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B-270469 1 (1996-05-29)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptadyv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 


Comptroller General
of the United States
Washington, D.C. 20548

Decision



Matter of: Andrews Van Lines, Inc.

File:       B-270469

Date:       May 29, 1996

DIGEST

1. A carrier is entitled to a partial refund of an amount setoff for damage to a
dining table where the agency incorrectly applied a depreciated rate of 50 percent
of the replacement value to compute the setoff amount, instead of using the
maximum depreciation rate of 75 percent, as required by its own depreciation guide
for a 20-year-old wooden furniture piece.

2. A shipper establishes a prima facie case of carrier liability for damage to the
shipper's property by showing tender of the property to the carrier, delivery in a
more damaged condition, and the amount of the damages. Thereafter, the carrier
has the burden of proving that it was free from negligence and that an excepted
cause was the sole cause of the damage. Thus, a carrier that merely offers its
conclusion based on an inspection that the damage was not transit-related has not
met its burden when the carrier's inventory sheet does not list the damage as
preexisting damage, and the carrier's rider, prepared when the carrier removed the
items from storage, likewise does not list the damage.

DECISION

Andrews Van Lines appeals our Claims Settlement Z-2729037-128, of October 12,
1995, denying its request for a refund.1 The settlement involved offsets taken by the
Department of the Army against Andrews for losses or damage to various items of
household goods shipped by Elwood Tauscher under GBL No. SP-027,530.2 Of the
$1,415 amount offset, Andrews requested a refund of $1,037.46, but the Army only
allowed $85. Andrews claims the remaining $952.46, not allowed. As discussed
below, Andrews is entitled to an additional refund of $411.98.





1Carrier claim No. 93-402.

2Army claim No. 94-061-0967.


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