Ready things packed smile
You are ready to move! Your things are packed, you have a smile on your face and everything is looking good. The movers are there. In fact they were early! Everything seems to be going according to plan. You decide to go to Starbucks while the movers are carrying your things out. After all, you’ve earned it! You organized a huge move and you have everything running smoothly. You go to Starbucks and grab yourself something with loads of caffeine in it. As you head back to your soon to be old place, you smile with gratification at how well you’ve handled things. You did it! You rock! When you get back, to your amazement, you discover that the movers have cleared everything out and loaded everything into their truck. Yes! Thanks to your great planning and project management skills, you are on your way to being finished with the move!
The movers follow you to the new place. As they pull up, you think about the unpacking you have to do. You don’t wince a bit. Unpacking is no problem for you because you are the super-mover! You leap tall boxes in a single bound. You can unpack with the best of them. You aren’t worried. You notice that some of the movers seem preoccupied with a few of your boxes. You watch them. Ok. Nothing is wrong you determine from a distance. You go back to thinking about how wonderful you are. As you stand there observing with your satisfied smile, one of your new neighbors comes over to greet you. “Welcome!” You smile, laugh and talk with your new neighbor. You are witty and charming and your new neighbor is impressed. You have had such a pleasant move that you are in an awesome mood.
You wrap up your conversation with your new neighbor and go inside to unpack. The movers bring in the last box. You tip the head guy and they leave. Ahhh, the sweet smell of success! You managed to plan, coordinate and pull of a move without a hitch. You are really something! You decide to start unpacking things in the corner with the most boxes. As you begin unpacking you notice something odd. Some of the boxes seem to be damaged. It looks as if the movers slammed some of the heavier boxes down on top of some lighter weight boxes thereby crushing the smaller boxes. Oh no! What can this mean? What are you going to do? You don’t panic. You are, after all, the super-mover. You open the first box. It had a coffee maker and those goofy coffee cups a friend purchased that you just hated. Guess what? They are all smashed to pieces. Oh no! Caffeine at any time of the day! Now that you can’t have that, what will you do! The temperature starts to rise in your body as you rush to another box. You slice the top open in a hurry almost taking your fingers off. Slow down! You’re breathing heavy as you lift the flap of the box and peer sheepishly inside. Oh my goodness! Everything is broken in this box too. As you scurry from box to box like a squirrel on steroids, your mind is racing. What are you going to do? Who are you going to blame for this mess? How could you have missed this? Well you were outside talking to that darn neighbor! You did go to Starbucks and get that caffeinated something. Maybe that’s when it happened.
As you finish going through the boxes, your smile has faded. You realize now that this Moving company damaged your property. You are angry and upset. You want restitution and you want it now! You grab your camera and start taking pictures of the damage. One plate, two plates, three plates, four. Five plates, six plates, seven plates more. You count the damage like a kid counting in a nursery rhyme. As you count, you try to remember what you just did with that invoice the head moving guy gave you. You finish taking pictures and counting and you remember where you put that piece of paper. You pick the paper up and scan it quickly for the address. You are going over to the office of this Moving company RIGHT NOW to show them the damage they inflicted on your precious belongings. Oh but wait! There is no address! What? No address? Yep, no address!
How can this be? How can there NOT be an address for this business? Now that you think about it, you did just pick them out of the phone book. There was nothing but a banner that said something about great movers and their phone number. There was, however, no street address and no city and state. You take a deep breath. Surely 411 will be able to help! You dial 411 and wait impatiently for an operator to take the line. “Acme Movers please.” The operator responds dryly, “City and state please.” You gasp as you move the phone to your chest. You realize that you don’t even know the city and state of this company. What are you going to do?
This scenario plays out across the world everyday. When you move, you shouldn’t just trust your belongings to anyone. You’ve worked hard for the things you have and your Moving company should reflect that. You need movers you can trust. You need movers with a solid reputation and you need movers that have an actual physical address for their business not just some phone number for you to call. Moving is serious. When you have a problem or when you need to ask questions, you need to be able to do it in person or over the phone. Moving companies with physical offices provide you with some assurance that the business is going to be around tomorrow. And, if something does happen to the company, there is a viable lease paper trail for them that can perhaps allow you to pursue legal remedies against them. Companies with just a phone number can operate out of any place, by any person. You really have no way of knowing what’s going on with a Moving company like that. A lot of people think a SOHO office isn’t important. However, it is very important. Often the location of a business will determine where you have to go to pursue any legal issues. If all you have is a 1-800 number, you may have a hard time legally getting to any money you should receive for damage to your property. Not to mention the fact that a Moving company with a SOHO office provides you with a place to go and scream. Yeah, you can call someone over at the Moving company to scream about your stuff, but, as we all know, caller id is easy to use to screen those pesky unsatisfied customer calls. Once they know your number and that you are dissatisfied, they will probably stop picking up your calls. Now do you think that it’s worth the risk?
When it comes to your important possessions, play it safe. Select a Reputable Moving Company. Make sure the company has references and make sure that you take the time to contact those references. Invest the time to go to the Moving company’s office. How does the office look? Is it well kept? Is it a pigsty? How a business office is maintained can tell you a lot about the company right away. If things are out of order and in disarray, that is probably exactly how that business is managed. Make sure the company offers insurance. Make sure you know their policy on damage to your goods. Never do business with a company that just has a phone number. You may not be able to reach anyone at that number should you require assistance or need help with claims. Don’t just select a company because of the price. Doing that can end up costing you less in the short term, but way more in the long run. Invest in your things and choose the right mover. Your valuables are counting on you.
