Moving Woes
After graduating from Rush, my plan was to move down to "Indian-No-Place" and study my butt off until boards came around August 22nd. I figured I'd have a solid 2 months to do that. Moving would be a challenge all its own, and I had to enlist the aid of a moving company to help me do this. But which one to choose? There are so many, and so many are not trustworthy. So I decided to call up my group and ask them which company they used.
One of the people I talked to recommended a moving company by the name of A-Arnold. I was told they did good work and that the group has never had a problem with them. And I guess they really didn't....until now.
I should have known not to go with this company when the person who came to do the initial estimate was 3-4 hours late. And things got progressively worse from there.
Disaster Number 1: On the day of my move, June 29th, the movers showed up at 11am, 2-3 hours later than they should have shown up.
"Oh, there were a couple of bad traffic accidents this morning. But we left headquarters at 6:30am." Ya know, I don't give a rat's ass. I couldn't care less of Elvis returned. They were late. Period.
After looking over all my belongings, they told me that they didn't have any boxes to pack my posessions. A moving company that doesn't bring boxes with them. Okay, so not only are irresponsible and not on time, but they're also unprepared. They proceeded to call their headquarters for instructions while I waited upstairs in my apartment. But after an hour of waiting, I went outside and offerred to get my own boxes. My offer was declined, and then the moving crew decided it was time for lunch break. An hour and 45 minutes later, they returned and told me they knew of a place where they could get boxes. It took their headquarters 2 hours and 45 minutes to find a store that sold moving boxes? Apparently, people move extremely slowly from Indiana.
By that time, I asked if they would be able to pack my things, load up the truck, and move me in all in one shot. The guy from headquarters told me it would not be possible, and that they could be fined if they moved people in past a certain hour. My options were: a) to load up my stuff into their truck and have them move it to a warehouse where it would sit for 2-3 days before being moved back on to a truck and then to my new apartment, or b) to try to do it, again the right way the following week. By this time, I was skeptical and distrustful so I opted for the following week. If they weren't responsible to show up on time, there's no way I'd let them store my belongings in their warehouse so that they could jack up the price by charging "storage fees".
Opting for choice b actually got me in to a load of trouble with my landlord, who called me up at work the next day and screamed like a banshee at me to get out of my apartment by the following day. That was at 3pm. So my friends and I moved all my crap out in to Richel's apartment until 11pm. We took a break for food and then I resumed at 1am until 6am. I was so tired the next day; it was like being on call all over, again. The good news was that I finally got out of my apartment. A bit late, but still got out. But now I was living in Richel's tiny studio apartment with all my junk crammed in there. There was literally no space to walk, and my things were stacked up to the ceiling. But it was okay, because it would be temporary. The movers would come, again in 6 days and clean up this mess. Or so I thought.
Disaster Number 2: Tuesday came around, the day when A-Arnold movers were supposed to get it right and move me. They showed up at 9:15am, a considerably improved showing compared to their previous attempt. However, they were telling me that they had no place to park, that the police was telling them to move their truck because they parked in front of a fire hydrant, and that the closest parking spot was 3 blocks away. They couldn't double-park because that would block off part of the road, and they also needed a special permit that only local Chicago moving companies had. Again, they said there was no way they would be able to move me and in fact, suggested that I go with another local company. Foiled, once again.
So I looked up another company and found Chicago Movers. Can't get any more local than that, eh? Anyway, they said they could move me out that Sunday and that they would be by to do a quick estimate and drop off some boxes. Being the cautious one, I checked these guys online with the Better Business Bureau and they actually had one complaint in the past 3 years, but was resolved satisfactorily. By comparison, A-Arnold had a spotless record (they won't for long). But although Chicago Movers had a complaint, they were awesome. They were on time, did the job quickly, moved me out and in to my new place, and handled my things with great care. Chicago Movers were excellent, and I would use them again in a heartbeat! And they were cheaper than A-Arnold, too!
So, after all this disaster, I called up my group and spoke with the lady who referred me to A-Arnold, the worst moving company ever. And she basically blew me off.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. But we've never had a problem with them. I've been in contact with them the entire time, so I've been in the loop and I know what's going on. They've moved many other physicians and they've never had a problem with A-Arnold. In fact, we use them exclusively." So you're telling me *I'M* the problem? I explained to her that I was fed up with A-Arnold and that I was going to use another mover, Chicago Movers. Her reaction to that statement was very puzzling, as she sounded suddenly annoyed and almost indignant.
"Well, you know! You only have a limited stipend for moving and A-Arnold is going to bill you for that." I see. A moving company bills people for not moving them. That makes total sense, and I made this viewpoint known to my liason. However, my plea fell on deaf ears, as she seemed partial to the incompetent moving company.
The following day, I called up the moving company and asked them if there would be any charges. Sure enough, $2,000 would be charged to my moving stipend. That was amazing and I could not believe it. I talked to the operations manager for A-Arnold and discussed this situation very diplomatically. He told me he would talk to his boss and try to work something out. Either way, the Better Business Bureau would know about this.
So that's my moving story. From my experience, I can only say this:
A-Arnold World Class Movers are a bunch of liars and crooks. I would never use them, and would never recommend them to anyone unless I hated that person. Beware, fellow movers.
One of the people I talked to recommended a moving company by the name of A-Arnold. I was told they did good work and that the group has never had a problem with them. And I guess they really didn't....until now.
I should have known not to go with this company when the person who came to do the initial estimate was 3-4 hours late. And things got progressively worse from there.
Disaster Number 1: On the day of my move, June 29th, the movers showed up at 11am, 2-3 hours later than they should have shown up.
"Oh, there were a couple of bad traffic accidents this morning. But we left headquarters at 6:30am." Ya know, I don't give a rat's ass. I couldn't care less of Elvis returned. They were late. Period.
After looking over all my belongings, they told me that they didn't have any boxes to pack my posessions. A moving company that doesn't bring boxes with them. Okay, so not only are irresponsible and not on time, but they're also unprepared. They proceeded to call their headquarters for instructions while I waited upstairs in my apartment. But after an hour of waiting, I went outside and offerred to get my own boxes. My offer was declined, and then the moving crew decided it was time for lunch break. An hour and 45 minutes later, they returned and told me they knew of a place where they could get boxes. It took their headquarters 2 hours and 45 minutes to find a store that sold moving boxes? Apparently, people move extremely slowly from Indiana.
By that time, I asked if they would be able to pack my things, load up the truck, and move me in all in one shot. The guy from headquarters told me it would not be possible, and that they could be fined if they moved people in past a certain hour. My options were: a) to load up my stuff into their truck and have them move it to a warehouse where it would sit for 2-3 days before being moved back on to a truck and then to my new apartment, or b) to try to do it, again the right way the following week. By this time, I was skeptical and distrustful so I opted for the following week. If they weren't responsible to show up on time, there's no way I'd let them store my belongings in their warehouse so that they could jack up the price by charging "storage fees".
Opting for choice b actually got me in to a load of trouble with my landlord, who called me up at work the next day and screamed like a banshee at me to get out of my apartment by the following day. That was at 3pm. So my friends and I moved all my crap out in to Richel's apartment until 11pm. We took a break for food and then I resumed at 1am until 6am. I was so tired the next day; it was like being on call all over, again. The good news was that I finally got out of my apartment. A bit late, but still got out. But now I was living in Richel's tiny studio apartment with all my junk crammed in there. There was literally no space to walk, and my things were stacked up to the ceiling. But it was okay, because it would be temporary. The movers would come, again in 6 days and clean up this mess. Or so I thought.
Disaster Number 2: Tuesday came around, the day when A-Arnold movers were supposed to get it right and move me. They showed up at 9:15am, a considerably improved showing compared to their previous attempt. However, they were telling me that they had no place to park, that the police was telling them to move their truck because they parked in front of a fire hydrant, and that the closest parking spot was 3 blocks away. They couldn't double-park because that would block off part of the road, and they also needed a special permit that only local Chicago moving companies had. Again, they said there was no way they would be able to move me and in fact, suggested that I go with another local company. Foiled, once again.
So I looked up another company and found Chicago Movers. Can't get any more local than that, eh? Anyway, they said they could move me out that Sunday and that they would be by to do a quick estimate and drop off some boxes. Being the cautious one, I checked these guys online with the Better Business Bureau and they actually had one complaint in the past 3 years, but was resolved satisfactorily. By comparison, A-Arnold had a spotless record (they won't for long). But although Chicago Movers had a complaint, they were awesome. They were on time, did the job quickly, moved me out and in to my new place, and handled my things with great care. Chicago Movers were excellent, and I would use them again in a heartbeat! And they were cheaper than A-Arnold, too!
So, after all this disaster, I called up my group and spoke with the lady who referred me to A-Arnold, the worst moving company ever. And she basically blew me off.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. But we've never had a problem with them. I've been in contact with them the entire time, so I've been in the loop and I know what's going on. They've moved many other physicians and they've never had a problem with A-Arnold. In fact, we use them exclusively." So you're telling me *I'M* the problem? I explained to her that I was fed up with A-Arnold and that I was going to use another mover, Chicago Movers. Her reaction to that statement was very puzzling, as she sounded suddenly annoyed and almost indignant.
"Well, you know! You only have a limited stipend for moving and A-Arnold is going to bill you for that." I see. A moving company bills people for not moving them. That makes total sense, and I made this viewpoint known to my liason. However, my plea fell on deaf ears, as she seemed partial to the incompetent moving company.
The following day, I called up the moving company and asked them if there would be any charges. Sure enough, $2,000 would be charged to my moving stipend. That was amazing and I could not believe it. I talked to the operations manager for A-Arnold and discussed this situation very diplomatically. He told me he would talk to his boss and try to work something out. Either way, the Better Business Bureau would know about this.
So that's my moving story. From my experience, I can only say this:
A-Arnold World Class Movers are a bunch of liars and crooks. I would never use them, and would never recommend them to anyone unless I hated that person. Beware, fellow movers.
posted by V-Hume at 10:12 PM
1 Comments:
thanks for the tip.
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