The movers' cut

[thistlechaser]

My mother told me that when you use movers, they always "lose" (steal) one box. I hadn't believed her at the time, but now I'm thinking that's actually right.

Before I moved, I bought a new container of cleaner. I was nearly out of the previous one, I'm 100% certain I bought a replacement.

Before I moved, I had two bottles of shampoo (one almost empty, and a new/full one to replace it).

Before I moved, I had FOUR extra/new tubes of new toothpaste.

All those things are missing, and they all would have been packed in the same box. (The cleaner could go with the other stuff, since it was new/sealed).

But how would the movers know which box to 'lose'? They have tape in their trucks, and they're alone with your boxes in the truck. They do add extra tape to boxes if they think it's not closed well enough, so they could easily open them, check what's inside, then reclose it and if needed, add more tape.

I had numbered my boxes, but things were so hectic, I didn't check them on the other end as I was unpacking.

It's possible, though unlikely, that I left them behind. I checked both apartments very carefully, multiple times, before turning in the keys.

I suppose I should be happy that's all that's gone, things that can be replaced. But still. I use an expensive/special toothpaste that's about $8 per tube, so altogether that's almost $60 worth of stuff. And that's only what I've noticed is gone. I'm sure the box had more than those three things in it.

It's been almost two months since I moved, so it'd be pretty pointless to contact the moving company. Plus I have no proof...

Comments

[xxmadsenxx.livejournal.com]

I've never had that problem moving before. I'm sorry your stuff got lost (or taken)!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you haven't lost stuff!

[irreparable.livejournal.com]

I call it the Moving Demon. It's never clear if it's a removalist or what, as I've had friends help me move and things have disappeared and I know they wouldn't steal from me, especially not ridiculously trivial things. Over the years and many moves, I have had the following things vanish:

* Seven rings
* a peddle excercise machine
* two cookbooks
* book three of a four book series
* a bra and three pairs of knickers
* two saucepan lids

And probably more random things as well.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

That's very odd... Maybe we really are leaving things behind, in the stress of moving.

[irreparable.livejournal.com]

I think it's just one of those weird things in life. Last time I moved was when the peddle machine disappeared, and I went back to the old flat to clean up and nope, it was nowhere to be found.

[teaandfailure.livejournal.com]

When I moved here, the box I lost contained my original copy of Zelda II, with my brother's and my old saves. I was CRUSHED. I still have the game on the collector's disk Nintendo released when they released the Zelda gamecube bundle, and you can even get it on your phone now, but that wasn't the point... this was the gold cartridge copy we bought when we were kids, the one we waited for SO LONG during the annoying manufactured shortage Nintendo made shortly after release, and the one I held in my hands at a Toys R Us that no longer exists, and could not believe I finally had.

I am still sad about it.

Also my copy of A League of Their Own, but that was easier to replace.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ugh! I'm lucky what I lost could be replaced. I wonder if your box got misplaced or taken...

[bacchuslives.livejournal.com]

Interesting concept... I've only used a mover once in my life and I don't recall missing anything, but we're a disorganized lot so I don't know that we would have realized. That's probably to their advantage.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the thing. It's been almost two months since I moved, and only now am I SURE I'm missing stuff. It's to their advantage (if they're stealing) for sure...

[bacchuslives.livejournal.com]

Wait a minute! All my underwear was gone...those dirty bastards!!!! Ok, just kidding.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Haha that would be a bad thing to lose, for multiple reasons!

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

Have to invoke Hanlon's Razor -- don't ascribe malice to what can be adequately explained by good old fashioned human error. I've moved a lot, used movers and not, and there's always a box that goes missing. Doesn't get packed right, gets left behind, falls off a truck, gets set outside during unloading and a passer-by nabs it. Movers get paid pretty well for what is a low-education, low-skill job, and most of those guys are aware of it. If a guy is a thief, he'll get ratted out pretty damn quick by his coworkers, the stuff returned to the owner, and the guy fired if not charges pressed. When your corporation is based around getting as much of someone's stuff from point A to point B intact, and their reputation on being able to do so well is most of what drives new business, they tend to not screw around.

The one bad experience we had with movers was a team that didn't feel like treating the furniture with the respect it needed or the hustle required -- they moved less than a 1/3rd of the job in a full day, and broke a 150 year old cabinet. Called corporate, and the regional manager and 3 of his premium tier teams came out the next day, fired the first crew on the spot, and handled the rest of the job gratis in 4 hours, and reimbursed us in full for a pro antique-restorer to fix the cabinet.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's a good point, you're probably right. It did make me nervous that at times there would be no one with my stuff (boxes in the back of the truck, both the men moving things from apartment to truck). Some random person could have helped themselves.

I'm glad that company made good on their team's fail!