Movers From Hell

Because it's entertaining if you're into dark humor I thought that I'd share what's been going on in our lives. When I accepted this job in Colorado they told us that they would pay for us to move to Colorado. We thought that was great. We could use UHAUL if we wanted them to pay or we could arrange it ourselves and they would reimburse us. Well since the weather between Provo & Denver can be very volatile this time of year, we decided to have someone drive our stuff over to Colorado for us.

We went with a company, Nationwide Relocation (NR) that promised to pick up our stuff either Dec 18 or 19 and then deliver it between Dec 19 & 23. WE thought that that sounded great. Their bid was well below the limit and they said that it would be no problem to have it there by the 23^rd, and it had to be there then since we had a flight from Denver to Houston on the 24^th.

Well needless to say, the days came and went and no movers showed up. I called NR and they said that the pickup date had been moved to Thursday, but that it would still be no problem to have the items in Denver by the 23^rd. Then Thursday came, and I was on the phone with them basically all day trying to figure out when they would be there, since we were living at the Hunt's since all our stuff was packed. They had said 2:30pm but at about 2:50 they finally made me call the driver with Ben Hur Moving & Storage (BH) who told me that he couldn't be there until Saturday the 22^nd.

Well that wasn't good since we couldn't wait that long and still have our stuff delivered before we left for Houston, but there was little that we could do at that point. We arranged to have Larry or Dorothy at our place while the movers packed up and that we would drive over to Aurora on Sat. Then we would have our landlords let the movers in when they got there the following week. When Saturday came, the movers were of course late, and of course they had left no where near the room that they needed to bring all of our belongings with them. They spent nearly 8 hours wrapping our belongings in blankets. In that amount of time, Debbie & people from the ward could have loaded the truck and driven it half way to Denver.

So when we get to Denver, instead of having all of our stuff and beginning to unpack, Debbie & I spend a couple of days at Jeff & Donna's because there is literally only clothes for our trip and some dishes in our apartment. No bed. No table. No silverware to compliment those dishes. But we do make it to the airport and to Houston to begin enjoying our Christmas break. Now I didn't mention that BH told us that they would have all the stuff in the apartment just a few days after the first load arrived shortly after Christmas, so we joyfully enjoy our break eating at JITB, playing croquet and helping Ally to enjoy the Naughty Uncle's Club.

Now when we return, we are glad to notice that we now have furniture. In fact, we have almost half our stuff. But try living a week without any hangers. Or in fact, any clothes that you didn't take to Houston for Christmas. It's really a chore. And they broke anything that had wheels, so goodbye microwave stand & awesome desk chair that Debbie got me for my birthday. So I get on the phone with BH since it's now Jan 3 and my stuff is nowhere to be found and I'm supposed to start work and my SS Card is in their possession somewhere. Well they tell me it will be a few more days until a driver can get there. But they tell me he will be there on Monday the 7^th and will be delivering on Wed the 9^th.

That doesn't sound too bad, so I call my work to make sure that it's ok if I start without my ID. They tell me that it's no problem, well except that if I don't have my ID by the end of the third day of employment, then they are forced to terminate me (well my employment, but same thing right?). Well I think that this is a problem, since BH (and NR, who has offered me no assistance in my situation despite numerous phone calls) has basically not delivered on one thing since I started dealing with them.

So I push my move date back to the 14^th, and good thing that I did, since on Monday night I get a phone call from BH stating that the driver who was to pick up my items in Utah will not be there until the 14^th at the earliest (later they tell me, and you can believe at your own peril, that the driver was in an accident that cost the company $15,000 to repair the truck and that's why he won't be there). They blame me for not taking these important documents with me (and while I will not make that mistake again, who really think that a mover will take three times as many days to do a job as hours it takes to drive from Provo to Aurora?), and so they thwart my many attempts to get my belongings out of storage to be sent to Provo.

Now luckily, on Thursday the 9^th, we also discover that my company will take a letter from the SS office as proof that I have a SS Card and that I can just bring in the card when I get it in the mail (around the 23^rd) or when I get my stuff (before the 23^rd???). So like I said, I'll be starting work tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited. While it's fun to sit around and bother Debbie all day, the credit cards / bank accounts can only take so long with out me or her working.

But hopefully this tale is picking up pace towards happily ever after, but we'll have to see. I hope that we have something better to report in a day or two.