Moving Day Horror Stories

By Scott Boone

Image courtesy of Wikimedia

Since today is Halloween, I thought I would share with you some of the horror stories I have heard from people who had previously tried to go the DIY moving route. 

Close Encounters of the Worst Kind

Jennifer Caldwell related the story of the time her fiancé had volunteered to help her move in with him.  He was more than happy to help her pack her belongings on the weekend of the big move.  He even paid to rent the Uhaul truck.  Since Jenny is all of 120 lbs dripping wet, he conscripted his best friend to help load furniture into the truck while she loaded some odds and ends into her minivan.  By noon, the truck was fully loaded without a hitch and the couple gave each other a hug before climbing into their respective vehicles.  Just before departure, Jenny’s fiancé told her he was going to stop at McDonald’s to grab some burgers for the trip.  She followed behind the truck as it made its way to the restaurant.  Everything was going according to plan until she watched her fiancé drive the truck under the drive-thru, not realizing that the truck was 6-inches taller than the overhang.  Hearing a BANG, she watched in horror as the truck toppled the restaurant’s drive-thru sign.  Not only did she and her fiancé have to pay for the damage to the sign, but they had to reimburse the truck rental agency for the big dent in the top of the truck, since her fiancé had insisted they skip the optional insurance coverage.  Needless to say, from that day forward she has always hired a moving company whenever she needs to relocate.

The Adams Family

Image courtesy Wikimedia

This story was contributed by Henry Adams, who once wound up in the hospital after he and his sons decided to move from their 3-bedroom house on their own.  At the time his two sons were both on the high school football team and were more than capable of doing the heavy lifting associated with loading a truck.  The boys were more than enthusiastic, especially when dad told them he would pay them $50 each to help out.  Hank had even thought of renting a heavy-duty dolly to aid in moving their side-by-side refrigerator.  His sons seemed to enjoy the physical activity, telling the “old man” to take care of loading the boxes onto the truck while the two of them took care of the heavy lifting.  It wasn’t until the dynamic duo came down the driveway trundling the big refrigerator on the dolly that Hank had any inkling that something was amiss.  That’s because his sons were so intent on getting the job done in a hurry that they failed to secure the safety strap around the fridge.  This only became apparent to dad when the boys skidded to a stop right next to the truck.  Their momentum made the fridge tilt forward and dad watched in horror while his stainless steel fridge teetered while his youngest boy stared in horror as a wall of shiny metal prepared to fall atop him.  Seeing what was about to transpire, and standing in the back of the truck, Hank reacted as any father would and lunged at the toppling fridge to keep it from flattening his boy.  The good news was that he managed to get a hand on the fridge to pull it back at the last second.  The bad news is that this action caused Hank to fall out of the truck onto the driveway.  While his boys completed loading the truck, a neighbor drove dad to the ER where he found out he had broken his wrist. 

Arachnophobia

Image courtesy of Pixabay

Another customer told me about the time he had rented a truck only to discover it was infested with spiders.  When he rolled open the rear door, he discovered a scene out of the movie Arachnophobia, with spider webs hanging eerily from the corners and dozens of spiders running around inside the truck.  Grabbing his vacuum cleaner, he sucked up all the spiders he could find before beginning the loading process.  The problem was, he failed to empty the vacuum cleaner before loading it onto the truck.  During the 50-mile drive to his new home, the spiders managed to get out of the vacuum and he told me they were into everything.  It turns out the truck he rented hadn’t been used in months.

Night of the Living Bed

Another horror story related to me was by Donna Dart, who had the shock of her life after she and her husband moved from the city to the country.  After talking their friends into helping them move, they were climbing into bed on their first night in their new home.  No sooner did the lights go out when her husband leaned across the bed to say, “Did you hear that?”

Image courtesy of Pixabay

“Hear what,” Donna asked, assuming he was going to comment on how quiet the country was when compared to the sounds of the city.

“I heard something squeak,” he murmured into her ear.

“Stop fooling around, Tom,” she said.  “You’re scaring me.”

“There it is again,” Tom said as he snapped on the bedside lamp.

“I heard it too, that time,” Donna told him wide-eyed. “Where is it coming from?”

“Shh,” he told her.  As they sat up in bed and listened intently for a few moments, they heard another sound, the unmistakable scrabbling of claws coming from beneath their bed. 

Donna let out a scream when the culprit scrambled out and ran around the room before darting out of the bedroom down the hall

“Squirrel!” Tom shouted before taking up the chase.

It turned out when their friends had helped them unload the truck they had leaned the box spring against the side of the garage while the rest of their belongings had been moved into the house.  Apparently, while it sat there for several hours, an enterprising squirrel had taken up residence.  That night, when everything quieted down, the squirrel decided to make an appearance. 

Roll the Credits

Scary stories like these are not meant to shock you. They are presented to let you consider the fact that while hiring a professional mover might cost a bit more than doing it yourself, the pros have the experience to keep your next move from turning into a horror show.

With over 4,000 moves, Scott's Discount Movers has handled moves of all sizes, including local and cross country. If you are looking to move your home or office, you can depend on Scott's Discount Movers to provide a stress-free relocation.