Yes, as a matter of fact, I could do better

[protege]

All of this sounds like something my boss would do. In fact, he did most of it...when he decided to move the company offices across town. Rather than hire pros to move the furniture...he found a couple of kids to pack things up.

Anyone want to guess what happened? Yep, it got fucked up. Not only was the computer network a mess, but nearly all of the paperwork and reports were misfiled. Seems that the "kids" that were hired...didn't give a shit. They tossed random folders into random boxes, simply to get the job done. 2 years on, we're still finding things that are misfiled!

Even the office furniture wasn't immune to stupidity. The main victims, were the file cabinets. Keep in mind that most of them were on the ground floor. Sure, we had some in the basement, and a couple upstairs, but even so...how the hell does one beat the shit out of a 4-foot-wide cabinet...while taking it down a 6-foot-wide staircase? Also, how the hell does one manage to hit the fucking ceiling (a 7-foot ceiling, in fact!)with a 4-foot-tall cabinet? Unless someone was playing football with the units, there's no fucking way! Yet, I heard that someone managed to put a crater in the ceiling

But the best...had to be what happened to the computer systems. Even though everything had been marked, yep, it got fucked up. I found several UBS devices that were literally overloaded. Multiple computers plugged into them, and in one case...a printer. If we'd lost poser, the UBS batteries would have been either drained in seconds, or fried To top it off, we lost several important items...namely the sole copy of Windows 2003 Server

And no, I didn't get chewed out. Why? Well, I was on vacation 500 miles away, and I'd turned my phone off. Not my problem, in other words

[evilhomer]

Also, how the hell does one manage to hit the fucking ceiling (a 7-foot ceiling, in fact!)with a 4-foot-tall cabinet?

4 Ft cabinet + carried @ 3 Ft waist level + idiots who don't give a shit = hole in ceiling


I don't have any updates on this. I'm sure somebody had to go in to clean up this fiasco, but I wasn't welcome and even if I was, I would have refused. Since it wasn't my company's customer (I was sub-contracting), we haven't had any contact with these people.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

4 Ft cabinet + carried @ 3 Ft waist level + idiots who don't give a shit = hole in ceiling

I'm guessing this is a far more common occurrence than I'd like to think it is?

[protege]

4 Ft cabinet + carried @ 3 Ft waist level + idiots who don't give a shit = hole in ceiling

Maybe...but I'm trying to figure out why those cabinets should have been lifted that high at all. They're pretty heavy to begin with--all that should have happened, was the "movers" lift one end, and kick a furniture dolly (basically a flat board with wheels on casters) under it. Very little lifting required

[XCashier]

Unfortunately people think "Hey I can do better, and save money!" and some can. They have the foresight, the common sense, and the ability to PLAN. Others (like me) go to the pros and say "Hey, I need this moved..help?!" and let them do it their way..cause I have NO clue..but at least I know I have NO clue. So I pay a bit more, but it gets done right.

Either way, you're still miles ahead of the SC in the OP, who just thought they could "figure it out as they go". As someone else said, failing to plan is planning to fail.

[mharbourgirl]

My office JUST finished moving into a brand new space. 50 people and 40 years worth of gathered STUFF. I had no idea how many corners were stuffed with STUFF until the week of the move. And due to circumstances beyond our control, we only had about 2 months from finalization of the new lease to moving day.

It was VERY organized. Why? Because if you want a move organized, you saddle your anal-retentive librarian with the job of organizing it. I am a RELENTLESS nag when it comes to keeping people moving and getting simple things like writing a number on a shiny label and sticking it on your stuff. Oh, and hire a PROFESSIONAL moving company. It is more than worth the money.

Come moving day (week, actually, but I only gave up half my Christmas break to do it and someone owes me bigtime), I put on my raggedy clothes and stood in the old office with a floor map, a long list, and steel-toed boots to coordinate the movers, and didn't sit down for most of the first day because, inevitably, stuff gets forgotten and someone has to be the hard-ass who makes decisions about whether to keep or abandon to the new tenants. And pick up all the small stuff that was behind desks and under cabinets and in holes we didn't know we had.

We have been 'moved in' for three weeks now and we're STILL trying to figure out where some things ended up in our giant new space. Mainly because it's a big space and people got lazy here and there.

The bright side? Our IT guy is still having nerdgasms over his shiny new server closet with proper racks and cable trays and brand new servers and air conditioning. If the IT guy is happy, everyone is happy.

[JustaCashier]

......steel-toed boots to coordinate the movers, and [I] didn't sit down for most of the first day.....

I'll bet the movers didn't sit down for awhile either, if they needed excessive "coordinating"!

Mike

[Geek King]

If the IT guy is happy, everyone is happy.

I think I speak for the rest of the board computer geeks when I say:

[evilhomer]

Maybe...but I'm trying to figure out why those cabinets should have been lifted that high at all. They're pretty heavy to begin with--all that should have happened, was the "movers" lift one end, and kick a furniture dolly (basically a flat board with wheels on casters) under it. Very little lifting required

It's actually easier and safer to leave them on the dolly. There's a technique to it. The buggers slip out of your hands if you try carrying them on their own. You just have to watch for clearance and be careful.

Unfortunately, finding guys strong enough to do this work generally comes with them being dumb enough to be willing to do this work. So yes, damage is a far too common occurence.

[mharbourgirl]

I'll bet the movers didn't sit down for awhile either, if they needed excessive "coordinating"!

Mike

Naw, even though most of them couldn't have been more than 19, their foremen were steady and excellent. I just sussed out the one kid with more attitude than brains and a snarky mouth and pwned him (entirely verbally, it's more fun) in front of the rest of the crew. After that there was no trouble at all.

I think I speak for the rest of the board computer geeks when I say:

Aww, thanks Dude. Without a happy IT person, things go to hell in a hurry. I'm support staff myself, and I know just how little appreciation we all get in general. If you're nice to us, though, all kinds of pleasant things may occur. I bake my IT guy brownies, he gives me the NICE laptop to play with (also because I don't blow up computers like some of my co-workers).

[South Texan]

Oh the stupidity this brought back.

The last big office move I was part of involved moving our entire department up to another floor into where another department was located as that department was going to be moved to another building. The other department also had had new furniture purchased for it. The manager in charge of this move also ordered the furniture, and had set the delivery date for the new furniture at three weeks after the move was to take place. The department therefore would have to have its current furniture moved to the new location.

When I pointed out that it would make much more sense to delay the move by three weeks or ask for the delivery to be moved up so the new furniture could be delivered and set up at the new location and we could just move into the old furniture already on the floor above us since it was the same stuff we already were using and had been purchased and fitted to that floor plan, I was told to stay quiet. So the department hauled all its furniture to the new location where it did not fit, our department’s furniture was moved up to the new floor where it also did not fit well, and the offices we vacated were empty for four weeks – at which time the old furniture from the new location had to be moved back in (where most of it did not fit either).

How much this cost was never disclosed to us.