Florida to Tennesee with Suddath Deerfield Bch.

[cancan42]

Hi:

I checked with Moovers, Mayflower, and Suddath after going over this site. All seemed more than reputable and friendly. I went with Suddath because they had the lower estimate, and supplied some free used packing boxes and paper. The latter saved a considereable amount of money.

The date has been set for Oct. 4th for pick-up and delivery the 8th -9th.
The estimate was 10k with a GNTE of $3698. They are very flexible also.
I called or emailed my co-ordinator Joni to say I was including a few more small things and still later to say the refrigerator needed to stay.
She said "no problem" and either adjusted right away or said it would be subtracted after the weigh in. She had a great Fargo ND accent too

Bonnie called today with the name of the Driver and to find out if we had more questions. Joni is bringing me some more boxes ( I picked up what I could fit in my van) and as soon as I finish this post - I'm back to packing.

This move is unusual in that we are not closing the house in Florida. But the garage workshop is going and that's a bear along with my outside large plastic storage sheds. Joni said not to worry - the driver would dis-assemble and re-assemble.

I am very pleased so far. Will post how the move itself actually goes.
Wish me luck
Packing day:

Our driver was Tom Nugent. He arrived about 8:30 on 10-4 with John, and Joe. Tom went through the house with my sister to get an idea of the order of loading. They were all very professional, personable, and efficient. They wrapped all the wood in blankets and the chairs made of material in shrink wrap. They worked to clean out the boxes already packed by us to make room for more to come.

John was really a dynamo and very pleasant. I don’t think he stopped until they all cleaned up at about 1pm. We gave Tom a $120 tip for him and the crew and asked him if he would call us with the weight when he went to the scales at Suddath. He said he would call either later in the afternoon or the next morning. He did neither. We had very bad feelings about his failure to follow through on his word… with good reason. After all was said and done, we never got a believable weight on our items.


Delivery day:

Well; we got moved into the new house... on 10/10. What a horrible day.

Tom called Tuesday to say he would be at the house Wednesday between 8 – 10am. He called for directions as he was driving down from Knoxville at 9:30. I gave him directions and places to watch out for. He was only 15 miles away when he called. At 11:30 we called Suddath to find out what happened to him since we didn't have his number. His office could not reach him either. At 12 pm he arrived with one - 1- other man with him.

He missed the turn and while trying to turn around – bellied out the bottom of the truck. He came in mad, on the phone, and with his back bumper hanging. I had neighbors waiting to help with directing the unloading so as not to hold up the delivery and get the van out of the road due to its size.

Tom came in the house before he opened the trailer doors for payment. We expected that. What we didn’t expect was his answer to our question about the weight. He told us he never got a weigh ticket until he came into Tennessee. He showed me a ticket he got at Knoxville showing the load at over 11k pounds. I found that hard to believe since we brought no living room sofa, tables or lamps, no mattresses or box springs, and no refrigerator. My sister paid him and the loading started … almost. When I asked where all his help was; he said he they didn’t want to drive down from Knoxville and he wasn’t going to drive them back.

Moe, his one lone helper started to unload as my friends husbands tried to help him with his twister and dragging bumper. As they got tools, and compressors, and saws, he opened the back doors of the van for them to continue working on the bumper. Inside, near the rear doors was a full sized pick up truck with Florida plates on it.

The loading took until 6:30 that evening. My neighbors are all mad because the road was tied up so long. Half my help went home because they had us waiting for long periods of time while they rested. It was a hot day and I didn’t begrudge them a drink and a rest but with such little help… made for a long day and no happy campers. We still gave them a $70 tip.

I’m going to be interested in what Suddath shows as the weight on this move.