Adventures in Moving...

Some of you may have already heard about our difficulty in moving apartments, but here goes...
(I typed this during the event, but I didn't have internet access to post it until now)


We were supposed to move our furniture to our new apartment this morning.
Instead, we're still living in the same apartment and we might be moving tomorrow morning :)

Here's a "play-by-play" of the day's events:

-The moving company shows up without a standard moving truck. They're driving a rusty/dirty/medium sized truck with short sides and no top. Rob and I are nervous/hesitant, but unsure of what to do. We quickly realize this moving company is a "fake" (not a real company, but just some random guys with a truck using a real company's name)

-The movers come into our apartment and immediately start complaining that we have too much stuff and will need to pay more money. We were expecting this attitude and are prepared to insist on paying the original price.

-The driver of the moving company enters our apartment, keeps smoking his cigarette, and tosses his ashes on our wood floors. I decide to forget being nice and ask him to smoke in the stairwell.

-The movers tell us we need to buy "special material" from them to put around our furniture. If we don't, our furniture might get scratched or broken. We ask to see this "material" and it ends up being Bubble Wrap. They try to sell us about 10 feet of Bubble Wrap for $45. We refuse and I'm ready to send the movers away. (we find out later this "Bubble Wrap or your stuff might get broken offer" is a method of extortion)

-By this point the movers have carried a couch, 3 mattresses, bed frames, and a few other items down the 5 flights of stairs (no elevator). After carrying the stuff down, the head mover informs us he'll need to move our stuff in 2 trips to the new apartment because the truck isn't big enough. He'll have to charge us double the original price. At this point, Rob is ready to tell them to leave.

-Rob tells them to leave. We tell them we'll give them money to cover gas/expenses, but they aren't happy - they want more money. We tell them that they lied to us about their truck, their company, and their price. We are not willing to give them the full cost.

-Rob and I start carrying our furniture away from their truck (all the while Rob is arguing with the moving guys).

-Our EA neighbors are crowding around and trying to find out what commotion the white people are causing. They're mostly retired couples and they love any kind of excitement. They also love us and they want to help. Our bike lady (she lives in the basement of our building and is paid to keep our bikes from getting stolen) tells us to put our furniture into her basement instead of carrying it up the 5 flights of stairs. We quickly agree.

-The moving company guys are still sitting outside our apartment building. They refuse to leave and they refuse to take the smaller amount of money. The neighbors are now encouraging us to call the police. I think they're hoping we'll call the police :) I can still see our cute little bike lady making a phone with her hand and saying "110, 110, 110." (their 911)

-Rob threatens to call the police and the movers quickly drop their pay off amount. It's still more than we want to pay, but we also don't want them to come back and harass us. We pay them the money. Thankfully, they leave. They seem happy to be getting money for doing hardly any work.


We were able to move the next day! We hired another moving company and they did a great job. We're currently living in our new apartment in the city. We love everything, except the more expensive rent and missing our old neighbors :)