Preparation for packers and movers

I wrote a relocation guide mentioning some of the tips about moving from one city to another. This gap in blogging frequency is because of this relocation. I finally moved to Bangalore.

Bangalore Vs Kolkata

The biggest difference I find is the weather, it is a huge relief. Although traffic is said to be the nemesis of Bangalore, I still find it better than Kolkata, but the worst part is poor public transport. The auto-rikshaws are few and the drivers bluntly will reject (based on some weired logic) when you tell him about your destination. In kolkata at least you can get yellow-taxi (Ambassador painted yellow) to any destination (although costlier).

Agarwal Movers and Packers Sucks

In the comment section of my relocation guide someone warned me not to use the Agarwal Packers and Movers, but since the relocation is being done by my wife's office, which appointed them as the company for moving employees, I had no choice. I guess only one word can describe my experience, "pathetic". I simply could not believe that a famous company like this could do such a shoddy job.

My pathetic experience

Here is few points of my experience with them

• From morning 8:00 they finished at night 9:00 despite the fact that I do not had any major things to pack (no sofa, not much furniture, no car)
• They got just three persons, one of whom was doing both the paper work as well as packing
• I shouted at them three times since they were not packing in correct manner. A glass item needs to be provided proper cushion with paper and cloths and this basic thing they didnt knew.
  
• After doing half the packing they just went to some other near-by location without informing me. I was very pissed off by this.
  
• There were mistakes in the paperwork, which I did not expected in a professional movers and packers.
  
• When they said everything is packed, I searched in the house and found many things lying around. So I had to force him to create another carton pushing the remaining things in there. This was the worst experience anyone can ever get.
  
• After such a shoddy job, they still expected me to pay an "unofficial tip".
  

NEVER EMPLOY THIS COMPANY FOR YOUR RELOCATION IF YOU WANT TO REMAIN SANE.

I am now just waiting for my goods to reach me safely without anything missing.

Here is a short guide on what to look when packers and movers are at your house:

• Make sure you have separated the items you want to take with you like documents, jwellery and cloths
• Ask the company to send atleast four or five people. Not less not more
• Keep watch while the packers do their job. Instruct them when you think they are not doing the job properly. Keep asking them questions about how they are packing certain stuffs like almirah or fridge.
• Make sure they put plastic around vaulable goods like TV, Fridge, Sofa etc
• Instruct them not to pack what you want to leave. In my case they even packed my garbage box containing the garbage. I had to unpack that box and remove the garbage.
• Keep enough water and food for yourself during the packing. You will need it.

Micro-SIPs

I think this is enough for relocation, on a different note, ICICI and Reliance have introduced micro-SIPs for as low as Rs 50 per month. I am not sure how much beneficial this is for customers. This is aimed at people who cannt afford the previous lowest of Rs 500 or Rs 1000. Imagine the income group which cannt afford even Rs 500 per month, and how much value for them even a sum of Rs 50 would be? I would expect them to be a totally risk-averse category. Can a mutual fund house be able to tell them that their hard-earned money would be at the mercy of stock markets and the returns (even the original) is no longer guaranteed. I am really skeptical about the returns of micro-SIPs vis-a-vis other risk-free avenues. I can visualize that with plethora of micro-SIPs coming, lot of investors will be robbed of their precious money without much gains. It will be a boon to the mutual fund houses rather than those investors.