There is some good news here. The “white glove” movers that you diligently hired after ploughing through lots of info on various websites did not actually drop the box of your grandmother’s best china. Instead, and here’s the bad news, they’ve lost it.

If this is the case, and it does happen from time to time, what can you do about it? After all, grandma’s china was worth a bit of money. But what’s even worse is that it was a family heirloom.

Anyhow, to try to get recompense for this grave scenario, here’s what you can do.

File either a damage or loss claim with the company in question as soon as the matter is discovered. If you’ve gone to the lengths of numbering all your boxes and then listing each box’s contents, your life will be a whole lot easier when checking that everything has arrived at your new place safely.

However, irrespective that grandma’s dishes are particularly precious to you, just as in the case with any form of insurance, there’s an obligation for the moving company to reimburse you for the monetary value alone, and certainly not for any emotional distress that has been caused.

And although Grandma’s fine china was worth something, it’s still not nearly enough recompense on your part.

Further, if you’ve not taken advantage of the additional insurance policy that a mover should provide, which is over and above their basic reimbursement rate of 60 cents per pound, then you’re not going to get much of the monetary value replaced, either.

But do be sure to check your homeowner’s insurance policy, or if you were renting, your renter’s insurance policy, to find out if your household goods are covered when in transit. If so, then at least that’s something to ease your pain.

Nevertheless, to avoid any conflicts, a reputable moving company will generally replace any items that can indeed be replaced. What this means is that if they lose your dishes that you purchased from Pottery Barn a year ago, then your mover company will likely be happy to recompense you with like-for-like, if at all possible.

However, they will not be able to replace a one-of-a-kind heirloom.

For a highly reputable moving company (that will not lose your goods) in the Pasadena area, look no further than Movers Pasadena CA.

If you’ve tried but you’re simply getting the runaround, you can opt for a dispute resolution program which comes from the National Arbitration Forum for AMSA-affiliated movers. For more details on this, visit moving.org and check under the “Resources” tab.