Review: PODS Storage
My parents are retired and in the midst of downsizing their home. Up until recently, one obstacle in their path has been… my stuff. In the last ten years, on every trip, my mom has asked me about my belongings. It was a task that I came to dread, and so I would keep putting it off. But it needed to get done. On my last trip to visit my folks, I decided to finally take action. I spent the better part of three days determining what to keep and what to get rid of. Pro tip: If you haven’t used it in five years, toss it or sell it.
Getting rid of thing I no longer needed was an incredibly cathartic process, and I’m glad I did it. But there were things I still wished to keep. Things that I needed to move. And there was the matter of all of my dad’s stuff: his old projectors, cameras, and oodles of 16mm, 8mm and 35mm analog formatted memories. I’ve made it my mission to digitize these items to preserve and share them with my family.
In short, I had stuff I needed to move. But I didn’t want to deal with traditional moving companies. And that’s where PODS came in.
PODS (which stands for Portable On Demand Storage) is a moving and storage company unlike others. Here’s how it works: They supply a container and deliver it to your driveway. You load your stuff into the PODS unit. When you’re ready, they pick up the PODS unit and transport it to your destination. Finally, you unload your stuff from the PODS and they pick the container up when you’re ready. I made arrangements for a PODS unit about a month before my last trip to Tennessee. I ordered the smallest size (7′ x 7′ x 8′), which they claim is ideal for one room of furniture. This particular unit has an interior packing space of approximately 385 cubic feet, which was more than adequate for what I wanted to bring.
I organized my move with PODS via their website. The website helps you determine the size of storage container you need and also tells you, step by step, what happens during the move. Over the phone, I followed up with a customer service rep to ask a few questions and confirm my PODS delivery.
A day before the PODS unit arrives, I received both an email and phone call reminding me of the three hour delivery window. The PODS truck arrived within their scheduled time and dropped off the unit on my parents’ driveway, with the container’s door readily accessible from my parents’ garage.
The container itself is well constructed. There are handles on all three sides to help secure your belongings, to keep them from shifting during the move. (You have to supply your own rope.) The PODS unit has two small air vents. I mention this because in the summertime, depending on where you live, the closed PODS container can get very hot. I would not recommend packing items that are easily susceptible to heat damage (like candles or vinyl records). That being said, my entire comic book collection arrived intact. I made sure all my belongings were securely packed. Within a few hours of delivery, I had everything loaded into the PODS container. As you can see from the photo below, the small PODS unit was more than enough for my needs.
I recommend purchasing a lock for your PODS to insure that your belongings stay safe. Per my pre-arranged pick-up time, the PODS truck picked up the container using a crane-like apparatus called “PODZILLA”. It’s pretty slick and I wish I had taken photos of it.
As promised, the PODS container arrived at our home in Florida on the expected delivery date. It took about 7 days for me to receive my PODS container. The unit was unloaded onto our driveway and everything in the unit was intact and safe. PODS included a $5000 insurance rider with the unit I rented.
For payment, my credit card was charged in intervals (one for delivery of the unit, one for transport, and one for a rental fee), as opposed to paying for everything up front. The charges vary based on distance and length of rental time.
Whether on the phone or in person, I found all of the PODS personnel to be friendly and pleasant. Communication during all stages of my move was timely and clear. Best of all, my stuff arrived safe and sound, when it was promised. For my money, PODS lives up to their promises. They took a task I dreaded and made it painless. I give PODS my highest recommendation.
-Krishna
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