Hello all, I am in the process of moving and need some storage space until my new place is ready. My current lease ends June 30 and my new place will be ready mid-July so I need moving & storage for a limited time. I am investigating PODS (www.pods.com) and wonder if anyone has had first hand experience with them. Are they reliable? Safe? Etc. Good, Bad or Ugly? Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.
I helped a coworker move and she used PODS. They dropped off the POD while she was at work and picked it up while she was at work. That is to say that they were completely self-sufficient and she did not need to be there to supervise them. In her case, the move was immediate and they took the POD directly from her old house to her new house. She had a good experience.
With no experience with them, i can't say what their customer service is like... however, they do offer a service that is much, much easier to use than almost any other storage service out there... no need to rent a truck, or make multiple trips to a storage site, everything you need is brought to you. IMO, i also think it would be safer than other storage sites, assuming they don't employ crooks that regularly make stuff go missing . If you think about it, most storage sites have people going there on a daily basis, bring stuff in, taking things out, etc - how easy is it to cut someone's lock and take a few things unnoticed? With PODS, the whole idea is that you're never at the storage site, so i would think it would be more difficult for someone to show up and start going through people's stuff, just because the cameras and security guards would notice anyone there.
I've heard they are a little pricey, but you are paying for a LOT of convenience, so this may have been more whining than anything. I see you're in NJ as I am - check with your town to see if they have restrictions on where and how long you can have a pod on site; I'm a Realtor, and I know some local towns are "cracking down" or limiting how long you can have one in your driveway (they seem to be trying to lump them in with dumpsters, which is a little bizarre) - best to check ahead of time. Good luck. I hate moving.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ZenCruiser @ May 22 2007, 04:27 PM) [snapback]447519[/snapback]</div> From what I have gathered, they are in the same price range as hiring movers, excpet with PODS they provide stroage too. Good tip about checking with my town. Luckily, I will be able to have the POD in my driveway on both the pack and unpack locations. I know there are restrictions about having the POD on the street. Thanks everyone!
I helped a friend load up some pods for a move from New Jersey to Florida. It was a little bit of a disaster at the start, but worked out in the end. First the driver was late. Then the driver was upset because we were taking too long to load the pods. He said that he was used to commercial customers and not individuals. Then my friend had to run off to a home depot because no one had told him that you had to lock the pods with your own padlocks. Then the forklift that hangs on the back of the flatbed to get he pods on to the flatbed broke. Pod uy claimed that the pods were overloaded. Another truck had to be rerouted to bring another forklift. I didn't wait around for it to show up because my work was done. Everything eventually got there, but it was a very tension filled day. There was no storage involved in the case.
Was a news story in Atlanta about Pods cracking someones driveway and tearing up their yard. Also have heard of them damaging things.
I know this topic fell off the radar, but I thought I would write a quick note about my experience with PODS. They were excellent. They did exactly what they said they would do, showed up on time, both in dropping off and picking up. (They give a 3-hour window.) The POD was clean and ready to be loaded and easy to lock. Upon arrival at my new place, nothing was severely shifted, so nothing was broken, dented or scratched. I figured I would post this because I would have written twice as much had the experience been awful/dreadful. I would recommend them if you need additional storage during a move.
It seems that it won't be an issue for you in this case, but one of the things to be certain of before dropping a PODS unit in the street is the regulations in your particular city / town. Most jurisdictions require an enroachment permit to drop them in the parking area, and you have a limited duration for how long they can be there. Not following the rules can get to be a huge hassle and / or be very expensive. Other than residents who didn't check the requirements (and one Mortified older woman who mis-dialed their 800 number off the side of the container and got a gay porn phone sex line....), I haven't heard anything bad about them.
I used them. Very happy. Just make sure you are available by phone on the day they do any drop offs or pick ups. All moving prices do wierd increases if you cross state lines. I recall when I used the pods that is was cheaper to have them stored for a week rather than drive it directly from one house to the other. Didn't make sense but I preferred it that way and if it was cheaper so be it.
