A few minutes ago, FedEx departed with Stephen’s 2 trunks. Technically, they should now be on their way to Rome. I won’t, however, hold my breath on that one until I know they actually made it.
Let me tell ya, this has been 1 really fun adventure. It took 3 phone calls to FedEx and 3 visits to the local FedEx office before I was halfway confident that I may have filled out all the paperwork properly.
Ask me how many times I packed. Oh, that would be 3 times. First we put his stuff in the really, really big trunk. When the nice lady on the phone asked how much the trunk weighs, I said I had no idea. It had to be over 100 lbs. but there was no way I could give an accurate account since I could not lift the trunk and stand on the bathroom scale. She then asked what the dimensions were & told me what forms I would need. Then I was told I needed to have an inventory of what was in the trunk. Time for unpacking. Yes, I had to take every single item out & made a detailed inventory.
After writing down everything, I repacked the trunk and called to arrange for a pickup. Again I was asked how much the trunk weighs. I said I don’t know exactly but I’d guess it’s very close to 150 lbs. Ah but 150 lbs. is their cut off weight so we assumed it was over and I was told I needed a different form. Back to the local office for the new forms. Oh, but they don’t carry those there.
Another phone call. Then I was told if it’s over 150 lbs., it has to go by ship & would take over a month to get to Rome. And if the trunk doesn’t have wheels (it doesn’t) then it needs to be on a platform because they would need a forklift to pick it up. Yeah, I just happen to have a bunch of those platforms around the house.
Fine. Forget the big trunk. I’ll just unpack the entire thing again and split it into 2 smaller trunks. This time we had a heads up that they would want to know the weight of the trunks. Luckily, these were more manageable so were able to weigh them.
Then came the really fun part. I had to assign a value for each item in there and had to know the weight of each item. There was no way I was going to unpack those trunks yet again, weigh every single book, sock, & cable so we just estimated on the weight. Far as value – let me say how stupid it is that I needed to act like I’m exporting good. Let me tell ya, if I’m able to sell some used boxers or ripped jeans, well they must be really desperate for American clothes over there!
Ah, yes, it was an adventure. Such a fun one that there is no way I would ever, ever leave the US and move to another country. Not if I have to do that all over again.
You should have made him put on about 5 layers of clothes and then take a small suitcase with towels and important stuff. He may have looked like the pillsbury dough boy on the plane but it would have been easier on you
Good to know…not like i’m ever leaving the country…but if I send one of my kids packing i’ll be prepared
Glad it all worked out o.k.
I had to fed ex some Christmas presents one time. They gave me fits about it, so I finally unpacked my box, wrote down the contents (which took FOREVER) then politely pushed it to their side of the counter and asked them to pack it. The guy took it over to the peanut machine and tossed the contents in while he filled it with peanuts. Linus thought it was the best show ever and kept saying, “Gin, gin! Do it gin, pease” I, too, had been very specific about what I needed, and they just told me to pack it the first time. Then they told me the box wasn’t the right size. Blah blah blah! Yeah, I know, you really wanted to know that, huh?
Glad it’s all over with on your end! I hope his trunks arrive safely and on time!
Yeah…I love messin’ with my in-laws! We actually left Brooklyn when I was quite young (4ish) and moved to San Diego for my father’s job. Then later to Seattle where we stayed. Actually, I was born in Rockville Center, and most of my relatives still live on Long Island. Thanks for visiting my blog