Oz Moving and Storage calls itself the wizard of moving but I, for one, dispute that. If it was a wizard, my goods would have been here already. Instead, I sit and wait. It’s been two weeks since it picked up my shipment in New York. Maybe the company got confused and thought I wanted to store my stuff. How else do you explain my belongings sitting in a NY warehouse for 10 days while I wear the same clothes and try to explain to an editor that my story is not ready because I accidentally packed my notes, which are on a slow boat from China?
Fingers crossed that today is the day I receive a call telling me the truck has arrived. That’s barring bad weather, mechanical problems, pirates from Somalia overtaking the truck and whatever else could happen between New York and Los Angeles. And to think, the company touts itself as having the “fastest delivery time available” between NY and LA because it has full service operations on both coasts. It says “unlike smaller companies that need to wait until they have a full trailer before they sent it across country, we fill our trailers daily.” It even says they can have a shipment from one coast to another in as few as four days. Lies. Lies. Lies.
It’s not until you commit that an e-mail arrives saying delivery time is 7 to 14 business days, or 21 business days if going west of Illinois/Tennessee. Even so, Molly, my “relocation consultant” at Oz told me that because the company handles so many moves from New York to California that I could expect my goods sooner. I believed her. And a friend said she recently used Oz and her things arrived to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in less than a week. I figured the same would happen in my case. Wrong!
Undoubtedly when the movers finish unloading the last box the foreman will look to see if I pull a wad of cash out of my bra. Don’t bother. Although my estimate contains a line that states “Gratuity is optional,” it is clear that I am expected to tip. The confirmation letter reads, “Tips for the movers are not included in the hourly rate. The industry standard is 15-20% of the total move (as you may tip a restaurant meal) divided among the crew (not per person). Tipping is not mandatory, and you may give them as you wish. OZ MOVERS WILL NEVER ASK YOU FOR A TIP.”
Yet, the foreman in NY stressed to me that tips should be paid in cash, not by credit card because it takes 30 days for them to get their money. Well, considering my shipment is seemingly taking 30 days to get here then that’s about right. And considering the grand total of my move was $1776.00, that between a $266.40 and $355.20 tip.
Recession or not, tipping Oz is out of the question at this point. It would be like if I went to Jean Georges restaurant, was seated immediately, my order was taken immediately then I had to wait three hours for the food to arrive. Maybe the food arrives and it is delicious, the best meal I’ve ever eaten. Would I tip after waiting an extraordinary amount of time? Only if there was some logical explanation to the delay, such as the kitchen catching on fire. Neither Or, a female Oz employee in NY, nor Ori, a male Oz employee in LA, (I am not making up these names) has given me any logical explanation for why a company that touts its coast-to-coast service is so slow in my case.
Or figured I had never moved between states but I told her I’ve moved from California to Iowa to Pennsylvania to Texas and back to California and I’ve never had a shipment sit for 10 days before leaving its origin.
I assume Oz, whose trucks I always spotted throughout Manhattan and which has been used by many notables and reputable companies, won’t include my testimonial on its wonderful testimonial page on its website. Thank goodness for blogs. It’s one way to spread the word: Don’t use Oz if you’re moving coast to coast. It is not the wizard it claims to be.
