Last year, when I had more things than I could bring back home for the summer, I decided to use Smart Movers after seeing a flier in my mailbox.

Smart Movers stores students’ stuff in cardboard boxes in “secure, climate-controlled facilities,” according to their website, over the summer so students don’t have to.

The company’s prices seemed reasonable, and when Smart Movers employees came to load my boxes onto their trucks, everything looked like it was going to be in a safe environment for the summer.

After returning to campus last Thursday, the day I asked Smart Movers to deliver my three larger boxes, the company’s truck was nowhere to be found. My father and I searched aimlessly on Friday and Saturday. Calling Smart Movers meant hearing, “The mailbox you are trying to reach is full.” E-mailing them meant getting no response. The company’s Web site was unreliable, since they changed the dates, time and locations of the drop-off daily.

Saturday night I received an e-mail from them stating “reservations were not recording properly.” So that was the cause of the confusion. Once they finally arrived Sunday at 12:30 p.m., Smart Movers employees were not actually delivering the items, but subcontracted movers who claimed they would never store their things with Smart Movers after what they saw at the storage facility and for all the commotion they caused over the weekend. I know I wasn’t the only student inconvenienced by the irresponsibility of Smart Movers. I’ve spoken with many other students who were enraged and frustrated by the huge hassle they were put through just to get their bedding, televisions or books back. I guess using a storage company such as Smart Movers wasn’t such a smart move after all.

-Carly McKeague is a junior speech language pathology major.