Wednesday, May 21, 2008

The move from hell

The Army has moved us five times now and never have we had such a miserable experience. Brian and I are so mad, we're writing letters and filing complaints with anyone and everyone who will listen when this is all over.
Don't ever use Covan moving company. EVER. Long story short (and trust me, I could go on forever. Ask the poor folks who've spoken on the phone with me in the last week) last week we were told they would deliver our goods on Monday. So I scheduled utilities and such and didn't bother to get a hotel because we were going to move right into our house on Saturday. I scheduled someone to watch my son while the movers unpacked, and we were leaving this Thursday for our long-awaited vacation. The movers plan to pack us up over three days, even though we tell them it will only take two. It only took two, and they wasted an entire day while we could do nothing to get ready to get off post and on the road by last Friday. Then when the driver and his truck show up last Thursday, he announces he's not dropping our stuff off until Thursday - the day we leave for vacation! We call everyone under the sun at the Army, Covan (who also goes by Coleman) and no one will take responsibility for the discrepancy or try to fix it for us. Finally, we're told they can deliver our stuff on Wednesday. It messes up a lot of our plans, and we now have to find a hotel to stay in, but at least we can still go on our vacation on time and I can still get someone to watch Sam.
Come this week and we can't get several of our utility companies to show up during their appointments. We keep calling Covan to confirm our date (wonder why we can't trust them?) and no one will return our phone calls. Throughout this they have promised phone calls which were never received.
Tuesday morning we check out of the hotel and move into our house for one day before the movers come. We have no hot water because the gas guy won't show for his appointments. We get a call in the morning confirming we're on for Wednesday, then another one in the afternoon saying it will be Thursday. We scramble for a hotel room - the entire city is booked thanks to activities on post this week. No one can watch Sam on Thursday.
Tuesday night I'm sitting in an empty house, with no idea when my belongings might get here, no hot water, and no way to get into a hotel. And I have a baby. How did I get in this situation? A stupid moving company who has contracted itself out the ying-yang until no one knows what's going on, and an Army that in its efforts to privatize and save money, has left its people homeless.
The gas guy showed up in time for us to give Sam a bath that night, and even after getting the vice-president of Covan involved, nothing was done to get us our stuff on any of the original agreed upon dates. We will now have to drive overnight and lose a day of our vacation. We will have to entertain and keep safe a toddler for an entire day while large heavy things are moved around the house. I have to do laundry and a laundry mat because I won't be getting my washer and dyer in time. There will be no unpacking and repacking for a vacation - we just have to take what we have.
Tomorrow we get to try and work with the driver, who has a real attitude problem, and after an exhausting day of getting our stuff into the house, get in the car and drive like mad down to Florida. With a toddler.
Ironically, Brian was invited as a VIP to a big ceremony tomorrow honoring Purple Heart recipients. I think he would agree with me when I say getting us moved smoothly from one base to another would mean a lot more to us than a ceremony. He sacrificed for them, and this is what we get in return? Thanks. We're honored.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry things are going so rough. Hope the vacation is nice and relaxing for you.

Anonymous said...

God Bless you and Brian.
Military parents don't need this hassle AND getting SHOT. Have a relaxing and peaceful vacation. Mr & Mrs "A"