Monday, May 2, 2016

ONE MORE THING

I want to elaborate on my previous post (What's in the Box?) and answer a few questions that were raised - concerning my move from Texas to Tennessee.

I hired Hart Moving and Storage - -a supposedly "reputable" moving company (hahaha) and naively assumed that they would transport my possessions from Lubbock to TN non-stop. It seemed like a simple process.

Instead (surprise surprise) they transferred my belongings to several other vans along the way (exactly why, God only knows). When they finally got to my Tennessee home, the mountain road was too narrow for the huge Bekins van (yes, Bekins) to maneuver (I had warned them). They had to return to town and transfer (again!) all my possessions to a much smaller UHaul truck.
On top of this, I later discovered that most of the boxes WERE NOT LABLED, so it would have been extremely easy to lose them.

AND there was a TWO MONTH DELAY thanks to the Christmas season.

Worst of all (could it get worse?) I paid nearly $10,000 in storage and moving costs (!!!) and couldn't afford insurance. I didn't think I needed it.

They lost all my diaries & journals, nearly all of my piano music, my collection of antique books, original  antique oil paintings, ALL of my tools, lawn mowers, brooms & sweepers, some furniture, area rugs, dishes and kitchen items....
It was the worst experience of my life, and - believe me - I've had plenty.

So far nothing has been resolved - - but I'm not done with them, by a longshot.

Hope you read my previous post!    Jon

23 comments:

  1. i know what it is like to move too. it is hard for me to trust strangers with my stuff. I can not imagine how devastating losing those things must have been to you. MONEY can not replace such important memories. BUT I would SUE these people to bring home the point it was their job to PROTECT these items of yours, insurance or not.

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    1. I am extremely sentimental, and those journals and my mother's piano music were truly my most cherished possessions. As you said, no money could replace them. I never dreamed that a supposedly "professional" moving company could be so careless and incompetent.

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  2. I have used movers 2-3 times, and screamed at them 2-3 times. Nasty business.

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    1. These movers took unprofessionalism to new levels.

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  3. Jon,

    I assume they lost any guns as well, otherwise you would have probably shot them and pushed the Uhaul over a Tennessee revenue.

    Larry

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  4. Movers can be a horrific experience even when you are right there with them at both ends and you are only moving within the city! I can't imagine moving cross country and leaving them alone with all your belongings and having them transfer and retransfer all your stuff--OMG! Don't let them off the hook!!!

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    1. In the past I always did my own moving - and so did my parents. This was the very first time I relied on "professional" movers, and it is definitely the last. I assumed that it would be an easy and quick move. I would have been better off taking my own belongings in a covered wagon and a team of oxen.

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  5. Re lasr blog entry
    I had a Polaroid of olivia de havilland ( sent to me 1977) and signed by her
    I loved it

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    1. That's fantastic! She's still living in Paris and will be 100 this summer! A very gracious lady.

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  6. This brings back horrific memories of my own experience moving cross-country. I'm to blame in large part for taking the bait of an unknown company, not asking for references, etc. They kept extending the delivery date to the point I feared they'd lost all my belongings.

    I hope Hart Moving and Storage makes a honest, concerted effort to locate your personal effects ... or better, goes bankrupt recompensing you!

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    1. I (and my parents) have had numerous bad experiences with businesses in Texas. I have always despised everything about Texas and with good reason. I'm not done with Hart.....

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  7. when spouse and I moved from NoVA to philly in 1999, the fucking "movers" stole some of spouse's CDs, broke a lamp, AND hijacked his credit card number! I put a fraud call into the credit card company so that the "movers" never got their $500 package of goodies ordered from QVC! people suck.

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    1. My response to your comment somehow got deleted.
      All I'll say is that I've learned from bitter experience never to trust ANYONE when it comes to business, and I'd NEVER hire a moving company again - - but it's FAR too late.

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  8. WHAT! $10,000!!!! vapors, vapors. I need my smelling salts........

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. The last thing you need is vapors, but Jon may need them.

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    3. I'm STILL using smelling salts over the $10,000.

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  9. Jon, I looked up Hart (of Lubbock) on Yelp and found little in the way of info --except that they merged with Wheaton World Wide Moving in 1975. Yelp's Wheaton entry provides a lot of customer-reviews that closely parallel your experience. Essentially, Hart and Wheaton are the same company --what do you think? Smells of organized crime to me.

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    1. P.s.: Looked up Hart --at http://hartmovingandstorage.com/ --and their photo shows staff posing in front of Wheaton bldg. This is a bit scary and I suggest caution. Best left to FBI, eh?

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    2. Thanks for the information, Geo. I had no idea that Hart merged with Wheaton. That is indeed scary, because I've heard bad things about Wheaton. I only chose Hart because I needed a company that had storage. I was initially very suspicious when I saw that they use moving vans from many different companies.

      I've already written a very detailed letter of my plight, with very detailed lists of the missing items, and also as many photos of the missing items that I could find.

      Now that you mentioned the connection with Wheaton, I plan to do more investigating. I'm not exaggerating when I say that MANY businesses in Texas are "shady" and/or incompetent. My parents have had bad experiences there, also.

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  10. Oh dear. I wondered how this could have happened. It never occurred to me they would have to change trucks for the winding and narrows roads to your home. But plain and simple it just sucks. I do remember you blogging about the delay in the van arriving though. And the money you spend! That's at least a months supply of gin for the Casa
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    1. I needed my possessions delivered in early November and they made me wait until mid-January!

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