We had signed a contract with a company that does self-packs or traditional movers two months ago for a pickup on April 17. I was splurging on a traditional move - they do the schlepping down our stairs. Their local subcontractor came and did the survey three weeks ago. Two weeks ago I got word from the company that the survey was quoting twice the amount of stuff and so they were going to charge twice the fee we'd agreed on. We have 160 cubic feet of packed boxes (uniform size) sitting against a wall in my living room, and 5 pieces of furniture, none of it huge. The surveyor padded the hell out of his report, adding items he was told we were not taking, adding additional large boxes (and a lot of them). I tried to contact the surveying company after the walk-through, but before the revised price tag, to ask questions, and never got a response. Of course, we never got a copy of the survey until the Big Company who was contracting them emailed to change our shipping arrangements to a 20 ft container. It's a good thing I normally have low blood pressure or I'd have had a stroke.
On to plan B. Self-service move with the same company, arrangements made two weeks ago - we pack it on pallets/crates, they come get it. Contract signed. Last Wednesday said company informed us they could not get their truck in to our apartment complex to pick said pallets/crates up. Can we have them somewhere else. (As if I can lift them? I should move the pallets out 400 yards to the street and then take our stuff a box at a time out there? To where, out to block a sidewalk of a busy street where anyone coming buy could walk off with a box? And leave it unattended over night? Really? They ONLY use 18 wheelers? A 20 ft U-Haul can do donuts in our street, but they only use 18 wheelers.)
On to plan C. Same company offers us self-move if we bring the stuff and pack at their terminal. Just over $6,000 for up to 420 cubic feet of space. We deliver and pack it, they deliver it to ground level on the other end and into our apartment. I'm a tetris-master from having loaded many U-Hauls for cross country moves, so, ok, this means we can bring more than we planned. At this point, I'm just relieved to have somewhere to put our stuff, since we have 3 weeks to be out of our apartment, and there are no self-store units available nearby that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg. TOR list has been sent to the UK, hope to have a number by the week of the 17th, and, while frazzled, am surviving our "easy" move. It only needs for the contract to be signed on Monday.
So much for hiring a mover for my retirement move, as I'd always planned. I had wanted, just once, to not be basically "packing the U-Haul" myself. The closest I'm going to get to that, I guess, is hiring some guys to come load the U-Haul, which I will drive one last time and unload (always easier to unload) and "self-pack".
This morning I got a quote back from a "family owned" operation, Global Relocations, Inc.
Northridge , CA, that is giving me a quote of about half the cost of the big guys, they will come get our stuff upstairs (I don't have to schlep it to a U-Haul and self-load) and then take it into an apartment on the other end up to the second floor.
I have had minimal sleep and too much stress. My thoughts are: the big guys have enough of a presence that it's unlikely they'd do anything other than what is in their contract, or change the price. The "Family Owned" guys could take our stuff and then hold it ransom. Not saying they would, but I don't know enough about them to say it's not likely. Our stuff has minimal monetary value, much sentimental value.
So, I am completely out of adrenaline, my cortisol levels are eating the walls of my arteries, and I would like to hear people's thoughts on my decision to remain with "the big guys" who have an established reputation. I consider it sort of like paying $3,000 in insurance on our "stuff" to make sure it actually gets there. I wonder if it's worth seeing if they'll come down in response to the competing quote?
Also, anyone have a clue about how much movers in Glasgow charge to bring stuff up a flight of stairs, if we end up in an elevated ground floor, on the floor one up, or down the stairs to a basement? Our delivery is for "into ground level" - and it's probable we'll end up in an elevated ground or possibly a basement. We can get it all in ourselves, but really prefer to have some guys do the furniture.
On the good side, my jeans are all now dragging the ground, which means I've lost weight schlepping boxes around.
On the bad side, I just bought a half-dozen of the old size to take with me.... "Dear Amazon, I'd like to return these...." AND, I get to retire in 3 weeks, so I'm not working 50 hour weeks while managing an international move after that point!
