HUDSON, Ohio — Could you imagine moving a thousand miles away for a fresh start, but your life is on hold because everything that makes your house feel like a home is stuck in a collapsed warehouse?
Unfortunately, this is the reality for one local family in Hudson, Ohio.
Emily Prior said she and her family moved from Tampa, Florida, to Hudson, Ohio, to get a fresh start, so they relied on a moving company to help them with the cross-country journey.
But then, the family said things took a turn when the wall collapsed at Tampa’s U.S. Postal Service Facility on April 28, which the moving company, 1-800 Pack Rat, also occupies.
“We were told initially upon our road trip that our pods were going to be delayed by just a couple of days due to the wall collapsing at the USPS station over in Tampa,” said Prior.
Prior said she tried to remain optimistic to see the delay as an opportunity for her and her family to explore the area, until the set date of May 14 turned into weeks.
Now, Prior's home sits empty, as she’s left with more questions than answers for what she says has been nearly a month.
“Just kind of built from [there], 'We don’t have this timeline.' 'We don’t know where your pod is.' 'We were told your pod is in Cleveland, no, it’s in Tampa' and then we got initially to the story of its stuck in Tampa in the warehouse,” said Prior.
Our Tampa station spoke with the moving company’s Chief Operating Officer, who said they aren’t allowed in the warehouse.
No one was hurt during the incident, but our partners have a video showing multiple Pack Rat employees walking over yellow caution tape to go in and out of the building.
Still, Kevin Barbour said they aren’t allowed to move Prior's and close to 100 other people’s belongings despite being allowed to go in to use the printer, restrooms and even move containers on a forklift.
“We were asked to go in to move a couple container(s) so the inspectors could finish a portion of this building, said Barbour. “I hope we can get our stuff, and I hope Pack Rat can make it right in the end,” said Prior.
Pack Rat has told our Tampa station that they are committed to making sure affected customers like Prior are made whole.
