Coronado is a home to many single military members and military families. According to information from Coronado Unified School District, 39% of Coronado’s population is military families. We are frequently called to move overseas. Once overseas, many spend a lot of time and money finding unique pieces of furniture, antiques, pictures, and decor. The antiques and unique treasures located in Europe and the Middle East are not only beautiful, but often of significant value. Many of these items are then brought back to the United States when the military families move back.
How do these items get to the U.S.? All Household Goods (HHG) are packed into large crates, then shipped overseas. Once they arrive in the U.S., a moving company must receive the goods and deliver them to the family. It works just like that, every time.
Those of you that have gone through military moves are laughing right about now, because you know that this is simply not the case. There are times, for unknown reasons, that items don’t make it to the families. There are times when moving companies claim that the military members’ HHG were lost in transit, or that the items went unclaimed. The family then has to go through the painstakingly difficult process of putting in a claim for their goods, many of which are the irreplaceable items purchased overseas.
Just last week, Bay Area Movers, Inc. of Portsmouth, Virginia, who services the Hampton Roads area (“the east coast epicenter of military activity”), put out a notice through Gene Daniels Auctions that they would be auctioning “unclaimed shipments from overseas.” While it is unclear as to which company would financially gain, one can say for certain that the proceeds would not be going to the individuals that own said items. There are many issues with this situation. First, the property is not theirs to sell. Second, did the moving company really make an attempt to connect with these individuals to attempt a delivery of their goods? Lastly, is it even legal for the auction business to sell the items? According to the Uniform Commercial Code (the UCC), “The property of one person should not be commingled and sold with the property of another by the auctioneer unless notice is furnished to all interested parties, or it might constitute fraud.” If the moving company was able to send a letter stating that they were going to be auctioning the items, they should have been able to contact them to schedule delivery of their goods. In this case, ALL interested parties were not informed of the sale of their property.
The auction company posted an ad on social media, and within hours the issue was brought to light. Both the moving company and the auction company were not taking calls. However, Amy Bushatz of SpouseBUZZ spoke with Jean McRae of Bay Area Moving, Inc. According to McRae, “the auctioneers’ description of what they are selling is misleading. This is not really unclaimed shipments, she said — instead it’s more like unclaimed temporary storage items.”
The claim was looked into with the assistance of the Navy, and it was found that the items in the pictures that were posted on the internet were not the actual crates that were to be auctioned off. According to a statement made by Bay Area Moving, Inc., they hold the military members’ items for four months, paid for by the Navy. At the end of the four months, it is up to the service member to make arrangements for continued payment of stored items or delivery of goods. In the case above that created a social media buzz, after investigation, the crates to be auctioned had been in storage since the ’90s and into the first decade of the 2000s. The cost of storage for Bay Area Moving, Inc. is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The bottom line is, if you have items in storage after a permanent change of station (PCS), you have three to four months to schedule the delivery of your stored goods. It is also wise to keep your contact information up to date with the HHG office or the storage company. If you have any questions regarding this process, the HHG office is located in Bldg 3376, Naval Base San Diego, CA 92136 and their phone number is (619) 556-6683.
