Toronto couple hit with $20,000 damage bill after appliance delivery goes wrong
When Joseph Leung needed to replace his washer and dryer, he had no idea it would end up costing him more than $20,000 and causing him more than six months of stress.
Leung, and his wife, Janet, bought a washer and dryer from Costco last April. The couple arranged to have the appliances delivered to their condo near Avenue Road and Lawrence Avenue.
Surveillance video from the building on that day, which was obtained by CTV News Toronto, shows the delivery truck leaving after making the delivery, and driving right in to the building’s garage door before it had fully risen.
"I think that's very irresponsible," Leung told CTV News Toronto, "because they noticed the damage and they didn't inform me about it. So I have to find out from the security calling me saying 'there's damage.'"
Leung said at first, he thought maybe there had been a scratched wall, but he had no idea how extensive and expensive the damage was -- until he got an invoice from the property management company.
"I'm on the hook for $20,000 of damage," Leung said.
The damage to the garage door costs roughly ten times what the Leung's had paid for the appliances. Since then, Leung says he's been trying to get Costco, or the delivery company, to cover the cost of the damage.
"It's been really stressful, like it's being going on for like half a year. I've been chasing, making phone calls to everyone."
Leung said he was told that Costco subcontracts their deliveries to an outside company, who then uses a third company to do the actual deliveries. Adding an additional level of frustration for Leung who said, "I have to do all the chasing with the subcontract delivery company, and their subcontract delivery company and their insurance."
In the meantime, the Leung's property management company has given them three extensions to pay the $20,000 bill to cover the damage. The latest extension is December 3.
"If not [paid]," said Leung, "they will put a lien on my unit. And that could affect my credit score, as well as re-mortgaging and other stuff."
"At one point they told us to claim our own home insurance to cover the damage," Janet Leung explained. "Then we have to pay for our deductible, and then the premium would increase and we lose our no claim discount."
CTV News Toronto reached out to Costco earlier this week. Within hours, a representative of the company had reached out to the Leung's. A Costco spokesperson told CTV News Toronto they have offered to cover all of the costs of the repairs.
For the Leungs, it will hopefully mark the end of a multi-month effort to fix a problem they didn't cause.
According to Janet, "the whole thing is just ridiculous."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.