End of May:
Begin looking for moving company for June 28 move.
Query friends and neighbors, look online.
Solicit bids from online moving brokers.
Beginning of June:
Sign a contract with Nationwide. Go with estimator's estimate of 40 boxes for two-bedroom house, office and teaching supplies. ~$2500
T-14 weeks:
Talk with Quality Assurance agent. Estimator woefully underestimated amount of stuff. ~$5000. SUCK! Too late to back out now. Must leave on June 28, too hard to find someone else at this late date.
T-3 days (Friday)
Getting nervous. Hear reports (horror stories) about online brokers in general and Nationwide in particular. Call (again and again and again. It's nearly impossible to get through) to discover who our mover will actually be; NOT interested in two guys in a rundown pick-up. Told to be patient; no mover has been assigned to our job yet. Told we'd get a call over the weekend.
T-1 days (Sunday)
finish packing, wait by the phone.
T-24 days
Call (again and again and again. It's still nearly impossible to talk to a human being). When I finally got in touch with the (so-called) Quality Assurance agent, I was told: "Gosh, it looks like no mover has offered to pick up your job yet. Let me talk with dispatch". I already had, and was ready to cancel my contract. When I talked with the manager to cancel the contract, he offered me 'good luck' in finding someone else.
T-20 hours: Call U-Haul. T-16 hours: Pack U-Haul
T-0 hours: drive away in U-Haul.
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On the one hand, what a relief to know the route, driver and costs associated with moving (see other complaints against Nationwide). On the other, what a colossal inconvenience! Even as I write, my partner is buying a one-way ticket back to Columbus in order to get the 2nd car from there to here.
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I highly discourage ANYONE from using Nationwide. My experience with them suggests that they lack both integrity and competence.
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