I hired Oscar Movers who parks his truck by a post office I use. The first thing I said, on the…read morephone, was there would be multiple trips because I have a lot of oversize pieces. He came by to see what was involved and assured me they could get it all in one truck. He could see already packed boxes, so I showed him every piece, including 2 sheds. I said that the furniture had to go into the new place first because there were a lot of boxes. I told him, if they all are going to fit, to put the boxes in the truck first so they would come out last. We were moving only 3 miles away so could manage to pick up smaller items left behind.
Day of the move, Oscar arrives with 4 other Spanish speaking men with some/not enough English. I emphasized to him that some things had to go first, especially the 2 sheds to go on the porch which would be necessary for the items already inside to get them out of the way, and to only take boxes and furniture, we'd come back for anything else. I assumed the US born "Oscar", who all the men called Raoul, was staying and he would supervise and/or help. If I'd known he was leaving altogether, I would have made sure the men knew what to do. We left for our new place and before we were in the car, Oscar was gone. He never relayed my messages to the four men. None of it happened. It all went into the truck at the same time and into our place, higgeldy/piggeldy and boxes mostly in the wrong rooms. All the small items had been picked up and the large furniture left behind. It was exactly the opposite of what I asked for. They even put smaller odds and ends, all dropped into odd boxes or whatever would hold them. These were all the items I requested be left behind! Now we are bringing back things daily that should never have arrived in the first place.
At our new place, when the truck was empty, they informed me that they had not been able to fit the 2 sheds, our bed, The freezer, washing machine, 2 dressers, 3 bureaus with most of our clothes, an outdoor chest and 3 large plants. (Sounds like multiple trips to me. Does Oscar know his own business?) I phoned Oscar and insisted we needed our bed to sleep in, so they made a return trip for the 2 sheds, our bed. They didn't bother to take the freezer, washer, dressers and bureaus etc. on that trip. Then Oscar refused to make an appointment pick up the rest of my furniture saying there was no room left to bring them in. Even at the end of the move that day, we had places vacant for the washer, freezer, dressers, bureaus, chest and plants to go. If the furniture had been moved first as requested, he could have gotten them all in and he could have had a 2nd days work for his crew. It left our place with boxes piled on the floor and furniture, sometimes almost to the ceiling with little room to walk between with little room to walk around. I'm not even including several broken and misshaped pieces. (My packing or their rough handling?)
If Oscar wants to run a successful business, he has to follow the client's wishes. If he had told the men anything, it would have gone better. If Oscar had taken me at my word, he would have had 2 days of payment. As it was, it went overtime and cost more than he had estimated. I paid in full.
