My household stuff got delivered last Friday from my move from Phoenix. I am really depressed.

A co-worker of mine in Phoenix, who knew about my hobby, told me about a next door neighbor who was a semi-retired custom hot rod upholstery man. After seeing some of his work and getting his price - I had him cover a pair of new Corbeau front seats in off-white fake leather (parchment interior) and redo the original seat cushions for my back seat to match.

During the move, I packed both the Firebird and my truck to the hilt with all the stuff I did not want the movers to touch. New sheetmetal, trim pieces, rebuilt tranny, door glass, rechromed bumpers, etc. I temporarily bolted the finished front seats back into the car, but I just did not have the room from the rears. So I told the movers to pack them - the guys that packed me out were very careful.

But that was a huge mistake. It looks like somebody in the repacking chain dragged both my rear cushions down the street for a while. Several cuts, tears, and abrasions and scrapes around the edge pieces. Even a stain (looks like blood) that I can't get off. I wonder if somebody cut himself on rusty sharp edge on the back of a cushion and got ticked off.

I don't know how this is going to come out. I'm going to try and contact the upholstery guy in Phoenix to see where he gets his materials from. That's about the only I hope I have that somebody here in Amarillo could possibly replace the damage panels. I am just sick today.

Sorry to hear about that... Who was the moving company?

You can file a claim with the movers...if they packed them they should be responsible for their safe delivery. I know that won't undo the damage that has been done, but may help ease the expense of refurbishing them. And you can probably add in the cost of sending them back to the same craftsman, plus return shipping.

Armstrong Relocation/United Van Lines. It was a government move so I actually have plenty of leverage. My gov relocation agent called me for feedback yesterday and got an earful. My wife had 8 pieces of wooden furniture moved and only 2 came through in the same condition they left our last house in.

My ex-coworker provided me with the craftman's contact information again (I have misplaced his business card). The more I think about it, the more I want to send the seats back to him.

I hope you do have leverage... in my last corp move the movers liability was limited in the fine print to $0.40/lb... I had a heck of a time getting things repaired.

Moving is a pain! Good luck!

fine print indeed...not $.40/lb of the damaged goods, but of the total consigned shipment. If 50,000 lbs of shipped goods, that's $20K liability. That's enough to ease the pain a little. United has three levels of coverage...$0.60, $1.25, and full coverage per pound.

Moving usally involves a truck which tne delivers to a warehouse, where items are repacked into a container or storage, until the local movers pick up and redeliver. At least thats how it worked for me when I moved. It's a scary venture, when you don't know if your stuff is going to return, and in what condition. Good luck.

having moved across the Atlantic 3 times, I know it can be a real pain....

Actually my moves through the military back and forth across the "pond" went pretty well. The only damage I ever had was the last trip back to the States when they packed all my free weights at the bottom of a crate and the floor collasped during the move.