A few years ago I started getting issues of Modern Luxury in the mail. I had no idea why they started coming, and I tried to get them to stop. This should have been easy, and was instead hard. Here’s my process, in case anyone else is in the same boat.

First, if you use it, try to unsubscribe via PaperKarma. This is convenient and works for a decent number of companies. PaperKarma kept reporting they’d successfully unsubscribed me, but Modern Luxury kept coming.

Second, write to subscriptions@modernluxury.com. I got no response.

Back in 2023 I went through an inter-state move with Flat Rate Movers, LTD., a.k.a. Flat Rate Moving, US DOT 488466, MC 254356. They bungled the job, damaged my stuff and my house, and then refused to talk to me or their own insurance company. I placed dozens of calls, wrote letters, emails, nothing worked. I finally got some money for the damage by working with their insurer directly. I know a lot of folks struggle with moving companies, and figured I’d write up a bit of this story in case it helps. You can skip ahead if you just want to know about the FMCSA insurer database.

In November 2022 I scheduled the move with Flat Rate. We took a detailed video inventory of everything to be moved. I paid over $14,000 for an “all inclusive move”, which, per the move plan, included full packing services, blankets for furniture, boxes for electronics, lamps, and bicycles, a custom crate for a tabletop, and “extended valuation coverage”—their insurance policy.

A few days before the move in March 2023, Flat Rate called to tell me a five-person team would arrive. When the crew arrived, it wasn’t Flat Rate. It was a team of two from Esquire Moving Inc (US DOT 2820253, MC 940499). They had no idea they were supposed to provide packing services. The crate I paid for was nowhere to be found. They didn’t have enough boxes or blankets. I had to have everything out that day, so there wasn’t any choice—I worked alongside the team for thirteen hours to complete the packing and move-out.

This story is not practical advice. For me, it’s closing the book on an almost two-year saga. For you, I hope it’s an enjoyable bit of bureaucratic schadenfreude. For Anthem, I hope it’s the subject of a series of painful but transformative meetings. This is not an isolated event. I’ve had dozens of struggles with Anthem customer support, and they all go like this.

If you’re looking for practical advice: it’s this. Be polite. Document everything. Keep a log. Follow the claims process. Check the laws regarding insurance claims in your state. If you pass the legally-mandated deadline for your claim, call customer service. Do not allow them to waste a year of your life, or force you to resubmit your claim from scratch. Initiate a complaint with your state regulators, and escalate directly to Gail Boudreaux’s team–or whoever Anthem’s current CEO is.

To start, experience an equipment failure.