Relocation Horrors?

[Things2Come]

So I've come here to express my frustration and worries about relocating from California to Ohio.

The house we want in Ohio won't be ready until April, so for the first month we'll be living out of an extended stay hotel. It's supposed to have a kitchen, separate bedroom and be "like" a home, but I'm just really disappointed about the whole situation.

We also have a moving company that will be loading the truck and taking it back, but we have to rent a storage unit for 30 days and then move everything into the home ourselves when we it becomes available. So instead of having someone do all the work, it's become a big hassle.

To top things off on my bitchfest here, his last day will be the 28th of Feb. and he starts on March 6th. So after taking a day or two to clean this place up, we'll have to drive for 3 days just so he can start work right away.

So, if you made it this far, thanks for reading. I do feel somewhat better that I can get my complaints off my chest. If you have a relocation story to share, I'd be interested in reading just so my situation doesn't seem nearly so bad.

[Jolena]

Well, I'll chime in before I head off to bed.

James and I did a 1200 mile move in a U'Haul from Oklahoma to Florida and it was hellish. All in all, it could have been much worse, I realize. But we drove all that way, stopped at hotels on the way of course for rest, and had the added bonus of having a cat with us in a carrier in the front. She did pretty well, truth be told, but it was not comfortable at all.

We get to the new house, after a 3 day trip, and find out that the electricity is not on as planned. So! It's off to yet another hotel for a fourth day. Next day, we moved in yada yada but we vowed never to do it 'ourselves' again. We're hiring a company next time.

I'm sorry yours went so poorly. It's a tad worse than mine in details but it will blow over soon enough. Congrats on the move though!

[Jorddyn]

We also have a moving company that will be loading the truck and taking it back, but we have to rent a storage unit for 30 days and then move everything into the home ourselves when we it becomes available. So instead of having someone do all the work, it's become a big hassle.


There are some moving companies that will hold all of your stuff until you are ready to move in. You may want to look into it.

And, moving sucks.

Jorddyn

[CrystalTears]

There are storage places, like Public Storage and such, who send storage units to your home, you load it up and they hold it in their warehouse. Then when you go to your new home they deliver the containers there. Just need to find the storage place that delivers to Ohio is all. Maybe Killer Kitten will show up and give some advice, since she moved to Ohio from New York not too long ago.

Good luck with your move. Moves are always hard and a pain in the ass, but once you're settled in with your things, you'll feel better. :)

[AnticorRifling]

PODS best thing ever.

[Caiylania]

I am relocating to Oklahoma from Italy... that will not be the funnest move- a three year old, a horse, two cats, two dogs, all in a truck hauling a horse trailer with three adults from cali -where the horse and truck are to be picked up- to OK.

So really hoping for you it all works out. Why won't the house be ready?

[Augie]

When Steve and I bought our house, we had one hellatious time moving. We were only going from Hollywood, FL to Jacksonville, FL. Not too bad right? WRONG.

First U-haul screwed up and didn't have our truck for us. We ordered a 17 foot truck, had it confirmed, but the first place we went to in order to pick it up was closed. We go to the second place, they're out of trailers. They send us to the big corporate u-haul place - THEY don't have any trailers. They tell us they don't know when they'll get them in, and that we never had a confirmed reservation.

I called their corporate offices and kept getting hung up on and yelled at and pretty much told tough shit. Well they get us a 14' trailer. I knew that our stuff would never fit in a 14' trailer. We needed that extra 3 cu ft. Well...anyways, fine we start loading the trailer.

It's me, Steve, my in-laws, and Zimzum bustin our asses getting the truck loaded. We're putting like the last things on the truck and they call me and are like "Oh, your 17' truck is in, come get it!" #$&#*$@#&)!!!

I was so pissed. We wound up having to leave a shitload of stuff at my in-laws' house and then pick it up again. But, I did manage to swing 200 bucks off the rental fee and unlimited mileage. But yeeesh I was pissed off then.

Thank God we're not planning on moving again anytime soon.

[Skirmisher]

PODS best thing ever.

I was going to suggest looking into them also.

I have not used the service nor do I know anyone personally who has, but the concept sounds great.

http://www.pods.com/

[Things2Come]

There are some moving companies that will hold all of your stuff until you are ready to move in. You may want to look into it.

And, moving sucks.

Jorddyn


They can hold everything but they want to charge $2100 more to store it. For that much money we decided to do it ourselves since it's already going to cost quite a bit to move back.

[Things2Come]

So really hoping for you it all works out. Why won't the house be ready?

It's a rental and the current tenants won't be out until Mid March. We may be able to get into it early, but I was really looking forward to having the movers do all the work.

[Things2Come]

I was going to suggest looking into them also.

I have not used the service nor do I know anyone personally who has, but the concept sounds great.

http://www.pods.com/


I asked about the PODs but he says we have too much stuff to fit into one of them.

[CrystalTears]

I asked about the PODs but he says we have too much stuff to fit into one of them.

So.. you can't get two?

[Things2Come]

I think that would make it more expensive than the other moving company. We're not exactly rich so we're trying to save money where we can. :)

[Killer Kitten]

When we moved from NYC to Ohio, Mike went to Ohio first. He got a cheap apartment and started his new job. He also house hunted.

Meanwhile in NY, I packed up everything we owned, hired movers and sold our house. We had a few hairy moments when our Ohio purchase looked iffy - the NY buyer was screwing around and we were in danger of losing the Ohio house because we needed the money from the NY house, but it all came together.

For the move itself, I used United Van Lines and they were wonderful. I can't say enough about how courteous, accomodating and professional their moving crew and office folks were. The price wasn't bad either.

United picked up all of our stuff on a Tuesday, and it got to our house the following Friday. We'd have had it sooner but this was Thanksgiving week. I rented a small U-Haul trailer and loaded it up with absolute necessities, perishables and all of my cat things. I camped with a sleeping bag and air mattress that Tuesday night. Wednesday morning I tossed the last stuff into the trailer, put my cats in their carriers and drove to Ohio. It poured rain and I was unused to driving with a trailer. I just put a good book on CD in the player and took my time.

While I was driving out, Mike closed on our Ohio house and got the keys. When I got there we put the perishables in the fridge, set up a temporary cat room and settled the cats in with food, water and litter pans. Then we spent the night in a hotel.

All in all moving isn't the most pleasant experience in the world, but it did go very smoothly. Mike and I spent close to three months with separate addresses and that was the hardest part.

The thing I'd recommend most is if you're moving with animals be sure each one is wearing a tag with your cell phone number. Also if you have to remove a cat from its carrier for any reason to do it with all of your car doors shut.

[Chastittee]

I'd definitely double check the pricing and size of the PODS. My brother in law, his wife, and they're two kids moved from CT to NC using a PODS unit.

As far as my relocation story...

My hubby had recently lost his job and our house hunting in CT was a mess. We had 180k mortgage set and all we could find was a tiny little 1940's cape cod that needed an additional 80k in repairs just to live in it. So, we decided that was the perfect time to move.

Gary and his father drove a Uhaul truck down and his friend AJ and his wife drove Gary's truck down behind them. They all left early on a Friday morning. I had to work 4 to midnight, so I left my then 5 month old daughter with my mom til I got out of work. On the way home, I picked my dad up at his place and went to get my daughter. My mother decided to pitch a fit, crying, screaming, swearing, telling me I was the worst daughter and mother ever.

Traveling 14 hours with a 5 month old was a bit rough, but we managed. When we got close, I called my hubby's cell to get exact directions to the rental house we'd set up. He gave me some BS "Oh, I've been there twice, but I keep getting lost. Just meet me at my uncle's and I'll show you the way." I argued, but got no where so we went to his uncle's. When I walked in, hubby and father in law weren't there. His friend AJ jumped up and said Did you kill him? And I was like WTF?? He said Oh shit he didn't tell you yet.

Turns out the dickhead landlord decided to change all of our lease terms since we hadn't yet signed it and he figured we'd have no place else to go and would have to agree to them. My hubby said fuck you and left. So, after him being there for 24 hours and me spending 14 hours in a car with a 5 month old, we had no place to live.

He finally showed up and was all Don't worry, we have a house. He and his father drove around for four hours to every place they could find til they found a house for rent. The problem was the old tenants hadn't yet moved out and weren't expected to for three more days. So, we bargained. He agreed to move all of his stuff into the bedroom and lock the door and let us clean the place and move in. He came back two days later and cleared out the rest.

So, I get to starting all the bs of changing over the utilities. We had to put down loads of deposits because we were young and had no real credit history and were moving from out of state. We'd planned for it, so I signed onto my internet banking software and paid them all. Then our utilities started getting shut off and I was like WTF?

Turns out the software I was using was somehow corrupted and decided to pay all our credit cards instead of all our utilities. Nearly every penny we'd saved was paid to the wrong people and we couldn't get anything done to fix it. I don't even remember how I fixed it. Might have borrowed money from my dad. Who knows. I'm just glad its over.