A$$hole from El Paso

I empathize.

Moving is one of those no-win propositions. When I moved from a condo to a townhouse, I had hired movers to put stuff into storage. They did a great job so I hired them again when it came time to get the stuff from storage into the new place.

About 8:00 AM they hadn't shown up yet. 9:00 AM. 10:00AM. They finally call back -- they're having trouble with their truck. Noon. No movers. I told them I have a moving truck I'd rented because I was getting furniture from three stores on the same day. They were welcome to use it. They never showed up at all. I wound up doing the moving with my wife and a 120 pound co-worker who didn't provide much in the way of muscle.

This time I moved from the townhouse down to Texas. I did the usual screening of vendors, checked references, etc. I went with a firm that was highly recommended and had close to the lowest price. They show up and seem to do a great job.

When I'm driving through Texas I get a call from the moving company. They're planning to charge me a fuel surcharge and a few thousand for the extra boxes, tape and bubble wrap needed to pack up some of the irregular-shaped things.

After screaming bloody murder at them and doing whatever research I could from the phone while driving I figured I'd pay up and fight it after the fact. Fortunately a bribe in the form of beer and a huge sandwich worked wonders and the foreman on the Texas side crossed the fuel surcharge off the bill. That was about $1200 savings but there was still the matter of the supplies. As they brought boxes in I counted and came up with the price of the materials.

I then showed them their own printed price list for supplies along with the letters I'd prepared to the Interstate Commerce Commission about their blatant price gouging. About 90% of that charge magically disappeared from the bill, too. I was OK with the 10% since they had provided some additional supplies.

Next time I move, I think it would be easier just to sell everything you own and buy all new when you arrive!

__________________
Originally posted by KingDiggler:

I'm glad he's finally seen the light