5 Weeks and 1 Day Later...

Today is five weeks and one day since our moving truck pulled away with our household goods. Today is also the day that we received our final delivery of our household goods. If you count the days that the movers were packing us up, we actually went five weeks and three days before finally receiving all of our stuff. Oh wait. We have some missing things so I guess I should say most of our stuff. To say that I am a dissatisfied customer would be a massive understatement. Let me tell you how today went.

I got up at 7:30 am because we were told the local movers (they called last night to set up a delivery time) would be here between 8 am and noon. No biggie. Then I get a call at 10:36 am (I checked my caller ID thankyouverymuch) from our moving coordinator, Tonya. She's calling to ask how the offload is going. This is part of her job. She calls during packing, loading, and delivery. So I tell her, "It's going great seeing as how nobody is here." Insert awkward pause. "Nobody's there? I'll give the local company a call to see where they're at." Yeah. You do that. I don't bother to tell her we'd already gotten notification of when they'd be here and they weren't late. As a coordinator, she should have already had this information. She calls back a couple minutes later to tell me they'll be here by noon. Yup. I knew that.

So, the local moving company gets here about 15 or 20 minutes after noon. I've already waited over five weeks. Being a little late isn't something that even hits my radar but the driver explained that they went to the wrong house. I actually tell him that I've been waiting for five weeks so don't sweat the extra few minutes. Then he's all, "Is this an overseas move?" Despite the fact that our stuff is in wooden crates (Overseas moves always involve crates. Domestic moves usually don't.) and we've been waiting FIVE FREAKING WEEKS!!!! No, this isn't an overseas move. I don't say that in an all caps tone of voice. This poor schmuck has very little to do with the end results of this move. He just had the misfortune of being the third party company that was called to deliver our overflow. Seriously, our stuff was in storage so long that it had dirt and cobwebs on it. Not.Kidding.  >:|

At this point, we coordinate our lists, go over some paper work, and then the main guy and his helper dude start prying open the crates. We had two with a little over 1,000 pounds total. The first things that get in the house are our two bookcases. Out of all of our furniture and with the exception of the beds, the bookcases were the things that I was looking forward to getting and the things that I missed the most. My books are still in boxes lining the wall of our sitting area. As he unwraps the shelves, I immediately see damage. They're pine bookcases but they have that thin backing on them if you know what I mean. The backing on one has been torn completely off and there's a gigantic gouge on the back. The other has two scuff marks, a huge gouge on the front, and the backing is loosened. They both had drawers that go into the bottom that we use to keep DVDs in. Only one drawer was delivered. The other drawer has a chunk missing out of it too. I don't think the damage that has been done can be repaired. Structurally, the one can't even hold books in the condition that it's currently in. Cosmetically, they both look like crap now. I don't even want them in my living room. I'm so upset. I really loved these book cases.

Zoomed out view of bookcase 1

Up close pic of damage to bookcase 1

More upclose damage to bookcase 1

Damage to bookcase 2

Damage to bookcase 2

This is the same damage to bookcase 2 but how it looks from the inside. It's a hole.
It was really hard to get a good angle for pictures. Just so ya know.

We also had a mystery box delivered. On the inventory, it was listed as "pots and pans". We have the kitchen completely unpacked and couldn't, for the life of us, figure out what was missing that would be in this box. I open it up, and it has a really old griddle pan in it...to be fair. But then the rest of the contents was old soap making stuff:  the stick blender, kelp, rosemary, lavendar, and other colorants and additives. Yeah. Pots and pans. Sheesh.

So far, we're filing claims on two book shelves, the sofa, the Youngest Child's bike (it was delivered today minus a brake line), a broken computer monitor, a scrape on my bed, a box of missing DVDs, some missing bedding, and something else that I can't think of right now. Also thinking that an espresso finish on wooden furniture might be a bad idea if you're a military family. It shows every scratch and scrape. Then again, I don't treat my furniture like crap and it was in perfect condition before Stevens got a hold of it.

I'm happy that I can now turn on a lamp instead of using the overhead ceiling fan lights. They delivered our lamps in the first load but not the shades. But I still can't unpack my books. :(

This move has been a nightmare. NIGHTMARE. And it's not even over because we have to go through the whole claims process. I never want to move again. DO NOT HIRE STEVENS WORLDWIDE VAN LINES. PLEASE!! Not once, not one single time in the last five weeks have we gotten an apology or explanation for anything. It's shameful and I fervently hope they lose their military contract.