ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A newly relocated St. Augustine family was still waiting for their belongings after hiring a moving company that hadn’t delivered their items nearly three weeks later.
UPDATE: After publishing this story, the Lawhorns received their pod the next morning.
Chuck Lawhorn and his family moved from Colorado to Florida to be closer to their newborn granddaughter.
“We’re new grandparents. My son and his wife had a baby, and we knew it wasn’t going to be good for us to maybe come down to Florida once or twice a year,” Lawhorn told News4JAX.
So, his family quit their jobs, packed their stuff, and moved to St. Augustine. Weeks later, they were still sleeping on air mattresses with their furniture and critical medical equipment for their daughter, who has a disability, stuck inside a 1-800-Pack-Rat container the company still hadn’t delivered.
“We’ve been waiting for 19 days,” Lawhorn said. “To receive our pod with very minimal, with no communication from 1-800-PACK-RAT. I’m having to do all the legwork of asking for updates. All I’ve asked for is please keep us in the loop. Let me know what’s going on because we’re having to go now, pay for things out of our pocket.”
Lawhorn said the fiasco began when a delay in closing on their home forced them to postpone delivery. 1-800-PACK-RAT then said a broken forklift at its Jacksonville warehouse prevented crews from removing the family’s container from a second-story rack.
Lawhorned said he stressed his family’s need for his daughter’s equipment to the company as well.
“The response that I got was I could come and bring a ladder and open up my container,” he said.
His family continued to pay for storage fees and stretched their budget to replace items their daughter needed.
“All I want is our stuff. I want my daughter to have her things. I want her to be able to start her new life here in Florida,” he said.
His daughter echoed his sentiments through tears.
News4JAX reached out to the moving company to get more answers about the delays and how many customers could be affected.
A representative said the company was reviewing our inquiry.