glass items that need special care, and to number each carton and item. The Northern Territory’s Consumer Affairs says the inventory should be a full list including the number of boxes and their contents, signed by both parties, with a signed copy kept by you, and it is essential even when the removalist does the packing. Consumer Protection WA’s advice is to draw up a detailed inventory and support it with photos or video, as a guard against loss or damage.
A time limit a company sets for claims. No page here gives a deadline for reporting damage at delivery, so the rule that decides is the Act’s: a term of a contract is void to the extent it excludes, restricts or modifies the guarantees, and a clause that cuts off a claim or bars a remedy for damage is measured against that rule, and only a court can make a final decision about whether a contract term is unfair. Where conduct contravened a provision of Chapter 2 or 3 of the Act, an action for damages under section 236 may be commenced at any time within 6 years after the day on which the cause of action that relates to the conduct accrued; for damage from a failure to comply with a guarantee, the consumer may recover damages for reasonably foreseeable loss or damage by action against the supplier (s 267(4)). The 6 years is section 236’s period. In NSW, NCAT says that for consumer claims you must apply within 3 years of when the cause of action accrued, and the goods or services must have been supplied to you within 10 years.
Minor or major
The two tests, and what each unlocks. Minor: the ACCC says the business must fix the problem or repair the product for free, the NSW Government says the business can choose how to fix it, you cannot cancel and demand a refund immediately, and you must give the business the opportunity. The Act’s route where the failure can be remedied and is not a major failure: the consumer may require the supplier to remedy it within a reasonable time, and if the supplier refuses or fails to comply within that time, the consumer may have the failure remedied and recover the reasonable costs by action against the supplier, or terminate the contract. Major: the ACCC says a service has a major problem when it creates an unsafe situation or when one serious problem, or several smaller ones, would have stopped someone buying the service had they known; NSW’s version adds that a problem is major when it would have stopped someone purchasing the service had they known about it, when it is substantially unfit for purpose and cannot be fixed in a reasonable timeframe, or when it does not meet the specific purpose the consumer requested. A major problem lets the consumer choose, and Consumer Affairs Victoria lists the choices: cancel the contract and pay a reasonable amount for the work done, or seek a partial refund of money already paid; or keep the contract and negotiate a reduced price for the drop in value of the service, which may mean asking for some money back if you have already paid. These guarantees reach a consumer’s household move: the transport or storage exclusion in section 63 is for goods carried for a business, and it does not apply where the consignee of the goods is not carrying on a business in relation to them.
One dropped table
One example, five steps, no company and no figures: a single table, damaged on the way in, read against the tests exactly as the sources word them. Where the answer turns on a fact, the step says which fact, and none of it is a ruling on a real case.
The minor test, as the ACCC words it: when a product or service has a minor problem, the business must fix the problem or repair the product for free. The NSW Government adds the mechanics: if the problem is minor and can be fixed, the business can choose how to fix it, you cannot cancel and demand a refund immediately, and you must give the business an opportunity to fix the problem.
The major test, as the ACCC words it: a service has a major problem when it creates an unsafe situation, or when it has either one serious problem or several smaller problems that would stop someone buying the service if they knew about them beforehand. Two of the cases in the Act’s own test for services mirror those: the services would not have been acquired by a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the nature and extent of the failure, or the services are substantially unfit for a purpose for which services of the same kind are commonly supplied and cannot, easily and within a reasonable time, be remedied to make them fit. The Act names others too: services that, with any product resulting from them, are unfit for a particular purpose the consumer made known to the supplier, or are not such that they might reasonably be expected to achieve a result the consumer desired and made known to the supplier, and in either case cannot, easily and within a reasonable time, be remedied; services whose supply creates an unsafe situation; and two or more failures that, taken as a whole, a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with them would not have acquired the services with (s 268).
The dropped table, read against each test. One table is chipped at a corner and a leg is cracked, found when it is unloaded and checked against the inventory. Against the minor test: this is damage to one item, and the question is whether it can be fixed, so the business must repair it for free and gets the chance to do so. Against the major test: the ACCC’s question is whether the problem creates an unsafe situation, or would have stopped the purchase if known about beforehand, and the Act’s cases include whether the services were substantially unfit for the purpose and cannot be remedied easily and within a reasonable time, and whether their supply created an unsafe situation. Which test it meets is decided by the facts of the damage and the repair, not by how the table feels on the day.
The one fact that would change the answer. Consumer Affairs Victoria gives the fork in words: it is a major problem if the service has not achieved what the consumer needed or what it is normally supposed to do, and the problem cannot be fixed quickly or easily. A repair that can be done quickly and safely, or cannot, is the fact that moves the same table from one column to the other.
What can be asked for under each answer. Minor problem: the business fixes it or repairs it free; and where the failure can be remedied and is not a major failure, the consumer may require the supplier to remedy it within a reasonable time, and if the supplier refuses or fails to comply within that time, the Act lets the consumer have the failure remedied and recover the reasonable costs by action against the supplier, or terminate the contract. Major problem: the consumer may terminate the contract or recover compensation for any reduction in the value of the services, and the remedies can also include reimbursement for the difference in value between the services provided and the price paid. These guarantees reach a consumer’s household move: the transport or storage exclusion in section 63 is for goods carried for a business, and it does not apply where the consignee of the goods is not carrying on a business in relation to them.
If the company says no
What to do next. The ACCC’s order is the same for every problem: contact the business first to discuss the problem and a possible solution, by phone or in person, and then put the complaint in writing by email or letter so there is a record of what was asked for and when. Its list of what a written complaint should include: describe the problem and the outcome you want, include key dates, identify what action you have already taken and what you will do if the problem is not resolved, ask for a response within a reasonable time, and attach copies of supporting documents. If the business will not fix a problem, the next step is the consumer body in your state or territory, and this site’s complaint guide lists all eight with their own pages.