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November 16, 2005
What Went Wrong: Part II
Today is the second installment in our four-part coverage of our move. Yesterday we recounted our final grueling day in California, and how the movers backed out of their "not to exceed" price twice. As we drove out of town that evening, we both agreed it was one of the hardest days either of us had endured (and we still had a red-eye to catch, with the dog, cat and baby on board!) It was very sad leaving our first little house, and the town we loved so much.
Early the next morning we arrived in Newark to find our brother-in-law Anthony waiting. He helped us find our bags and animals, navigate two overloaded SmartCarts through the narrow corridors and elevators required to reach the rental car area, and then led us back to his home before going to work himself. We then enjoyed a week of fantastic weather (see earlier post) and caught our breath relaxing at Sarah & Anthony's beautiful house while the leaves changed. Thanks Sarah & Anthony!
The Car Carrier
Our car was due to arrive in Kingston either Monday or Tuesday, and Brandie (being very familiar with shipping services from her time at DWR) called Wednesday prior to verify the date was still accurate. Marlene reassured her that Monday or Tuesday was still the date, so we decided to wait until Sunday to head over to Kingston. Our furniture was still en route, so we would be sleeping on the air mattress and Sophie in her Pack'N'Play. Showing up Sunday would minimize our time on the air mattress, allow us more time with the family and still let us meet the car carrier on time. A no-brainer, right?
Friday morning Brandie turned her phone on at 7:30am to find four voicemails from Marlene waiting. The car carrier's offices were in the Midwest, so it seemed strange that she had been trying to reach us so early and so urgently. On the phone, Marlene was now very upset. The driver was in Kingston, she said, and needed the address for delivery. Brandie had given this info to her already (twice, actually, on Wednesday), but it was fairly moot: we were still two hours away and couldn't meet the driver in time. We didn't know anyone in the town, and certainly no one who could show up with the $1400 required to release the car. Marlene wasn't happy to hear this, and their conversation didn't go well.
When I called back a few minutes later, I found out Marlene had already released the driver and instructed him to put our car in a storage facility. We would be given the name of the facility and the daily rate only after we had wired them the full amount due, even without being able to inspect the car.
Not seeing many other options, we packed up the baby and headed off to the nearest branch of our bank. We figured wiring money would take at the most half an hour, so we didn't pack a bottle or any food for Sophie.
It turns out our bank's California network isn't well linked to any of their other states' networks, so the banking official could view less about my account than I could with their online service. It literally took two and a half hours, ten people and a fax machine to complete our wire. Brandie & I took turns distracting Sophie outside, amidst reassurances that we were close and only needed a few more minutes. In the end, the banker was optimistic but not 100% confident that the wire had been successfully completed. We drove off intent on feeding the baby, our anger with the car carrier now displaced towards our bank. Even the banking representative encouraged us to switch from her employer, she was so disgusted.
After we had all eaten things seemed brighter, of course, and we just waited for the car carrier to verify they had received the wire. We didn't hear back that night, but we weren't planning to drive up and get the car that night anyway. We assumed the wire either hadn't gone through or had taken longer than the business day to complete.
The next morning we got a call from the driver. Brandie was initially cold to him on the phone, expecting some grief about having to wait for us in Kingston. After all, we were given an official window that we should be available and we weren't. It certainly wasn't the driver's fault that he was early and the office had bad information on Wednesday.
"Apparently there was a mixup at the office," he said. We had been given bad information, but not on Wednesday: our car was still on his truck, and he was still en route. He wouldn't be in Kingston until Monday, as expected.
Since we had already paid (the wire was successful!) and we were close to where he was, we decided to just meet him in New Jersey rather than Kingston. We got the car without further incident, and returned the minivan to the rental office near Sarah & Anthony's house a few days early.
When I spoke to the person at the car carrier who gave me the wire account information, I asked to speak with the manager of the customer service department. Of course he was busy, so she promised he would call me back. Of course he hasn't, and we've had too many other things to sort out to follow up on it. Someday, maybe!
Tomorrow, look for details on our uninhabitable rental in Kingston and the sleepless night Eula, Eliot, Sophie, Brandie and I spent in Room 179 of the Kingston Holiday Inn.
Posted by Jacob at November 16, 2005 10:59 AM