I just finished moving from NOLA to Florida. It was a mostly smooth move, but with a few very large hiccups along the way.
After match, I began looking into U-Hauls and moving companies. I was surprised to see a one-way U-Hail being very comparable to professional movers. And I thought to myself (albeit very misguided), why move yourself when someone can take the hassle out of it? So, I get a few quotes and decide to go with United Van Lines, since they seemed reputable and quoted a reasonable price.
Well that is when everything began to go wrong. After not hearing anything from United for a couple weeks, I gave them a call to ask a few questions, such as confirming the reservation and when they typically come out. When I spoke with the receptionist, they could not find my reservation or confirmation #. They told me the person who normally looks into these things was out to lunch. After living in New Orleans for 10 years, I expect these things. So I wait 4-5 hours, and after no follow-up I call back and straighten things out. I also found some of my paperwork was missing from my packet and had to have it emailed to me.
Six days before my move, I call again to confirm. I find out that a truck has not yet been confirmed for my move, but they told me they would have one by Monday and they would call me then. So, I wait till Monday.
By Monday afternoon (T minus 3 days till move), I had not received a call, so once again I call to the office. And find out things appear to be finally on track.
Wednesday morning, I decided to sleep in before the move scheduled the next day, only to be rudely awakened by several people wearing United shirts. I was quite confused, knowing the day was Wednesday and I was moving on Thursday. When I informed the movers this, they asked me what day of the week it was, the date, if I was sure, and if they could just move then. At this point, I was a bit more awake and was delighted to see track marks decorating both the arms of two of the so-called ‘movers.’ At this point, I turned them away and waited a couple minutes so the van crew could phone in and I called the United office. They had no idea what transpired and could no explain what transpired. At this point, I was left with very little recourse, I fired them.
At this point, I booked a U-Haul with a trailer for my car (several hundred dollars cheaper than the estimate a few weeks ago!). I then scrambled and called/emailed everyone I knew in town and was very lucky to receive help moving by a few great friends. With a fully packed 17′ U-Haul and the company of my best friend, I hit the road to Florida.
Everything was going swimmingly till mile marker 168 in Florida, when the rear wheel of my trailer blew out. No damage was done, but I was even luckier to have a friend making the trip with me to preserve my sanity while waiting 90 minutes for the repairman to come to replace 2 wheels (another wheel was about 1 mile from blowing out)
So other than absolute incompetence, drugged out movers coming a day early, and losing a tire at 70 mph the move went fantastically!