Shleppers Moving and Storage Civic Van Lines, Inc. (Zion Bitan) Succesfully sued for: Overcharging, damaged goods and now they refuse to pay Hollywood California

This compliant applies to Civic Van Lines, Inc. - DBA Shleppers Moving & Storage (Owner/Co-Owner Mr. Zion Bitan).  I sued this company and was awarded a judgment—I have impeccable documentation about my experience. From start to finish my experience was very poor.  The price they charged me was over 50% more ($550) than the price they quoted me-- even after I removed a table and 4 chairs from the original quote. The movers checker-stacked my boxes (left big spaces in between) in order to inflate the cubic footage (since they charge by the cubic ft. this inflates the price). I took my own tape measure into the truck and showed the mover the actual measurements.  He would not relent and insisted his measurements were correct.

I drove across country and called weekly to inquire where my stuff was. In 3 weeks times it had not even left the place of origin. It took 30 days to receive my goods and I had to replace much of my wardrobe.

The biggest problem was that many of my belongings were severely damaged. A very padded TV box with a 50” TV had a crushed upper corner. The box had obviously tumbled and fell upside down and the TV frame was cracked and the screen was completely shattered. My two couches were wrapped in blankets and plastic but they had obviously been dragged instead of carried because 2/3rds of the feet on both couches were broken off and the leather near the bottom was scuffed up and torn. An entertainment center had the corners cracked and a tandem kayak had clearly been dragged upside down making one the seats unusable.

Company policy is that BEFORE the movers unload you possessions they insist on receiving a cash payment. They have you sign for each item unloaded and lead you to believe you are signing saying that you have received the item. However if you read the form you are signing saying that you received the item AND that it’s in it’s original condition.  To sign for each item and inspect it means that you would have to unpack each item and inspect it (this would take hours). There is no way the movers would tolerate waiting for you to unpacked every item to inspect it. I was pressured to sign for each item without verifying its’ condition.

This company makes filing a claim and getting a fair price for damages VERY difficult. Filing a claim with their insurance company has to be done using hard copies via snail mail (yes you have to print out and send every picture). I received a form letter back from the company that did not even address my specific claims. Most of my claims were outright denied (with no rationale). I generously depreciated my TV and they only offered me about 10% of even the depreciated value. The judgment I received was over 10 times what I was offered.  

In spite of winning a judgment Mr. Bitan of Civic Van Lines/Shleppers Moving and Storage has refused to pay me. In fact rather than pay me he spent nearly as much as he ended up owing me to fly across country to defend his company.  Between filing a claim to their insurance company and filing a lawsuit  I have spent over 30 hours and had to go to court twice missing 2 half days of work. I now have to spend more time to file a sister state judgment and have the sheriff cease assets/freeze their bank account. 

If you want to read the absurdity of the argument Mr. Bitan made see claim #113695 filed and adjudicated at Civil and Magistrate Court in Augusta, GA.