Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 22:55-EDT
From: Thomas.Gross@n1.sp.cs.cmu.edu
Reply-To: Thomas Gross <trg@cs.cmu.edu>
To: bovik@cs.cmu.edu
Subject: Movers (disrecommendation)
Message-Id: <966826559/trg@n1.sp.cs.cmu.edu>
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Here are two movers to avoid:  Ocean Air (Burgettstown) and Wheaton.

Here is why: I shipped my belongings to Zurich (Switzerland) and Ocean
Air made the lowest bid.  They actually got all  boxes to Switzerland
and lost only part of my coat hanger.  

Unfortunately Ocean Air uses Wheaton to pack your belongings (and for
international moves, you have to use a packing service if you want to
get insurance).  Wheaton's crew was incompentent (and one of the helpers
boasted that he had not slept all night -- I'm glad he did not handle
the glasses) . They forgot to bring a wardrobe and therefore put my
suits (plus a silk painting) flat in one box. To top it off (literally),
they added a heavy sleeping bag. But since it was now impossible to
close the box, they applied ample packaging tape -- well, that ensured
that pressure was applied to my suits and the silk painting for the
duration of the trip. When I got them in Zurich, they were wrinkled
beyond repair. The curator of the Swiss National Museum put me in touch
with one of the restaurators, and they were able to restore the silk
painting, but the suits were lost.

That's when I found out how screwed up Ocean Air is. Although I had
insured the shipment, they had told me now that their insurance does not
cover damage to clothing. The fact that I had paid for insurance did not
mean that my shipment was insured, it meant that I re-imbursed them for
their (lack of) insurance.