Monday morning arrives with cloudy skies… a fitting veil for the impending mood. We get up early and bagels from the local bagel shop and wait for the movers to arrive. We strip the bed and get the last of the things we have all ready to go.

A call comes in from the movers, they are on their way and they will be here at 11 a.m. Nothing to do but wait.

They arrive just a few moments after 11 with their 26 foot box truck and I voice concern that they won’t get done today and we have to leave in the morning. I’m told not to worry.

The lead guy, Alex, a Russian fellow, talks moving and the process as he walks around the house taking notes on all that we have to move and he says “Let’s sit and talk”. We sit at the bar in our kitchen and he lays out the routine and the plan and then with his thick Russian accent says:

“You have far more than the estimate we were given. When you made the order for the move, you spoke to a Moving Broker. They know nothing of moving, they take the job, estimate based on what you tell them and then offer the job to the actual moving companies who then buy the job”. He says. “They estimated you have just over 900 cubic feet to be moved, you actually have about 2300 cubic feet, maybe a little more”. He continues. “You were quoted just about $2800 for the move and that is very, very wrong”.

“So what does this mean?” We ask.

He starts tapping on his phone, adding something up.

“First, the truck that I have here is not going to be big enough and I will have to have another truck come here tomorrow, maybe Wednesday. But you are looking at approximately $15 to $17,000 for this move”. He says as if it’s nothing.

“WHAT?!?! That’s impossible!! We can’t do that?” We both are shattered.

“But what you have to understand is that I have 4 guys I have to pay and the storage fee”. He adds.

“Storage fee? What storage fee? You’re going from here to the house in North Carolina, nothing is going in storage”. We tell him.

“No, see you were not explain this by the broker, because they don’t know. We bring all of your things to our warehouse and store it there until we have another move going the same direction and then we fill up a larger truck and do two or three moves at once”. Alex tells us.

We were shocked and dismayed.

“How long would that take?” We ask.

“It could be three to six weeks. It all depends if we get another move going that direction. If it were in the next town or across the state we could do it same day. You did not order an exclusive delivery. If you did, we would have been more prepared for that with a bigger truck and it would have cost more, maybe $18 or $19,000”. He tells us as if giving us the football scores from yesterday.

“Absolutely not. We are not doing that. Sorry to waste your time, but there is no way we are doing that”. We finally say.

He thanks us for the time and opportunity and wishes us well and then leaves. We were stunned, shocked and angry. How could they do that? What is wrong with these people? This was a complete bait and switch that we were expected to just fold on and agree to. Now we were in a real pickle. We were supposed to be out of the house tomorrow.

Deb made several calls to other movers and so did I. The best price we got was $10,000 but our stuff wouldn’t arrive in North Carolina for a month. Deb called the lawyers office and told them the whole story, it was something they never heard of and we got the okay to stay another day, but we had to be out Wednesday, no way around it.

We finally admitted that the only way this was going to get done was to do it ourselves. A task we were not prepared for or ready to do. After a few phone calls, we were able to secure a 26 foot box truck from Penske. While we where there, the woman at the counter gave us the number of a couple mover dudes who work freelance loading trucks and we called them. Thankfully, they were willing to come to the house the next morning, Tuesday, and start loading the truck.

In the meantime, we planned our course of action for the next two days. We were exhausted just thinking about it.