The Move Fiasco

Well, yesterday was the big move. It was actually the most unprofessional move I've ever had, and I've now used 5 different moving companies over the last 15 years. This one was Progressive Moving, who have a presence in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. My rep is Jimmy Wright, and I'm waiting to hear from him. Read on for the story...

I should have known something was wrong when the driver called me ahead of time and mentioned that he was bringing 12 boxes because that's what I put on the form I filled out on the Internet when I got my quote. I explained that it was my understanding that saying I had a kitchen, 4 bookshelves, 12 linear feet of clothes, etc, should tip them off that more than 12 boxes are needed, and that I was estimating 12 boxes "in addition" to what it would normally take for the standard stuff I indicated. He chuckled and said he'd bring more.

He brought 40. I should mention that the packing service is $12/box. So, my cost has now gone up substantially over what was quoted. Once he, and 2 adults -- and one child -- showed up, they proceeded to take everything I had and shove it into these boxes. This includes clothes (um... if I got charged for 12 linear feet of clothes, I expected wardrobe boxes ... and I got double-charged, didn't I??), stereo equipment (no extra padding required, apparently!), pictures (no mirror boxes??), and various items that certainly don't need a box, like a stack of folding director's chairs. At one point, they ran out of boxes (no shit, you used a box for everything!), so I had to run out to buy more.

The child I mentioned was a 9- or 10-ish boy, apparently the son of the driver, and the best English speaker of the group. The driver spoke English too, but the other two did not. Unfortunately, the kid, while he had a firm grasp on English, did not have a firm grasp of Physics. Whenever he was driving a dolly, it would hit the wall. If he was carrying something long, he'd cut a corner too short. Twice, I took something out of his hand that I didn't want him to be carrying. Say, does the "bonded and insured" claim on the web page cover this kid? Because, I don't speak Spanish, but I believe one of the conversations between the kid and the driver was about something making a crashing noise on the truck while they were loading. I'm still unpacking, so I haven't found that surprise box yet.

Before leaving Dallas, the driver started the inevitable conversation about how it was going to cost more because they used so many boxes. "You have a lot of stuff, Kyle!" "Yes, that's true ... but we wouldn't have used so many if you had brought wardrobe boxes and mirror boxes." "Ok, so we won't charge for the full 40, but still, we have to charge more." We negotiate a little based on box count and time (it took them 2 hours longer than I expected it to), and arrive at a price. Then we head to Houston.

On arrival in Houston, I got my first glimpse of the truck. Actually, it was Beckie who first looked in, after we noticed that one of the boxes coming off was crushed. While I looked in the box (nothing broken), she looked in the truck and was appalled. She led me out there and showed me how completely unprofessionally the truck was packed.

My desk was resting on my leather couch ... not a furniture pad in sight. Hanging framed pictures were stacked together in a giant box, with not even a piece of newsprint, much less cardboard, separating them. Boxes were stacked unevenly and were leaning because the bottom box in the stack was crushed by the weight of those above. It was disgusting.

Then, items started to come in. Every time I saw a crushed box, I tried to open it, but there are still some I haven't gotten to yet. I have a giant hanging mirror with a large wooden border ... one corner is dented and wet, because the floor of the truck was wet from rain. Oh, and the floor of the truck was dirty too, because my matress came in wet and dirty on the side that rested on the floor ... no pad, no plastic, nothing to protect it from that. Next came my dresser, which had a piece of moulding broken off. The driver found the piece, but it's an ugly break.

Now the worst part ... my leather couch. There are 3 places where it's damaged, all on the back. If it sat up against a wall (like in the apartment), you'd never know it. But, in this house, it sits in the middle of the room with the back facing the front door. Walking in the front door and looking into my living room, your first reaction would be "what the fuck happened to your couch?" "Progressive moving, that's what. Would you like a referral?"

I still have quite a bit to unpack, and I'm sure there will be other surprises. Fun! An adventure! Ugh. Updates will be posted here... especially when I hear from Jimmy Wright, who doesn't come in until noon.

Update: I just started unloading the boxes in the bedroom. All my hangling clothes -- which did not hang for the trip, they were shoved into regular boxes -- are incredibly wrinked. I will need to send them all to the dry-cleaner, which will cost a small fortune. When I said to the driver at the end of the night "I expected you to have wardrobe boxes, mirror boxes, and furniture pads, like every other moving company I have used", he said "that stuff costs money." Really? Money? As in "US Currency"? If I remember correctly, that's exactly what I'm paying you with. This is unacceptable.

I called American Express, because I used my Amex to pay them. I explained about the damage and how I need to go after Progressive to fix the problems, and the representative explained that is a perfectly good reason for them to hold the charge on dispute. As soon as the charge for the move posts to my account, they will dispute it for me and contact Progressive on my behalf. Of course, I will talk to Jimmy before that. I am not a happy man this morning.

Update: I spoke to Jimmy earlier today, and he wants an email explaining the problem. I told him I'd give him one, but also gave him this URL.

Unrelated to the movers, DirecTV's installers screwed me. I had an install window of 8-12 today, and at 12:30 when I was hoping to get some lunch, I contacted them. After interminable hold with the sub-contractors that do the installs, it was determined that they didn't put me on anyone's route, and the next available date was the 12th. After I raised a little hell, they said they squeezed me in on Friday the 6th. I guess I'll stare at the wall until then.