Loaner Furniture

It has come to my attention that the loaner furniture will only be delivered once (uless you have things on back order) and picked up once.  What this means is if you "borrowed" beds from housing while waiting for your beds to show up in your HHG shipment, and you want to return them when you don't need them any longer it is going to cost you!  So, only "borrow" thing things you don't have coming on your shipment.

What I have heard from several friends when they tried to return beds was that if housing was to do the pick up they would also pick up the fridge, washer and dryer as well. This poses a problem technically because we are not allowed to ship major appliances over here. We all had to put our washer/dryer and if we had them, refrigerators into storage.  If you want to arrange for a partial pick up of "borrowed" furniture you will hae to pay a fee.  The fee my friend was quoted for one twin-sized bed was $100!

Let's hope that with all the new family members here these kinks will get worked out. This is what I think the Housing Office should do with the loaner furniture.
1. Have plenty of furniture on hand so service members don't have to ship any of their furniture here.
2. If a Service Member has "borrowed" furniture they are not  longer needing (due to HHG) and want to turn it in they should come get it for free (see #3).
3. If all the "Extra" "Borrowed" furniture was turned in then there probably wouldn't be such a back log of people waiting for furniture that are sitting on the floor to eat dinner, watch TV, etc!

Since this area is new to having family members we need to help them get the system up and running correctly. Let's all do our part and fill out the ICE cards and let them know not just our grievances but also our recommendations to help the system work better.  Remember we can all work together to make this a great assignment for everyone coming here.

Furniture Update

I went to the Town Hall meeting yesterday up at Camp Casey and they actually discussed the Loaner Furniture problem briefly.  Apparently the contract problem they ran into back in February of this year is still not solved and they don't have a date as to when it will be resolved.  They do have some things like the washer and dryers, love seats, refrigerators etc.  Just be sure to send some of your furniture with you so you are not having to purchase more once you are here.
Another option is to go for a furnished apartment. 

Furniture

Definitely bring your weight limit of furniture with you. When my husband arrived we were told there was plenty of loaner furniture for us to use for our whole tour, and to leave ours at home in storage. However, it appears there is a problem with a furniture contract being awarded, etc. This has resulted in a lot of people being put on the waiting list for furniture for a very long time. So, plan on bringing your own furniture or seeking a furnished apartment. I will update this post as soon as I have more information.