Learned The Hard Way

Test drove several new cars recently, including: the 2007 Nissan Murano, 2007 Honda Pilot and the 2007 Subaru B9 Tribeca. Of the group, the Subaru was my favorite, but this car wasn’t for me…. So, after several test drives, we settled on the Murano. The Pilot was the least pleasant of the group and rode the most like a truck. It also felt a bit dated compared with the two competitors and the styling was the least appealing. The B9 was very well thought out and made the interior of the other two look spartan. All had similar warranties and a few thousand separated the B9 and the Murano. After driving the Murano, the decision was made. The acceleration was beautiful and it hugged the ground like a go-cart. Braking was excellent and driving position/visibility was fantastic. Enough about the cars, let’s make a deal. This is where the fun began….

The first dealer we spoke with seemed like a very nice guy and was quite personable. We discussed the parameters of a purchase, but the deal wasn’t great. Then we discussed the lease deal I had seen in the paper that morning. The specifics were 39 months for $329 per month with $2300 at signing, 12,000 miles included. He proceeds to tell us that this is the deal for a Murano S, not the Murano SL which we had liked so much. I couldn’t remember this detail and asked what the price was for the one we wanted with 15,000 miles. Guess what happened then….? The answer- $429 per month with $5000 down. “Go to hell” was my first reaction.  He then starts with the manager bit where he has to talk to him and see what he can do. I hate this shit and say “get him to come out of the ivory tower and we’ll have a deal or we won’t, but there won’t be any games”.  He comes back a few minutes later with $390 per month, same down. I say “that’s not gonna work”. With that he continaully reassures me that the manager is 100% straight up and doesn’t play games. He tries to hold us there for some more time, but now I’m pretty upset at the games, so we go home, look up the offer I saw in the paper and call him back to say that your manager was incorrect, the deal is for the SL. He says that the manager made a mistake and quoted full retail and that the deal on the board was for an offer that expired. Come’ se dice… You’re full of shit! 

With that, we call another dealer who has the color we want and a better package who quotes us the price in the paper, plus a few bucks for 15k per year. No additional down! So, we go in and lease the truck and this part of the deal is painless. The finance guy reminded me of a guy from my childhood whom I detested, but he did a fine job. This Let me preface this by saying that the salesman was great. No-nonsense, right to the point.

Ok, back to the story… One of the options we want is Sirius radio. The car came with XM prewired and they say no problem, we’ll get it done for a few hundred bucks. We set an appointment, drop the car off and when my wife returns, guess what’s in the car?? XM, not Sirius. The service manager, George, tells her that Sirius isn’t available in the Murano and follows it up by lying about what we ordered. Well, “that’s not gonna fly”. I get the phone call… “they put the wrong radio in, told me it’s not available, blah, blah, blah. Well, by the time I reach the dealership, they are offering free tanks of gas, free rental car and will have it in before you know it. They wouldn’t even let me speak to George… The Supervisor did a great job intervening for it was going to get ugly. Having everything in writing made all the difference in the world. As the saying goes, what you don’t have in writing, means nothing.

Lessons:  a) know your product before going in and what you should expect to pay. This way, if they try to pull the wool over your eyes, it will be glaring and they won’t get away with it. b) hold people accountable. If they made a mistake, they should pay for your inconvenience and make the situation right. If they don’t, demand a refund on the vehicle and take your business elsewhere. c) How can you avoid this malarkey? Visit one of the best sites around: CarsDirect.com. You can research new cars, price options and even buy the car right there if you don’t want to deal with the crap above… I will on my next car for certain. Always an adventure!

One thing I must profess- Moving is a huge undertaking. No bones about it, pulling teeth would be far more enjoyable… without novocaine. But if you’re like most, it something you must do for whatever the reason.

 First, you have to find a new location. If this has been pre-decided for you, congratulations! Hopefully, it’s not prison.. :o)  Anyway, there isn’t currently a web site that covers all of the bases,  but you can use several sites to help narrow down the search. City-data is a great site that contains many of the parameters needed to narrow it down- crime, demographics, income, toxic landfills and the like. Pay special attention to the climate section if you are moving to a different climate. Compare it to your current climate as they differ greatly. School districts play a huge part in housing prices and desirability of an area. If the houses seem too cheap, there is usually an underlying reason. Always ask about the school districts and ask for the most current test scores. Pay special attention to the percentage of students getting free lunch as this will tell you more about the economics of the area than the graphs provided at most real estate sites.

After narrowing down the area, you’ll need to find a moving company. That is, if you cannot move yourself in a uhaul or the like. We moved 1800 miles and the cost was staggering. The moving truck alone was over $12,000. Yes, $12,000. I couldn’t believe my eyes, especially when a 26 foot truck from Ryder was about $2500 plus gas, tolls and insurance. Thankfully, I didn’t make the mistake of attempting to move us this way. It wouldn’t have been possible. We don’t have enough friends to move over 20,000 lbs of stuff and certainly don’t have the back to do it. This one was way over my head…

First, I’ll discuss how we found a company and what made the decision. A few months ahead of time, I went to a moving site that had a great domain name and appeared to be just the thing I was looking for. Submit my information once and five companies would respond with quotes. Great, I thought… and proceeded to complete a pretty simple form that asked where I was moving from and to, as well as how much stuff we had. Almost immediately, the phone rings off the hook with 41 companies responding in one week. I am not making this number up. 41 separate companies solicited the hell out of me for weeks. How can anyone deal with that many companies? They cannot. In talking with some of the guys who called, it turns out the web site I visited sold my information 41 times for 5 bucks a pop. Not too shabby a return, I thought..

In this process, I found that there was no way a company could give me a quote without physically seeing what we had in terms of personal belongings, tool boxes, etc., . The quotes weren’t worth the virtual paper they were printed on.  The average quote was just over $6000 before I had companies to the house for surveys. They counted everything in the house and came up with a weight of 24,700 lbs. This was baffling and I didn’t believe it, so we called in another top-shelf company. They came within 200 lbs of the first company and both estimators had 10 years or more in the business. Both companies offered a dedicated truck and as many boxes as needed. They were professional, provided written estimates that were binding and the price of insurance was the same. Please note that they are not responsible for things you pack unless the truck itself is damaged or stolen. If you pack Aunt Mabel’s favorite Hummels incorrectly and they arrive broken, it’s your issue. Everything they pack, they are liable for, but it’s so expensive to have them pack the whole house, so we opted for the most expensive items like the dining room table and the grandfather clock. Thank goodness, for we didn’t possess the expertise to do it correctly and the crew that arrived were incredibly experienced. It took a crew of 5 plus the driver a day and a half to pack the truck. It would have taken us and friend about two weeks, plus we don’t have the backs to pull it off. One guy did nothing but stack the incoming boxes and to his credit, nothing moved 1800 miles later. We didn’t lose a single item! The driver ran around putting stickers on everything and he was in the 500’s before he was done. I thought “how in the world will we coordinate this when it comes off the truck”? What I realized was that the contents of the truck didn’t move in transit and to stand there and count every box would have taken days. We went with United Van Lines and were treated very well. They Guys in NY got a bit punchy by the 9th hour of the first day and had to be reminded that we cherished our stuff. On the other end, the crew couldn;t have been more careful with our home or the goods and we were very grateful. These guys earned their pay and then some. The driver has to be credited as well for the weather conditions were horrific during his run, but everything made it in one piece.

If you have friends who can help pack, get help and wrap everything breakable! Those peanuts you buy in large bags work wonders and protected all of our electronics, computers and valuables like a charm. Cleaning them up is a chore, but what can you do.

My suggestions:

1. call several large trucking firms with good reputations;
2. get several estimates in writing;
3. ask about their crews and how strict they are in checking the backgrounds of the guys who will move your stuff.
4. make an educated decision, but trust your instincts. If you are not comfortable with the guy who visits your home, find another. You owe them nothing and do not have to feel uncomfortable.
5. mark each box with the destination room and the general contents of the box.
6. DO NOT WRITE JEWELRY or CASH on the box!
7. If you have a safe, make sure it gets put in the truck early in the load. You do not want it loaded last or it could disappear.
8. Take pictures of the truck being loaded and keep a complete inventory of what you are sending. If you cannot recall what was in box 211, how can you hold anyone accountable?
9. Do not pay up front in cash. Pay on successful delivery in cash, cashiers check or credit card. Credit cards would offer the best protection- especially American Express.
10. If you experience a problem with the driver, or any crew member, get the order number of your shipment and call the main office immediately. Large firms will not tolerate any garbage for their name is worth far more than any one employee or bad-egg.
11. Treat the guys with respect and you’d be surprised how far they will go to safeguard your precious belongings. Get them a good lunch and plenty to drink.
12. Don’t leave the premises while they are loading or unloading. Get friends or family to make runs to the store for you or go the night before. The more eyes, the better.
13. Write notes while they are packing so you can recall what was said and if there were any issues.
14. Good luck!!

After the experience, I would definitely recommend United Van Lines.