A New Englander Moves to New Orleans, Chapter Four: The Actual Move Itself

[earlgreytea68]

It was late when we finally arrived in New Orleans. We dragged ourselves to the hotel, and found our room, which was once again on the fifth floor. Notable because my new apartment was also on the fifth floor.

We once again found ourselves in a hotel without room service, desperate for something to eat. We eventually ordered take-out from a place the hotel recommended. This place was apparently a Greek place, but we didn't know that, and their menu was a weird mix of things. arctacuda was lucky enough to order a gyro, and she realy liked it, but I had a chicken Caesar wrap that was basically chicken and spinach leaves wrapped in a pita pocket and K had a quesadilla that was also a pita pocket, only grilled with feta cheese. So, that was a little bit of fail. But by then we were giddy, and K and I watched some show called "Bait Car" and laughed and laughed over how ridiculously awesome it was.

It was like the calm before the storm, because everything was about to get to be a mess.

On Monday morning, I called the moving company. The moving company was supposed to call me on Friday to give me the estimated delivery date, but they never did. I called them on Saturday, and they said to call back on Sunday. So I called them on Sunday and left a message. They never called back. I called them on Monday, left another message, and went down to breakfast with arctacuda (K had to work. I know that K has the job I just had, but, removed from it by only a few weeks, I'm already amazed how totally insane and crazy the job is. K was on vacation, sitting in the hotel room on a conference call. I'd done that, and I'd thought it was crazy while I was doing it, but seeing it from the outside I realized how TOTALLY crazy it is). We came back from breakfast, and I called the moving company again. Monday was my target delivery date, so I was anxious to see if they were going to make it. I had this conversation with the moving company, who picked up this time (SHOCKING that they didn't call me back).

Me: (explains my name and gives my move number) My target delivery date was today, I'm wondering if you're going to make that date.
Him: You're sure your stuff is with us?
Me: Uh, yeah...
Him: I don't see a record of it.
Me: Well, you came to get it a week ago...
Him: Where did we pick it up?
Me: Boston. Cambridge.
Him: Oh, here it is! Yeah, I don't know when it's going to get to you.
(pause while I absorb this)
Me: ...Why not?
Him: Well, it hasn't left New York yet.
Me: What's it doing in New York?
Him: Being stored.
Me: Yeah. I know. It was being stored for a couple of days, and then you were supposed to get it here today.
Him: Yeah, that's not going to happen.
(pause while I absorb this)
Me: ...Well, when is it going to get here?
Him: I don't know.
Me: You don't know?
Him: I think we'll load it on a truck in the next couple of days or so. Probably. So yeah, then it'll probably take, I don't know, maybe a week after that.
(pause while I absorb this)
Me: ...Yeah, I need you to give me a date.
Him: (sounding shocked ) A date?!
Me: Yeah, you have everything I possess in the world, and I have a life that I need to try to plan. You were supposed to get me the stuff today, I need a date.
Him: Huh. Well. Maybe August 10? August 11?
Me: Bye.

Keep in mind that it was August 1 at that point. And, even worse, THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO CALL ME ON FRIDAY. Had they called me on Friday, I could have dealt with this then. I could have told my parents, who were coming into town that day, not to come since there would be no furniture to unpack until apparently August 10 or 11. But they didn't do that. They just ignored all semblance of doing their job in favor of being as incredibly lazy as possible. And, even worse, when I had asked them to make sure the stuff didn't get here until August 1, THEY MADE ME PAY STORAGE. WHEN THEY OBVIOUSLY HAD NO INTENTION OF RUSHING THE STUFF DOWN HERE.

My move situation was incredibly complicated, because my contract was with American Van Lines, but then they subcontracted out to Infinity Moving and Storage, which was who I had the conversation with that morning. I needed to call American Van Lines to complain, but there were a million other things I needed to do, including going to the airport to pick up my parents. K was still working, so arctacuda and I went to the realty office to pick up the key to my apartment. When we got back in the car and opened the envelope, all that was in it was a single key. I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with that one key. My apartment is in a condo complex, so I needed a key to get in. Maybe, I reasoned, this was the key to the condo complex, and the management office would have my apartment key. Or maybe this key would let me into everything? Also, the parking lot for the condo complex is gated, and there was no obvious way to unlock the gate with a key, so I gave up and parked on the street.

The key did not open the main door to the condo building. Beside the main gate was a sign that said, "To call the management office, call..." And then the number was smudged out. Typical. So then, underneath, it gave a legible number to call the building manager personally, so that's what we did, and then we had this conversation:

Me: I'm [EGT68], I just rented apartment number [...] from [John Smith*].
Him: Oh. Hi.
Me: Hi. So I stopped by John Smith's realty office and picked up a key from him, but it doesn't open the building. Did John Smith by any chance leave something for me to pick up at the management office? Like, any keys or anything?
Him: Oh. No.
Me: So John Smith didn't talk to you about me at all?
Him: No. Maybe the key to get into the building is on the kitchen counter in the apartment. Did you look there?
Me: Well, no, I can't look there because I can't get into the building, so that means I can't get into the apartment.
Him: Well. I'm John Smith, I rented you the apartment, and I'm the building manager. I'll be there in ten minutes to let you in.
Me: ............

I hung up from this conversation and I turned to arctacuda and I said, dazedly, "I don't...even know...I don't know what just happened." She was like, "What do you mean?" And then I relayed the conversation to her. And then we just stood there blinking at each other. Like, what? There's so much incomprehensible about the whole situation.

Eventually, a little old lady came out of the condo building, so we snuck in after her and went to the apartment. The elevator in this apartment building requires a code to operate, which I remember from my spying when I was shown the apartment. Luckily, because I still have never been told this code, ever. John Smith is not, you know, the best at helping someone move into a place. An odd trait for someone in real estate.

We got into my apartment, and there, on the kitchen counter, was the key to the building, and the parking pass to get into the parking lot, and a bunch of other things that had no explanation, such as a bunch of bracelets such as you get when you're under 21 at a club or something. I called John Smith and told him that we'd gotten into the apartment and found the stuff, since we had to run to get my parents at the airport. So we hurriedly carried in some plants to make some room in the car and then went to the airport.

Just as I was pulling into the airport, American Van Lines called me to check up on how my move was going. The fact that my move was not going out bubbled out in a fierce tirade that could not be stopped. I actually had my father drive home from the airport so that I could better concentrate on the fight that I was having. At one point, I accused them of fraud in taking my money to store my stuff when they were planning on taking THREE WEEKS to get it down to me, while pretending there was a possibility that it would only take them three days. People really start to pay attention to you when you accuse them of fraud, I've found.

So American Van Lines said that they would get in touch with Infinity and get back to me, and we tried to turn our attention to what had to be done now that I wasn't going to have any belongings for ten days. K was finally done working, so we picked her up and went to Wal-Mart, because this is what you do when you don't have any belongings. When I moved out of New Orleans, I had no belongings, because I'd fled Katrina and literally brought nothing but a change of clothes with me, thinking it wasn't going to be anything at all. Now, moving back to New Orleans, I was having eerie and unpleasant flashbacks.

I do not like Wal-Marts. I find that they provoke sensory overload in me. In New Orleans, at least (which, I admit, is basically the only place I've ever been in one), they are too enormous and too crowded and there are people everywhere and all of the people are LOUD. Seriously, why is everyone always shouting at each in Wal-Marts? I don't get it. So I was feeling overwhelmed in the Wal-Mart, trying to figure out what basic necessities I needed to pick up. I own SO MUCH STUFF, it was almost a sin to buy things like more mugs, but my mother was like, "It's ten days, you're going to want to make tea, or you'll be even more depressed," which was true. Finally, we were in line at the Wal-Mart, being checked out by a woman with the awesome name of Alonzerine, who was moving at roughly the pace of the glacier I had seen in Iceland. I was like, "Well, if anything could drive home any more firmly that I have left New England..."

Coming back from Wal-Mart, it occurred to me that John Smith had never given me my parking space number. The parking spaces in the parking lot, I had been told, were assigned, but no one had ever told me what mine was. So I called him and left him a message asking for it. He eventually called me back. I didn't hear the phone, so he just left a message for me describing where the parking space was.

It is the worst parking space in the lot. Seriously. I hate this parking space. It is, first of all, on a slope. The only parking space in the whole lot on a slope. It's off in the corner by a sketchy gate on a sketchy side street. And it is impossible to get into or out of with multiple three-point maneuvers and, even then, you have to wait until you get somewhere near someone else's vacant normal parking space before you can fully turn the car around. I find this space completely unacceptable and I feel deceived that I was told I'd have a parking space and shown the parking lot like it was going to be a normal space, and instead it's this weird thing. Let me tell you something, I lived in Boston and Cambridge for years and had to hunt for parking on the street and I actually preferred that arrangement to this stupid parking space. The good news is that it means I never want to move my car. This will promote my continued walking and public-transportation-using lifestyle! Which I was worried might slip while I was living in the South.

That night, we walked to a Mexican place across the street from me to watch the Red Sox game. Then my parents went to their hotel, and K, arctacuda, and I watched "Curb Your Enthusiasm" on K's iPad in my otherwise empty house, sleeping on the floor, wrapped up in blankets that had previously been used to cushion my wine bottles during the ride down. The following day, my parents left for Mississippi for a few days (having nothing to do in New Orleans and having seen New Orleans lots of times), I took K to the airport, and arctacuda and I settled down to do some sight-seeing in New Orleans, even though it was a bit more hot and humid than you would like it to be for sight-seeing. Really, we just watched a lot of "Sherlock."

Because I decided I deserved a Wii (I'd been planning on buying one anyway), we went back to Wal-Mart. I picked out a Wii (thanks, bscotchpuma, for the consultation!), but we also had a few random things to pick up, and I decided that I wanted a lemon to put in our water (since the tap water was, let's face it, pretty awful; I've grown so used to filtered water, I'm so spoiled!). I walked over to the lemons and regarded them. A woman came up to me, and we had this conversation:

Her: How much are the lemons?
Me: Forty-two cents each.
Her: YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FORTY-TWO CENTS FOR A LEMON?!
Me: (bewildered, since I actually thought that was a reasonable price) Yes? I kind of want a lemon.
Her: Hmph. (exits stage right)

I met back up with arctacuda and vowed never to go back to Wal-Mart. "This is the only place I've ever been where people comment on what you're purchasing!" I ranted. Then I went off to get the Wii, which I'd had to leave in the electronics section while I went to get my overpriced lemon. arctacuda was checking out in the front of the store, so we agreed to meet in the front of the store when we were done.

I finished first, and was waiting in the front of the store for arctacuda. I saw her standing a little ways away from me, but it was back INSIDE the store, and I'd gone outside with my stuff and wasn't sure I could get back in. There was no wall between us, it was just clear that we were in different sections of the store. I called her name a couple of times, but, because Wal-Mart is as loud as a rock concert all the time, she couldn't hear me. I got out my phone, preparing to call her. And, at that moment, this guy exiting Wal-Mart paused by me and said, "Could you hold my phone for a second?" I stared at the iPhone he was holding out, simultaneously searching for arctacuda in my contacts. "I want to put my stuff in my backpack," he explained, and I took the iPhone. I can only explain my action, which is SO not typical of the New Englander that I am, by stating that I wasn't thinking because I was focused on arctacuda and, also, I'd been having a bad week and I was back in Wal-Mart and it was a bit too much all at once. Anyway, arctacuda turned around and saw me and I waved at her, the guy put his stuff in his backpack, and I handed him back his iPhone. arctacuda came up to me, and we walked out together, and then, out of the corner of my eye, as she was telling me something, I saw the guy turn to me and say, "Hey, you broke my phone!" then see I was talking to someone and shut up and move away. So I'd clearly almost made myself part of some ridiculous scam he was trying to pull, and this is why (a) I don't go to Wal-Mart; and (b) I don't acknowledge strangers.

At about this time, chicklet73 told me about a statue of St. Expedite in the city, who you were supposed to pray to when you had urgent needs. I felt like my move was a matter of a bit of urgency. I mean, I try to keep things in perspective, but I decided that a prayer to St. Expedite couldn't hurt, if he was so inclined to listen to us. So we managed to track down the St. Expedite statue, and I said a prayer, and then we left. We had a FABULOUS lunch at Emeril's, which is my favorite restaurant in New Orleans. For dessert I had peach oolong sorbet. It was FANTASTIC. It was peaches and tea, all at once. Just the most amazing combination of flavors.

And then, after that, American Van Lines called me and said that my stuff was on its way and that my driver's name was Chico and we should call him for updates on when it would arrive.

THANK YOU, ST. EXPEDITE. (I love that moving companies are so incompetent that they make you feel grateful when they just do their jobs poorly instead of disastrously.)

My mother said I should buy a St. Expedite statue, so we called c73, who looked up on the Internet where we could purchase one. Then we went to the store.

It was closed.

I was ready to go home at that point, but arctacuda was like, "Well, I don't know, we could try the cathedral store. I just don't want you to feel like you haven't done enough for St. Expedite," thus triggering my Catholic guilt and so we had to go to St. Louis Cathedral.

Whose store was also closed, but I lit a candle and said another prayer and decided we'd done enough. And, on the way back to the car, we stopped into a used bookstore and I bought a ton of old Boston books.

The following day, arctacuda and I went to a plantation. The lady giving the tour was weirdly abrupt to us when we arrived there, but she warmed up to us as the tour went along, seeing as we were the only people on the tour. Then we went back to the St. Expedite store so I could buy the statue. Literally as I was pulling up to the store, Infinity called. Not Chico, somebody else, but it was an ETA for my stuff, so I didn't care. They were on their way, and they were going to move as quickly as possible, and they HOPED it would be there by the next day, but they might not make it until the following day. Whatever, I know the drive can be done in a day, because I just did it in two with not much effort, from even farther away, but I was so happy to hear that they would be there before the week was out that I didn't care. Of course, then there was massive amounts of sketchiness. Oh, there was a new fee that had to be paid only in cash when they got there. And oh, how was I planning to pay the balance? American Van Lines had called me with the balance that I owed the Friday before. They had told me I had to pay with cash or money order, but when I went to the bank to get a money order the bank said that it had to be a certified check for that amount, so that's what I got. That was not good enough for the moving company, though. A CERTIFIED CHECK IS AS GOOD AS CASH BUT IT IS TRACEABLE. That's the only thing I can think of, because this whole situation was RIDICULOUS. They said I needed to get cash, but this was impossible. I have Bank of America, which is nowhere near New Orleans. I didn't want to open a bank account just to cash the certified check I had. I had the money in my account, but you can't withdraw that much from an ATM, and no bank would cash a check for me, and those cash-checking places are unbelievably expensive.

Finally, I called Infinity back and they said I could get post office money orders, so that's what I did, thank God. But still, it was a whole day devoted to running around getting an untraceable way to pay these people (IN ADDITION to the additional fee that had been levied that could only be in cash, not money order, although luckily that was small enough that I could take it out of the ATM).

We did, however, while we were at the store, get me a St. Expedite statue, and I put a little Cheerio in front of him as an offering.

I called John Smith to explain that the moving company would be there tomorrow and where could it park. John Smith eventually explained to me that the moving company couldn't park in the parking lot (OF COURSE NOT, THAT WOULD BE CONVENIENT) and had to park on the street, and maybe I might want to park my car on the street to make sure there would be a space. Now, I had asked him and asked him if I could reserve street parking for the truck, and he told me there was no need. YES. I CONSIDER THAT TO BE A NEED. It all worked out, but seriously, I am SO TIRED of having to do everybody's jobs for them, you know? HOW ARE THEY ALL SURVIVING?

So, anyway, on our last night together, arctacuda and I decided to see "Cowboys & Aliens." We went to the 5:35 show, and this happened:

Clerk: That'll be $5.
Me: ...Wait, sorry, how much did you say?
Clerk: $5.
Me: $5?! Oh, my God, seriously? This is the cheapest movie EVER.
arctacuda behind me: Wait, *how* *much* is the movie?
Me: IT'S FIVE DOLLARS.
arctacuda: HOW IS EVERYONE NOT AT THE MOVIES ALL THE TIME HERE?

I'm sure the clerk thought we were crazy.

I enjoyed "Cowboys & Aliens," it was fun and Daniel Craig is hot. That's the end of my very detailed review.

I took arctacuda to the airport the following day. Alas, she spent several days in New Orleans with me, but never got to see my stuff. My parents came back from Mississippi, and the movers showed up around 2 p.m. (The movers around 1 p.m.: I don't know, we're stuck in the worst traffic, we're just stopped, we're hoping to get there soon... Movers are full of more doom and gloom than anyone I've ever met.) I go out to meet the movers, and sitting on the driver's lap are...two chihuahuas. I don't even know what to make of that. Who brings chihuahuas to a moving job? It was so weird.

Anyway, everything was going well, they were moving quickly, and they seemed to be nice, and I should have known that it was all going to be a mess at the end.

They had asked me to pay upfront, and I gave them the amount I had been told I owed (plus their sketchy cash-only extortion fee, but, you know, whatever, this is always how moving goes, I find, you need to expect to be ripped off at some point). I said I was going to need an invoice showing I'd paid, and they said they would give me one at the end. Fine. Moving companies are really the only companies I know who treat every customer like a criminal. Are there that many people hiring moving companies and then refusing to pay? (Actually, probably, because they're frequently incompetent.)

The end came, and they showed up with an invoice...showing I owed roughly $850 less than I had been told I owed. I asked them where they'd gotten the number they'd told me I owed. They had no answer for this. We called American Van Lines. It was, naturally, closed (even though, according to the greeting message, it should have been open). I said I wanted my extra $850 back.

And they refused to give it to me.

I was like, "How are you keeping that? You have nothing here showing I owe this much money. You're just taking my money, without justification, that's what you're telling me."

They tried to tell me they were going to get in trouble if they gave me back the money. I was like, "Huh? Your invoice says I owe $850 less, how would you get in trouble?" Then they told me that they would fix the invoice so that it would say that I owed $850 more. By crossing out the lower number. I was like, "No, that's not going to work, I need an itemized invoice showing that I owe you this money, and you don't have that. I want my money back." Then he said something like, "We'll just cross out the number and initial it, it'll be totally legal." I was like, "Dude, do NOT talk to me about the law, I've got a degree in it from a really good law school, and nothing about this is LEGAL." But he refused to give me the money back.

In retrospect, I should have called the cops. But here is what happened: I had a bad week, okay? Every time I turned around, I felt like things weren't going correctly. And I'm scared, alright? I switched careers and I switched cities and I'm TERRIFIED I'm doing the wrong thing here and I just wanted things to go well, I just wanted people to be nice to me. I wanted to feel like I hadn't made a terrible mistake. I'm so tired of having to constantly be vigilant against other people ripping me off. Why does everyone have to be mean? I was so tired and so frustrated and so sad and so unconfident, which is something I've spent four years of my life fighting against being and I thought I'd finally gotten out of it and here I was, right back into it again. The world is sometimes such a harsh and unkind place, and sometimes I find that so incredibly heartbreaking. I was being ripped off, and I knew it. And I was shouting about it, and I never shout, and the guy knew he was ripping me off, and he didn't care. He felt that he deserved to steal my money from me, that's what he felt. And finally, after saying some unkind things, I said to them, "Please get out of my house," and I walked into my bedroom and I cried and cried and cried. It was the lowest point of the week. I'd been holding it together, but I couldn't anymore.

Having cried, I felt like things got slowly better. My parents were still around to help me unpack, so that was good. After vowing never to go back to Wal-Mart, I realized I needed a TV stand, so I went. Again. (NEVER AGAIN. I have happily been driving MILES out of my way to go to Target just to avoid going to Wal-Mart.) At least my parents were with me, and they helped me put together the TV stand. My father, being calmer about it than me, sat down with the invoices and realized exactly what the $850 difference was: I'd paid a money order deposit to the movers when they'd picked my furniture up. American Van Lines had told me that I had to do this, and then apparently they didn't account for it, but the difference in what American had told me I owed and what Infinity's invoice showed I owed was EXACTLY the previous deposit amount, down to the penny.

So I called American, being a little bit calmer, and I explained this to her. She insisted that I'd paid the right amount, and that she would get me an adjusted invoice, and that the difference was because my stuff had weighed more than had been estimated. I was like, "My stuff just happened to weigh more by EXACTLY the amount of the deposit?" And she said that yes, that was right. I asked her to send me the corrected invoice, figuring I would deal with it then.

What happened next was that Infinity called me, apologized, said I had overpaid and they would send me a check for the difference. I was like, "FINALLY. A VOICE OF REASON," and thanked the woman.

Then American e-mailed me a "corrected invoice." Saying that I had owed the amount that I had paid and that therefore I wouldn't be getting a refund. I was so confused, so I sat with the invoice and added it up. When you added up the individual items on the invoice, it came to $850 less than what THEY had put as the total. Yeah. Their total was what they wanted me to pay, but it wasn't justified by the itemized bill. I pointed that out to them, and they apologized for the "mistake" and said that I would be getting my money back.

I'm waiting for this check to come in, and then I am writing the most livid reviews all over the Internet.

Next time: Settling into a new-old city.

*Name changed. Trust me, he was not, alas, the Doctor.

Comments

[np-complete.livejournal.com]

Oh, man. I had some moving-day horror stories (which I didn't bother posting because I was so drained) but nothing to touch this. Oh, wow. You have all my sympathy, sister.

I've moved across oceans -- twice -- and it was easier than what you went through.

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

I don't understand why this move was so problematic. It was really epic. Ugh. And moving is never easy! Knowing I have to do it all again in two years is not a thing I like dwelling upon!

[2nd2ndalto.livejournal.com]

Wow. Just... wow. And I thought I'd had some bad moves. What they mostly amounted to, though, was incompetent, unreliable people at U-Haul and eventual exhaustion and hunger. What a miserable experience! I'm so sorry! And I feel much the same way about Wal-Mart.

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

Usually people are incompetent and unreliable and result in you being exhausted and hungry. Which was what my move was about, it was just to the nth degree for some reason.

And I just don't get why Wal-Mart is that way. I feel like it's RUNNING AT A FEVER PITCH. Why??

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

Ha! I read up on the stories! Although apparently there's also evidence that this saint has been around since the fourth century or something, so who knows?

They didn't pull the long carry thing this time, but I had the moving company pull that on me when I moved after law school. All moving companies do is rip you off, constantly.

[fishface44.livejournal.com]

Moving is awful!!!Smiting all around, I think, except for Alonzerine, who should be spared because of her awesome name, and the chef at Emeril, because I want you to have the option of excellent food. The Wal-Mart con artist and the Entire Moving Company both deserve smiting for the good of the planet.

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

My dream New Orleans is populated entirely by Alonzerine and the Emeril's chef! :-)

[maniacalshen.livejournal.com]

I HATE Wal Mart. No one teaches the cashiers how to scan efficiently, the lines are long, and there's ALWAYS a problem with someone ahead of you.

They had told me I had to pay with cash or money order, but when I went to the bank to get a money order the bank said that it had to be a certified check for that amount, so that's what I got.

Um. Really? I've sold a lot of money orders, and there's no limit that I'm aware of. Now, keep in mind that banks don't WANT to waste time selling people money orders, so that might be a bank thing. At the grocery store, I was happy to sell you any amount you wanted, in $500 increments, for $.46 per money order (Western Union brand). As long as you were paying cash or debit card. And even if the amount was exorbitant, and it triggered the register to go, "wtf," I could override it.

We did, however, while we were at the store, get me a St. Expedite statue, and I put a little Cheerio in front of him as an offering.

That... that might be idolatry, even for a Catholic. :-p

In other news, $5 movies?! Holy cow! And those movers! Please, do write vitriolic reviews all over the internet. They don't deserve anyone's business ever again.

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

Wal-Mart has more inefficient employees than could possibly exist in one place. I couldn't get over how S-L-O-W-L-Y they move. I mean, I know I frequently think that, but, like, it's UNBELIEVABLE.

It wasn't that they wouldn't give me money orders, but they said it would have to be multiple, or they could give me one certified check. I didn't think anyone would care, so I went with the certified check.

$5 movies rock! I am so looking forward to that while I'm living here!

And oh, yes, I can't wait to write those reviews EVERYWHERE. It's going to be so cathartic!!

[azriona.livejournal.com]

Moving companies, on the whole, are crap about the money, because they know very well that they have you at the throat once your stuff is in their truck. You're stressed, you're tired, you're in a new place with new people and new situations, and they are the only thing standing between you and recognizable civility (a.k.a, your stuff). So of course they'll make you pay through the nose, for the simple reason that they CAN. And everyone does.

Not everyone has the energy to fight them. Good job for doing that, at least.

(I will say, the moving companies we've used for the overseas moves have been pretty good. But I also don't see the invoices, so God knows what they're actually charging.....)

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's absolute extortion, and they know it, and that just makes me insane. There's nothing you can do about it, they just do whatever they want. And I'm not sure I've done the best job fighting them, but I've tried.

It could be the uber-expensive moving companies are respectable. Or the ones with corporate/government accounts. When the firm set up my DC to Boston move, I never had a single issue, it was AMAZING.

[azriona.livejournal.com]

I half wonder if the corporate ones are better because the money is separated from the customer. The people physically doing the move have no interest in extortion, because they know that ultimately, we aren't paying them, so they've got nothing to hold over our heads. Too bad they can't figure out how to do that for the rest of the moves.

[adriana-is.livejournal.com]

Good grief, I have some 'moving is hell' stories too but yours definitely wins. WOW, just WOW.

I'm glad you're okay and Walmart people can be pretty darn interesting.

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

Well, it's a dubious win, but I'll take it! ;-)

[xebgoc.livejournal.com]

holy frak! what an ordeal your move has been. it makes me nervous.

I do not go to walmart. i'd rather pay more for things at walgreen's or cvs or do without. i'll put my tv on the floor til i can get somewhere else to buy a stand. which, considering i don't drive and there's a walmart about 2 miles (one bus change, with a 2 block walk) from my house is saying something.

one thing i did learn when i moved from Seattle to North Carolina is that you should always ask for a *firm* price for your move. That is a contracted amount and they can not charge you more. The woman who came to do the evaluation was, apparently, well known for under estimating the weight of CDs and books in particular. I'm a librarian and a musician. i have a lot of books and a lot of CDs. She gave me the firm price and when the movers came to actually pick my stuff up they said she'd under estimated by close to $1200 worth of weight, but because I she'd written a firm price, I didn't have pay more.

you should also contact the better business bureau...

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

I shouldn't have gone to the Wal-Mart, especially not as much as I did, but it was so much closer and I was so tired and it was there. I'm hoping to be better at not shopping there now!

I should have asked for a firm price. I'll have to keep that in mind for two years when I have to move again.

And yeah, I need to contact the Better Business Bureau, too, good point.

[auntiesuze.livejournal.com]

Dear lord. Moving is always heinous, but this... I am *so* sorry. I would definitely make sure that everyone involved knows that they f-cked with a lawyer and you'll be pursuing every claim MOST. VIGOROUSLY. Can you contact the BBB about these yahoos?

Geez. I am glad that I've never used movers for my cross country relocations. I always pack and haul it myself, even if I use guys at either end to do the lifting.

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I threw the lawyer thing around a lot. I think they were unimpressed, but I'm hoping that contacting the BBB and plastering the Internet will help at least a little bit.

I'm thinking of driving everything myself next time, if it will fit in a reasonably sized truck.

[lorelaisquared.livejournal.com]

OMG Your moving company is made of so much fail I don't know where to begin. I'm so, so, so, so sorry you had to go through that nightmare and I'm glad that in the end they finally admitted they owed you that money. Honestly I think they owe you even more than that for all the hassles you went through. Such complete ineptitude is just inexcusable. I think livid reviews are warranted. Argh! I'm absolutely outraged on your behalf.

I'm glad you at least had company to deal with all of this and distract you at first even if things didn't go exactly as you'd planned. I'm also glad your parents were there when your stuff arrived. Parents are good to have around in these situations.

As for Walmart. I've unfortunately had to shop in them in both V and PA as well as a few other places and in my experience they are ALWAYS zooey no matter what time of day you go or where you go. It just seems to be the nature of Walmart. I'm so glad they don't even exist in the UK. If I never have to set foot in one again it will be too soon. (It was the only place to shop in PA and in V I had to take my mum there all the time). Still YAY for getting a Wii! I think that's a good purchase for you for sure. Especially now that you can do all that internet play stuff through it so you can play with friends.

Anyway, I'm glad your stuff arrived and you can finally start to get your life back to some semblance of normal.

*hugs* Thank goodness for St. Expedite!

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

I really feel like they should have taken some money off the bill, too, but I feel like it's a victory just to *not* overpaying. Seriously. Ugh.

My parents--and arctacuda--were both lifesavers. THANK GOD THEY WERE THERE.

Wal-Mart is a new thing in New England, and I've never gone to one up there. They are the most miserable places, I'm so glad they're so easily avoidable back home.

And: ME, TOO.

[lorelaisquared.livejournal.com]

yes true, the fact that you're getting paid back the overpayment sounds like a bit of a miracle in itself. Still, if they were a DECENT company (which clearly they are not) they would offer you compensation for the trouble.

I'm so glad your Parents and arctacuda were there. So so glad you did not have to go through all that alone.

Walmart is an evil corporation anyway (they have horrific business practices and treat their employees like crap) so really the less money they get from people like us, the better! They really are horrible places though. They build a SUPER Walmart in V just before I left and it's two stories and one of the most HORRIFYING places I've ever been forced to enter).

[erikau.livejournal.com]

Yikes. Here's hoping you've gotten all the bad stuff out of the way early. I'm with you on Walmart, but at least you now have a marvelous new name to use in the Chaosverse. (Allons y, Alonzerine!)

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha! You're right, the Doctor would love her name! And YES, I hope it's all out of the way early, too!

[beatlejessie.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, and here I was thinking I'd had a bad week!

You win, hands down!!

*hugs* I'm about to go read what else you've posted in the two days I've been driving back from Chicago, so I'm hoping things got better? Wishful thinking, perhaps?

Anyway, I am back in Louisiana now!! And after I spend every waking moment this week getting ready to start the school year on Friday, we definitely need to figure out a plan for meeting up, because between all of your moving insanity and my trying-to-get-home insanity, we deserve some fun :)

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

You had a tough week, too! We'll call it a draw!

Does school start this Friday? GOOD LUCK!!!

[susanb03.livejournal.com]

Oy and VEY!!! What a mess! I'm loling at your prayer to St. Expidite and how well it worked!!! Wishing my prayer to St. Jude when I was in London had worked that well! :) I'm behind so I'm catching up on your posts today at work. Oh btw did you get my message...

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

I did get your message, I'm just behind all the time!!

But yeah, thank God for St. Expedite!