Military ResourcesThis is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of CORT. All opinions are 100% mine.
After 8 hours of overseeing the moving company pack up our belongings, our home was nearly empty. Together my husband and I sat on the landing of the stairs sipping on the last two sodas that remained in our fridge minutes prior.
They were cold, crisp and refreshing on the eve of a balmy summer night–much like we hoped our new adventure would be. We were starting over again; this time at a new duty station further way from family than ever before. We were ready for the challenge of making a new house our home. We were ready to embrace a new city with new people. We were ready to bear hug our next duty station, even if it meant starting over. But as our movers banged our final piece of furniture through the front door frame, I couldn’t help but wonder what in the world we were thinking buying new furniture 6 months before our move.
The problem with PCS moves.
Military life offers you adventure, but it also offers you banged up furniture, broken family heirlooms and floor plans that don’t fit the furniture from your previous home. I can’t tell you the number of military moving horror stories I’ve heard. Serious damaged goods. From furniture to kitchen wares to pictures and artwork–all of it wrecked beyond functional use. Before our last PCS move, there are several things I wish I knew and that every military family should know before moving again.
Damaged goods are inevitable.
Your family worked hard to earn and save money. Your family carefully picked out furniture to use and keep in your home. And then your family moved because of military orders and all your furniture took a beating getting to your next duty station.
The claims process takes forever.
It can take months just to get the claim application process started and well over a year to see reimbursement from damaged goods in a PCS move. That is IF you receive reimbursement at all. Because the moving company will fight tooth and nail not to pay you. The more money they pay out in claims, the less income generated by the business.
Storage is brutal on your stuff.
If you decide to store your goods for an overseas move, deployment or a duty station that is limited on space, you may find your furniture is not the way you left it. Almost no government storage facilities are climate controlled, leaving your stored furniture to pick up undesirable odors and even mold.
Furniture that fits in one house doesn’t always fit well in another.
Each time we move the layout and feel of the house is completely different. We find ourselves buying and selling furniture like it’s a side business. This gets crazy expensive. Normal people do not buy and sell furniture every 2-3 years. Because that would be insane.
Here’a a solution.
Begin to smooth out all the twists and turns along your military moving journey with the nation’s most trusted solution: CORT Furniture Rental.
CORT Furniture Rental process is designed to be as easy and painless for military personnel as possible. You choose from three Military Packages, select any additional essentials you may need, and checkout online! When it’s time to move again, CORT will release you from your furniture rental contract and schedule your items for pickup. You get what you need without wasting time and money moving, storing or buying new furniture for your temporary place.
The best part?
You can rent furniture that is beautiful and modern! It’s perfect for any military spouse looking to decorate a new home in style without a lot of stress. Plus, each time you move to a new duty station, you can enjoy new furniture and a new look for your home.
Our house was empty.
As my husband and I sat there on the base of the steps finishing our sodas, the mood in the air was bittersweet at best. This was our first home together. This is where we spent the first year of our marriage together. This is where we spent our first months as new parents wondering how to soothe a crying baby at 3 am.
And now we were saying goodbye.
Change is hard and so is military life. But home is wherever the military sends you, so long as your hearts are there. My husband looked over to me and our eyes met. We clinked our soda cans together and smiled knowing we were onto our next greatest adventure. And there was no turning back.
Want more on military life?
- 20 Must Have Documents for a Stress Free PCS Move
- 5 Things You Miss Most Living Far From Family
- I’m Terrible at Being a Military Spouse
- What I Wish I’d Know Before Becoming “Military Spouse”
First of all, thank you for your service. And second, I like your easy to read writing style.
That’s a good tip to rent furniture. That way you won’t have to worry about moving your pieces when the time comes. I guess military families learn to “pack light” like that because of their potential to be moved around.
Moving can be so much work, I didn’t know military moving had so much trouble involved! Local moving and civilian moving can be very stressful as is, I can only imagine the constant move for military members. I’m definitely sharing this with friends stationed in San Diego.
My son is in a disagreement with the moving company right now. As an example, his chest of drawers arrived crushed, buckling out, like a huge weight has been put on the top of it. He doesn’t have a lot of money but bought a good couch as a beginning. He lives alone and after 8 years his couch looked like new. The arms were mashed and maybe broken inside. They want to give him “replacement” value” of $600 when it would take $1200 to replace it. He has all the documentation and pictures. It is being referred to Transportation. He went through this about 10 years ago. He is an amateur chef and they lost the box with all his expensive cutlery. In the end, months later, they paid for it. It has absolutely nothing to do with the actual value but how long it will take to wait you out and get you to give in to their ridiculous offer, to settle. Why the government allows this treatment for our military people I just don’t know.