The shipping company called today--not to let us know when the container would arrive, but just to notify us that the container will only be left at our house for 2 hours. The Norwegian office told us we could have the container up to 10 days, and now the American office is saying that we need to unload all of our worldly possessions from our stuffed-to-the-gills 40 foot container in 2 hours. Maybe if we had a fleet of 25 strong men to help this would be possible, but since we still don't even know when the container will arrive, scheduling a fleet of 25 strong men might be a bit tricky! I think the best line from the phone call was when the lady on the other end told us that her company doesn't ever do residential moves--why the hell would Kevin's company relocate us using a shipping company that doesn't ship personal goods? I'm so baffled and furious and honestly, a little hysterical right now. Kevin leaves for Norway on Wednesday the 2nd for 10 days, we don't know when our stuff will get here, we don't have movers lined up because we don't know when our stuff will get here, and when the stuff actually arrives, I will have 2 hours to haul it all off of the container. But it's not all bad news--the shipping company wouldn't have called if our possessions hadn't cleared Customs, right? That's something to be grateful for, isn't it? Ack, 2008 isn't looking too promising so far!
***Edited to add: We have talked to someone else at the shipping company only to find out that there is no record of our container clearing Customs and the port is closed today and tomorrow. I guess this means that there is still hope that all of our things may fall into the ocean and we get to collect the insurance money! I'll drink a toast to that!***
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6 comments:
Well, you know what? I'm gonna wish you a Happy New Year/Godt Nytt År, anyway. :-)
Oh, Emily, I'm so sorry to hear that your return to NYS is going so lousy. Things have GOT to be looking up pretty soon - Here's hoping that you've heard good news regarding your furniture and customs by the time you read this.
Robin & Bill
Oh SO frustrating! I hope everything gets ironed out!
Dude! Unbelieveable the problems you're having getting your stuff back from Norway. The level of (non)service you guys have encountered during this ordeal is mindblowing, simply mindblowing. You have every right to be thinking about a drink right now... ;-)
Hey, though, I think that whole "You've got 2 hours to unload your crap" thing is normal for these companies. Ian and I faced the same strict time limits when we loaded the container in San Francisco and again when we unloaded in Sandefjord. We did have at least a week's notice---if not more---to arrange the unloading, though. You'll probably get at least that when it finally arrives. Fingers crossed!
Hmmm, I do like the idea of 25 well-built men waiting for orders to move furniture... Wish I was there to "help." :-)
Thanks for all the sympathy! We still haven't heard when our stuff is coming, but whatever, it's only stuff. Eventually it will get here and we'll figure out a way to unload it and all will be fine. Emily
If you want, I'll keep my fingers crossed for the whole insurance payout scenario. ;)
Liz
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