Well, my move started off very bad. I have said before that I have a very large toy collection. I took over a month to box it up and get ready for the truck to come pick it up. WELL….Now Ill explain how big it really is. The first moving truck came yester day and the guy just starred at 6 5x5 seven foot tall wrapped pallets. First thing to go wrong is his truck didn’t have a lift gate so they call for another truck. 2 hours later a mid size truck come with a tiny *** lift gate. SO!!!! He tries to lift the pallet and the jack would not fit right, so he struggles with that for about 20 minutes. FINALLY gets the jack is and we roll the pallet to the truck where we could not roll up on to the lift gate because the lip angle was too steep. SOOOO, we break down the pallet, lift the half pallet onto the truck and re assemble it on the truck Already Im not feeling good about this. That first pallet took about 1 hour, we look back a 5 more huge pallets, so we start to dismantle the second and third pallet, we repete the same step 3 more time(3 hours now) and I run out of tape and wrap. My $600 SAW puppet is just chillin on top of the pallet with NO protection and the guy wants to keep going. I look back at 3 more FULL pallets and stop the whole operation. Long story short, I am going to redo the pallets half the size and just send another shipment later.

Does dudes moving company have insurance, because it sounds to me like your getting ready get into your new crib with a bunch of broken up stuff. How far do they have to transport them?

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Originally posted by collectthem:

My $600 SAW puppet

Good luck with that . . .

Shoulda avoided that "Koola, Fran, & Ollie Van Lines"...

Jon

Iff you had a 1:1 U.S.S. Enterprise in your toy collection you could just "beam them pallets up".

This would be a better story with pictures.

Household moving companies, or the household divisions of major moving companies, aren't equipped to deal with pallets of anything. Pallets only come into the picture for commercial and trade show moving. So, no matter how well you palletized your stuff, household movers will manage to make a mess of it because they don't keep the necessary handing equipment on their trucks.

If you have time to pull back and regroup, you can re-arrange the move of the collection with the division of a moving company that understands how to move collections. Be prepared for a bigger bill.

Another alternative, if you're going long distance -- call ABF or look them up on the web. For a long time, they've offered a you-pack-it LTL (less-than-truckload) service where they drop a pup trailer at your location with a ramp. You load from the front of the trailer to wherever your load stops, and you put the bulkhead up. Then they pick up the trailer, use the rest of the space for a commercial pallet shipment, and drop it off at your destination on schedule for you to unload. They also offer a container service. You pack pallet-size containers that they drop off, they then load them up and transfer them for you to your destination. Both services are economical. The container service will allow you to lock or seal the containers, I believe.

For household goods, you can hire professionals to pack and load your own rental truck(s), then drive to your destination and have professionals unload at the other end. That may be somewhat cheaper than having a service do everything, and you have more control over your belongings. Moving companies are not all created equal, and I've encountered few really good ones. Some are downright dishonest, most are overpriced, and a very few are reasonably priced and hard-working. At least in my experience with moving.

-Eric

quote:

This would be a better story with pictures.

Okay...



Jon

.
....I thought there was gonna be sandwich es

quote:

Originally posted by collectthem:

My $600 SAW puppet

Maybe you could chain it securely to something ....

Naw, that never works!

(You had to see the movie! )

Good luck with the move - just keep an eye on things the whole way to keep those guys honest.

Jim

It helps me understand the magnitude of the situation, thanks.



I'll appreciate any tips. I might be moving myself.

Why didn't you just get a POD container and load and secure the shipment yourself ?

Personally, I wouldn't palletize anything for a household type move with a commercial mover unless the moving company estimator told me it was okay to do so and provided the size limits in terms of overall dimensions. Most of these firms use different type/size trucks, depending on the type of move, the amount to be moved, and the distance. They are much more familiar with handling traditional-size boxes (which are available from the movers and other sources) and loose items too large to box such as furniture, appliances, and the like. The estimates are based on volume and weight. A good estimator would have been able to advise you on packing and would have been able to estimate the weight with a surprising degree of accuracy. He also would have made sure that the proper size of truck was ordered-up.

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience, and I hope things go far better in the future.

quote:

Originally posted by KOOLjock1:

quote:

This would be a better story with pictures.

Okay...



Jon

Jon - When did you peek into my attic to snap pictures??? I'm still digging my train collection out after the last move!

-Eric

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Shoulda avoided that "Koola, Fran, & Ollie Van Lines"...

Jon you forgot the other "K"......KooKla
Must be showing my age!

Definitely best to get a specialized moving company or a motor freight line that can deal with pallets.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Terry:
Why didn't you just get a POD container and load and secure the shipment yourself ?

I have used a Pod before. As long as you have blankets, newspaper, boxes etc it is the way to go. You how fragile/valuable the items are so why not DIY?


Mike

Tey told me to palitize everything. The had specific instructions from the dispatcher but sent out all the wrong equipment. The pods I would have to pay almost $4000 to get it out there. I will show pics pit I do not have a hoast. Ill email them to someone if you want them up.

Actually I think it is Kukla, Fran & Ollie.

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I will show pics pit I do not have a hoast.

Photobucket is free and works great.

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if you want them up

It's a heck of a move, please share it!

quote:

Originally posted by EricF:
Household moving companies, or the household divisions of major moving companies, aren't equipped to deal with pallets of anything.
-Eric

Just where do you get your information from?????? Not sure if you work for a "major moving company" but if you do you are not "major". My "major" moving company does in fact deal with pallets whether or not it is Household or Special Services or Commercial. The issue with this move is that the shipper (that is moving company language for customer) did not have his move surveyed by a professional mover who would have properly advised him on this move.

And all this time I thought Moe,Larry and Curly had passed on to the big moving company in the sky!


I'll even bet Schemp and Curly Joe would want in on this show!!!!

RIP boys your Legacy lives on,in more ways than one,



Doug

quote:

Originally posted by Swipesy:
Just where do you get your information from?????? Not sure if you work for a "major moving company" but if you do you are not "major".

Nope, I have as little to do with movers as I can. I can recommend ONE and only ONE local mover in the region I live in, as they have an excellent reputation from anyone who's ever hired them for anything, and they helped me out a bind caused by another moving company. As for the national companies, they're often only as good as their local franchisees, which can vary.

But I can tell a good tale along the way... Decades ago, I used to supervise a telephone messaging center where I also tended the mainframe computer in the evenings. One of our customers was a "major" nationwide moving company with a capital "M". We used to field calls from their drivers stuck out on the road with broken-down trucks, as they tried (usually in vain) to get their supervisors to authorize repairs. One night, a driver called in and said he'd had enough, the keys were in the truck and someone else could come get it, he quit. About fifteen minutes later the New York State Police called in, asking if someone could please come get moving truck that was blocking two lanes on a bridge with the cab locked and keys in the ignition.

So, even when they get your stuff on the truck, you never really know where it might end up...

Eric

Your not using either of these guys are you?

quote:

quote:
Originally posted by KOOLjock1:

quote:
This would be a better story with pictures.


Okay...

some photo because I remember it is from the first Indiana Jones movie.

quote:

Originally posted by KOOLjock1:

quote:

This would be a better story with pictures.

Okay...



Jon

When were you in my basement taking pictures?


Jerry

I'm sorry to read about your problem. Any moving company worth their salt would of had the equipment to do the job they contracted for.

When I did installation work, one of the tricks the delivery companies would do so as to cut payroll, is show up with one driver when our company paid for inside delivery. The driver would always show up at the office with his truck on the loading dock asking for someone to come down and except the freight. I would inturn show him the inside delivery clause on the receipt and the driver would clam that the dock was inside. I then would state that he can bring it back from where it came and the diver would ether bring it up himself, or come back later with the proper crew.

I relate this to you because the moving industry is loaded with a bunch of half *** operators who paly all kinds of tricks to rip people off. By them showing up without the needed fork lift they save hundreds of dollars at your expense.

I guess it's to late now but what I would do is after your collection is safely at it's new home and inventoried I would send them a bill for any added cost you had to eat because of thier failure to rent the proper equipment.
Before Iwould let anybody touch my stuff I would also demand that they provide a shippers insurence certificate naming you as the beneficiary for any damage to the freight or all property and people in route. This certicate is issued by their insurance company showing a list of potential claments. If they try to tell you that your covered on their insurance tell them no deal unless they produce the certificate to you. Any good shipper will have no problem with this.

In fact, you should demand the same thing from any contractor doing work for you. The builders insurance covers them not you, the certificate covers you for loss or liability. They must pay for this and present the cert before any work can begin. The only way they can get this is if they them selves have a professional insurance policy, the service is part of the policy. I know this because I had to provide proof of such a policy before I could do any third party work. The few times when I did not provide the insurance the contract clearly stated that the party I was working for provided all coverage for civil damages.

I pray all turns out OK with this gang.

Definitely do not use ESTES freight service, as they are incompetent and untruthful.

They moved a large piece of very rare telephone equipment from California for me, and I had to go get it after they completely destroyed it and refused to complete the trip.

The equipment was packaged and palletized when it was put on their truck, and arrived without the pallets, lying on the floor of the truck in pieces.

Why did you start to break up the pallets in the first place if they told you to palletize it all? If they sent out the wrong equipment, I'd have told them to turn right around and go get the right truck. Now that the pallets have been broken up, they will claim they are not responsible for damage and will put the responsibility on you as it was packed by owner.

I should have just told them to come back in the first place, your right. I feel better now anyway because I made them a lot smaller, double the pallets and a lot lighter. I will never trust another company again. I would like to email these photos to someone so you guys can see the LOADS....

quote:

I would like to email these photos to someone so you guys can see the LOADS....

We are all anxiously awaiting them

quote:

Originally posted by gg1man:

I relate this to you because the moving industry is loaded with a bunch of half *** operators who paly all kinds of tricks to rip people off. By them showing up without the needed fork lift they save hundreds of dollars at your expense.

For every bunch of half *** operators there are 10 times that many customers ripping off the mover's. Having been associated with the moving industry for 20 years I speak on this subject with first hand knowledge. Are there bad mover's?. You bettcha. Are there bad customers who demand top service and then refuse to pay? You bettcha. Be fair in your comments.

quote:

Originally posted by Swipesy:

quote:

Originally posted by gg1man:

I relate this to you because the moving industry is loaded with a bunch of half *** operators who paly all kinds of tricks to rip people off. By them showing up without the needed fork lift they save hundreds of dollars at your expense.

For every bunch of half *** operators there are 10 times that many customers ripping off the mover's. Having been associated with the moving industry for 20 years I speak on this subject with first hand knowledge. Are there bad mover's?. You bettcha. Are there bad customers who demand top service and then refuse to pay? You bettcha. Be fair in your comments.

This is a very fair comment, there are things business people must do to protect them selves from no pay low lifes. I had one creep refuse to pay me for work done one time, I TOOK OUT MY TWELVE INCH SNIPPER AND CUT ONE OF THE TWENTY-FIVE PAIR CABLES. I then asked him if there was any more questions, he said that he was going to call his lawyer so I cut the other end. I told him that I will get a check or keep cutting the other hundred cables, he gave me the check!

After that I got a deposit, with payment increments as work progresses. That way I make sure that I stay ahead of the game.

There is no fair, just business. People should get what they pay for and what they work for, a good business person insures both.

quote:

Originally posted by gg1man:
I had one creep refuse to pay me for work done one time, I TOOK OUT MY TWELVE INCH SNIPPER AND CUT ONE OF THE TWENTY-FIVE PAIR CABLES. I then asked him if there was any more questions, he said that he was going to call his lawyer so I cut the other end. I told him that I will get a check or keep cutting the other hundred cables, he gave me the check!

That is freaking awesome.

quote:

Originally posted by bazonkers:

quote:

Originally posted by gg1man:
I had one creep refuse to pay me for work done one time, I TOOK OUT MY TWELVE INCH SNIPPER AND CUT ONE OF THE TWENTY-FIVE PAIR CABLES. I then asked him if there was any more questions, he said that he was going to call his lawyer so I cut the other end. I told him that I will get a check or keep cutting the other hundred cables, he gave me the check!

That is freaking awesome.

Yea I guess it was, I was not in the mode to play that day. I repaired the three Amp connectors I wacked, then I sent him a bill for the extra work. Needless to say he never paid me for that hour.

quote:

Originally posted by Arthur P. Bloom:
...The equipment was packaged and palletized when it was put on their truck, and arrived without the pallets, lying on the floor of the truck in pieces.

Now, THIS story would be better with pictures!