Re: SEWING MACHINE FAIRY STRUCK! OT Moving Woes

mamahays wrote:

"Angrie.Woman" <Angrie.Woman@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:SAKLe.87$r54.33@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Also, I try to not use any other company but Graebel. There are lots of
horror stories about every company out there, but Graebel has always
been very helpful and polite with us.




That is who moved us.  They have been wonderful about everything.  They sent
me claim forms and our rep told me to go ahead and take them to the shop,
get estimates and send the estimates back with the claim form.  That way the
money will be coming sooner.

Here's the details on what happened.  I packed my industrial.  They took one
look at it and were intimidated beyond words.  LOL  So I handled it.  It's
fine.  I gave the packers the original box and packing materials for my
serger and my new Viking.  I gave them the hard case that would fit over the
Singer home machine.   I told them to put the machine in the hard case and
pad around it.  (I've had that machine for almost 15 years so the original
box, etc. is long gone.)  I told them to pad the embroidery machine very
carefully.  A layer or two of the heavy padded paper would have been fine.

So.  They packed the Viking in the original box and styrofoam.  It's fine.
(this is why I've not tracked them down and skinned them with a vegetable
peeler.)  They put one piece of styrofoam in the serger box.  Then put the
serger in there Sideways and stuffed fabric over the top.  The thread tree
is bent, and who knows what else could be wrong.  The Singer was packed in a
box, with very little padding **beside** the hard case.  And the embroidery
machine was packed, again with almost no padding, in a box with hard objects
floating around it.  And they completely mutilated my cardboard cutting
board.  Folded it up the way it's supposed to fold, then folded it roughly
in half again.  It's mangled and needs to go in the trash.  *sigh*

Luckily, there is another gal here who I "know" from another list.  She sent
me to the sewing shop she's used for years.  They said they would look them
over thoroughly and do, at minimum, basic cleaning, timing, etc.  They will
let me know if there are more problems than that.  They also told me that
they get the majority of their repair work for just this reason.  The
manager told me he doesn't think there is a moving company out there that
knows how to pack sewing machines.  I don't think he's wrong.  :(

But I will say that Graebel has been very good to us.  They didn't even
blink when I told them there was a problem.  And they are more than willing
to make good on all the repairs.  This is why I didn't stress myself out
about packing the machines myself.  I knew if they packed them and there was
a problem, they would make good on it.  If I packed them and there was a
problem, I'd have to pay for all this out of my pocket.  So it's really all
right.  I have lots of other things that I need to take care of right now,
and don't really have time to be in my sewing room.  Good news is that it
ought to all be taken care of by the time the kids get rolling in school and
I have more free time.  ;)

Thanks for all the support.  I knew y'all would be as distressed as I was
about the whole thing.  I just keep telling myself...this too shall pass.

Sharon

I have kept the packing for the Lily and the 910... If we ever move, I shall stand over the packers, prompting them when they get it wrong, but THEY will do all the handling! That way if something does get bust, there can be no arguments... I've seen the results of a well packed (by my father) sewing machine that was dropped into a ship hold! For some things there is only insurance!

Packing of my older machines, for which no original packing exists, will be done according to this site:

http://www.sew2go.com/packingseries.htm

--
Kate  XXXXXX  R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: SEWING MACHINE FAIRY STRUCK! OT Moving Woes
    ... I try to not use any other company but Graebel. ... They put one piece of styrofoam in the serger box. ... me to the sewing shop she's used for years. ... they get the majority of their repair work for just this reason. ...
    (alt.sewing)
  • Re: WoW!! Thanks for all the helpful responses!!! More questions....
    ... What I started doing after receiving several totally destroyed machines was to email the seller before bidding, send them the link from Treadle On about how to pack a sewing machine for shipping, describe how traumatic it was to have my joy of purchasing the perfect machine totally dashed by the arrival of a heap of trashed sewing machine parts due to bad packing, and ask if I won the auction would they be willing to follow the link's instructions on how to pack and machine and I would certainly pay them extra for doing so if they wished. ... There are several TreadleOn members who sell machines on eBay. ... Then there's Graham Forsdyke of ISMACS who sells Featherweights and ships them across the Atlantic in crates that he makes, packing so that the machine will survive a six foot drop onto concrete -- as sometimes happens at shipping terminals. ...
    (alt.sewing)