Moving Words – OOPS
Written by Timothy Brady.
“A mistake is always forgivable, rarely excusable and always unacceptable.” – Robert Fripp
As a van operator the scariest sound I can think of while at a shipper’s residence is hearing any member of my team suddenly yelp out “OOPS!” And either preceded or followed by a crashing, scraping or bumping sound of some type.
However, mistakes are inevitable in the moving game; after all, we’re human beings and we make mistakes from time to time. So, two things we try and do as movers are, One, try our damnedest to not make a mistake in the first place; and two, if we do, take responsibility for the mistake and do our level best to lessen its impact on the shipper.
As Robert Fripp, guitarist for the progressive rock band King Crimson (late sixties to the present) said, a mistake is always forgivable, but what he didn’t explain is that to be forgiven you must first own up to your mistake. Owning up doesn’t make it any more excusable or acceptable, but allows a resolution to occur, making it forgivable.
With my years of experience as a van operator, along with being a human who makes mistakes, I found the best course of action when an “oops” occurred was to ‘own up to it’ with the shipper as quickly as possible. And by as soon as possible, I mean within seconds of the unfortunate event or my knowledge of it, I was standing in front of the shipper showing them the damage and explaining how the moving company and I were going to take care of repairing, replacing and/or compensating for the event.
This manner of handling the mistakes that can and will occur during a move has multiple reasons:
- It gives the shipper more time to process what has happened.
- Provides greater time for the shipper, the van operator and the moving company to find a workable resolution.
- It lets the shippers know the van operator and moving company aren’t going to try and hide anything from them, leading to a greater feeling of security and confidence in who they have chosen to handle their life’s possessions.
- From the van operator’s and moving company’s perspective, it tends to reduce the overall cost of damage claims, as the shipper is less likely to make unsubstantiated or frivolous claims. Why? Because of the honesty and forthrightness of the van operator in immediately coming forward.
- It reduces the overall anxiety from the move for the shippers and the van operator.
To make this work most efficiently, it’s also important for the van operator to engage his/her labor to be part of this ‘full disclosure’ process. I handled it in a very simple manner. I explained to my help that I understood we’re all human, and mistakes and accidents happen from time to time regardless of all our due diligence and efforts. All I asked was that if any unfortunate damage occurred while handling any of the shippers’ items, they needed to set the piece down and come and tell me immediately. I also asked that if they found pre-existing damage, they were to make a beeline to me before they moved the piece and let me know.
When I inventoried, I carried Post-It Notes on which I’d write any hidden major damage, like a broken leg, and put it on the piece of furniture so my labor was aware of it before moving it. The note also let them know I too was aware of the damage and had indicated it on the inventory. By doing so, there wasn’t any repercussion towards them.
However, if I found something was damaged and I wasn’t notified immediately, it was grounds for immediate dismissal from the move, along with a report to the moving company as to his/her failure to notify me of damage.
Finally, I would keep my agent’s claims department fully informed of any damage and possible future claims, along with the details of the damage, how it occurred and what resolution, if any, was agreed upon with the shipper. This included a detailed report with photos.
So, you ask, “How successful was this in reducing claim costs?” The easiest answer is my claims ratio, which was .00364%.
It’s not that I was any better than the vast majority of van operators in the industry; in fact, I suspect there were (and are) many as good as or more painstaking than I was. The secret, if you want to label it as such, was the immediate honesty with the shipper; communication between myself and my help, along with the claims department, and the details provided at the time the “oops” occurred.
