Army wife uses AirTags to track shady movers

An Apple AirTag

Military members doing permanent change of station (PCS) moves have historically had issues with shippers' accountability of household goods. Shipments often get stalled for weeks or months by contractors, with little or no communications on the location, or the reason why, the goods were lost or delayed. In fact, AppleInsider staffers have dealt with lack of accountability or good tracking of the shipments multiple times.

Military spouse Valerie McNulty told the Military Times that she had heard "horror stories" during transfers from one duty station to another. To keep tabs on her family's belongings during one such move from Fort Carson, Colorado to Fort Drum, New York, McNulty said she slipped an AirTag into one of the boxes prior to the move.

"You hear so many horror stories when it comes to PCSing," she said. "With those stories in mind, and having read about people putting AirTags with some of their [household goods], I decided it would be worth testing the theory."

The AirTag's tracking ability came in handy when the family's household goods weren't delivered on-time. When the expected delivery date of Jan. 7 went by without the family receiving her goods, McNulty contacted her move coordinator.

The coordinator told her that she should expect the delivery the following day, and she was able to confirm that the goods were only a four-hour drive away. However, McNulty said she then received a call from the delivery driver, who told her that he had just picked up the goods in Colorado and that a next-day delivery wouldn't be possible.

When she told him that this wasn't true and the delivery was just hours, the driver reportedly hung up on her.

"I made him aware that I knew he was only four hours away from us," she noted. "He called back several minutes later trying to bargain with me to see if he could deliver it on Sunday or Monday."

McNulty contacted her move coordinator, but quickly found that the company didn't know where the driver was. Her AirTag had given her "more information than they did."

Eventually, the driver called back and claimed he was with his girlfriend. He told McNulty that he didn't know that she could track her while he was going to "see my lady." He told her that he could make it the next day if he hustled, and she suggested that he did.

McNulty shared her experience in a Facebook post, stating that she hopes more military families use AirTags during major moves or reassignments.

"Instead of waiting for someone to change something I took matters into my own hands," she wrote. "I hope the word spreads, I hope other military families hear our story and they, too, add AirTags to their [household goods]."

This isn't the first time that AirTags have been used to find missing belongings. They've been used to find stolen scooters and lost wallets. A single AirTag retails for $29, while a 4-pack costs $99. Exclusive savings are available on both quantities in our AirTag Price Guide.