Movers Beware

We are currently in the midst of another PCS move and we thought things were going really well.  We were pretty satisfied with our packers and the driver seemed to be a nice guy, too.

Then we arrived at our new duty station and received a call from the Transportation Office.  The caller (a female named Fred!) wanted to know if we had a partial DITY in addition to the moving truck.  JD told her we that we did and she informed him that we were already just 220 lbs. under our weight limit.  That didn't sound right seeing as how we'd just moved last year and our weight was about 3,000 lbs. less than that.  We were a little worried considering we'd just hauled about 2500 lbs. ourselves, but figured it had to be a mistake.

As luck would have it, JD was on his way to the local moving company to weigh our empty truck and when he arrived, our driver Thomas was also there - dropping off our crates.  JD spoke with Thomas and told him there was no way we had that much weight.  Thomas said he'd double check the trailer and make sure no one else's stuff was on there and then get a reweigh.  I was content with that answer because I was certain it was just a mistake.

By this time though, JD had a feeling that something shady was going on.  He left, but asked the lady at the warehouse to please call him when the reweigh was complete.  When she called back she had some interesting news to share; the driver weighed again and came back with the same weight.  Luckily for us, with experience comes knowledge and she had both.  She looked at the number of crates he left behind and concluded that there was no way we had the amount of weight he claimed.  She had all of our crates loaded onto one of their trucks and weighed it yet again. 

Yeah, our official weight was 2,800 lbs. less than the driver claimed!  That's a lot!  This is what we've concluded happened.  Our driver knew our pay grade and, therefore, our weight limit.  We believe that he planned on weighing in just under the limit so as not to raise any red flags and make some extra money in the process.  What he didn't plan on is someone at Transportation knowing it was pretty unlikely that we'd make a move without some sort of partial DITY.  He also didn't plan on someone at the moving company paying attention to the number of crates that we had.  And actually reweighing it.

For us, this was an eye opener.  When JD first told me he thought something shady was going on, I thought he was crazy.  The idea that this could happen never even crossed my mind! 

While I hope that this isn't happening regularly, I am sure it is happening to others at least occasionally.  So, be aware that there are less than honest people out there trying to make a buck at the (possible) expense of military families.  Had we not had this all figured out, we would have had to absorb the cost of our DITY move.   For those not doing a DITY, it's still important to pay attention to your total weight.  If you think it's higher than it should be, don't be afraid to question it.  We've probably all had our share of complaints about moving companies; the last thing we should have to deal with is a crooked moving company.

Comments

[Sarah]

Holy cow, PLEASE let this be the reason we always come in so close to our weight allowance...
Will keep this in mind next move,thanks.

[angela]

Our last move some shady stuff went on. We had some games stolen but couldn't get anything done about it. Transportation told us to talk to movers, movers said talk to transportation. I made sure all our games were in the correct case the day before movers got there. Other end of move all I got was empty cases. Plus one mover broke a vase right in front of me then denied it and packed it broke so it would look like it broke during the trip. Husband had tools stolen but not all of them they just picked out what they wanted and packed the rest. Plus a neighbor came over with his tools to help me with one last thing and a mover picked his tools up when we left the room. We caught him trying to put them in his personal car. My husband said we have to move ourselves next time because that was the biggest mess to try and deal with. Also the movers told me it was my place to go to Burger King and get their food. They also took food from my freezer of course I didn't notice until that night when my kids asked where our food went. Moving myself is looking better all the time.

[Sarah P.]

I hope this guy faces some consequences for his untruthful shady-ness.

[MO]

We get stuff stolen or broken every single time. I've had movers walk off the job and nothing done about it!!!

[angela]

In my case I knew it was going to be bad when the movers were 2 hours late. The security guards wouldn't let them on base because none of them were legal to drive. They had to call around until they could find someone who could drive for them. I was told that all off their arrest were years ago and had nothing to do with the work they would do for me. When the actual moving truck driver arrived I made sure he was legal to drive. I know the army tries to goes cheap but tell that to all my stuff that was stolen.

[name must not be blank]

imagine that?

[RedLegMeg]

After a quick read through the comments, I'm kind of in shock! Sounds like we got off easy! I've had a few things broken, but nothing too serious and I don't think I've ever had anything stolen. I remember thinking I had, but then finding it in some random box later.

Angela, that is just CRAZY! I can't even imagine being put in a situation like that. I have heard of problems with getting the packers on post due to ID issues, though.

MO, they just walked off the job? Did they ever come back?

[Iko]

Argh! My movers are coming in 2 days. Not only is this my first PCS move but I have to supervise the entire thing alone - don't know how i'm meant to watch 3 rooms be packed at once :( Freaking out just a little now. Is it worth my time to photograph/video EVERYTHING prior to the movers??

[angela]

I was there alone for the move and they had the nerve to tell me I should have watched them closer. I had 7 movers!! One in each of the 4 bedrooms, 1 in kitchen, 1 in living and 1 making sure the rest did their job. Then the driver showed up and I had to sign tons of papers. Now how was I suppose to "watch" everyone?

[GBear]

Great lesson to learn during another move season. We've had lots of broken items, but we've never experienced something this heinous! I hope it's more of an anomaly than a common occurrence! Don't worry too much Iko, but be aware!

[Jen]

Kudos to you for not sitting back and assuming all was well. It is sad that people choose to be shady. Especially to those serving our country. Perseverance goes a long way. Good luck at your new location.

[plc]

I actually took pictures while they were packing. I don't know if it kept them honest but it is really neat to go back and look at everything packed up and see how packers do stuff in Europe.

Unfortunately when unpacking we could definitly tell which boxes were packed when we weren't supervising.

And make sure they list your shipments correctly. When we moved to Belgium we did a short shipment and a long shipment. The short one was supposed to have things we would need right away; winter clothes, dishes etc. Well we got a tabletop (no legs) and various stuff we didn't need right away. Plus the weight limit is much smaller for the quick shipment. And as you know furniture weight adds up quick! The 2 times we have moved we have had a mixed bag of movers; some of the workers are great and others on the same team will be either not too smart, shady or very lazy.

[Pattie]

Wow. Just...wow. I am glad to know what to watch for, but am so sad this happens. Like military families don't have enough to deal with!

[ChaoticMom]

Wow. Our truck is being packed right now. We were "at our limit" when we moved here, got rid of a LOT of stuff, and are now being told the same thing. Truth is, we do still need to purge. Parents have cleaned out their basements and attics, and have sent it all to us. YIKES! I've asked if they could please wait until Hubby retires, as we just can't haul much more around. When we get to the next location, we've promised ourselves to go through at least three boxes a day, purge as much as possible, and live as simply as possible. Wish us luck! ;)

[DAVID HARRIS]

I have had this same situation happen to me and it seems that these contractors are trying to defraud people. After my reweight the weight was to my satisfaction but it amazing how people attempt to screw over other people.