Tender Touch Moving & Storage

Tender Touch Moving and Storage moved the contents from my home into their long term storage facility in October 2011. I paid approx. $4000 for the move into storage and approx $600/month for storage. I moved into my new home in February 2013. This part of the move cost approx $3000. I had become a $17000 customer. There were five men moving furniture and boxes into the house, the garage and the backyard that day. As they took items off the truck, they would yell out the corresponding number which my daughter would check off the storage list and I would direct them where to put everything. With five men going in five directions with five different numbers, it was a hectic day. I had one large armoire that was to go to the rec room in the basement. They brought it in and decided it would not go downstairs so they recommended that they leave it packed up and in my garage. I signed the papers and paid the moving fee. Big mistake. After they left and over the next couple of days, I began moving things around and began to notice damaged furniture legs on several pieces of furniture. One outdoor table had been taped back together by Tender Touch. I also noticed that my new front door had been damaged as well. I had another moving company here the following week to deliver some new furniture and at that time, I asked them to measure the armoire to see if, in fact, in would go downstairs. They assured me that it would so we unpacked the armoire and it was completely ruined. The door and hinges had fallen off and the side had caved in. This piece of furniture was worth $12,000. I contacted Tender Touch and they told me that since I had signed the contract, they were not liable and could not help me. I persevered and then I was asked not to threaten them with any possible online reviews. They finally agreed to have their repairman take a look at the armoire and he said he could fix it for approx $2000. I also had two other repair quotes for $4000-$5000. Tender Touch was not willing to pay for this repair and offered me $500 as a good will gesture. I would need to sign a release and agree not to publish any negative publicity on any media. I chose not to sign the release or take their $500 so that I might alert the public to the fact that Tender Touch Moving and Storage is not a company I would recommend to anyone. The piece in question was not packed properly in the first place and this is why it was damaged. The fact remains, Tender Touch is responsible for the damage to the armoire and would not take responsibility for it or for any of the other damages. My advice to anyone moving is this: when items are coming off the truck, NO MATTER HOW RUSHED AND BUSY EVERYONE FEELS, stop and check every corner, every leg and NEVER let them leave without unpacking every piece of furniture. Even is this prolongs your moving day by a couple of hours. I cannot begin to describe my resentment and anger towards Tender Touch Moving and Storage. I put my trust in them and now I'm out $12000+ A very expensive lesson.