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How To Hire A Moving Company

 

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How To Hire A Moving Company by myCAREexpert

You've decided to hire movers.  What do you do now?

 

What’s the worst part about a new home?  The move!  But you’re an adult now; it’s time to stop banking on your friends and any acquaintance with a truck to help lug your furniture across town (and offering pizza and beer as compensation).  There are scores of moving companies out there for hire to fit your needs and your budget. 

Full Service

If you are particularly lazy and have some extra cash to burn, a full service moving company is the way to go.  Not only will they move all of your belongings from one house to the next, they will also take care of all the packing for you!  Make sure to understand what’s included in the estimate and if there are any add-on charges like packing materials, gas, or mileage.  And if you don’t want people looking at your every belonging, this options is probably not for you.

Hourly Movers

On the other end of the spectrum are hourly moving companies.  This can be a good option to keep your expenses down, providing you have a small amount of items (two bedrooms or less) and are moving locally.  If you go this route, make sure everything is packed, padded, taped up, and ready to go when the movers arrive because time is money!  If your travel route is prone to traffic, try to arrange the move during off-peak hours so you don’t rack up charges sitting on the road.

Flat Rate

Flat rate movers are recommended if you have more than a 2-bedroom house or if you are moving a long distance.  Flat rate means you get one price to move all your items from one house to the next, regardless of how much time it takes.  But beware of hidden fees!  Make sure to inquire about all costs, including costs that may not be represented in the initial quote.

Get An In-Home Estimate

Whichever option you choose, always have a company representative come out to your home to give you an in-home estimate.  This way they can see the amount and size of items you have and will be able to give you a more accurate assessment.  And again, always ask about any additional fees.  Sometimes there may be fees for moving certain types of items (like a grand piano) or providing certain services (like packing, or assembling furniture).  The more details you can share about your move, the less likely it is that you will be blindsided by surprise charges.

Online Calculator

To get an estimate of how much it will cost to move, check out this moving cost calculator where you can punch in your number of bedrooms, beginning and ending zip codes, move date, and more.

Shop Around

The best way to pick a moving company is a recommendation from a trusted source.  Even still, you may want to call around to at least three different moving companies to compare rates and service options.

Schedule Early

Don’t wait too long to schedule the moving company!  If you know when you’re going to move, it’s a good idea to research moving companies and book one as soon as possible.  Their schedule can fill up quickly, especially near the end of the month, so if you have a tight time frame you need to be sure to schedule early.

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0 Responses

  1. Never go with the reputation of the moving company. You should rather look for honest reviews about them. Honest reviews are easily separable from fake ones if you look closely in terms of language, terms used and name and location of the reviewer. Better go for movers who some of your friends or neighbors have already used and would like to refer.

  2. I always looks at reviews before I hire a moving company. It’s always hard to trust someone with our personal family belongings. We have places here that offer $120 flat fee for daily rates.

  3. When it comes to hiring moving companies I always look up for the most responsible ones since there are some companies that do not really take care of your stuff whatsoever, that’s why I prefer the ones that offer Full Service, even when the prices are a little bit elevated, they insure the stuff just to give their clients some confidence, thank you for sharing this information, it was really useful.

  4. Is it just me, or is anyone else leary of hiring a moving company?? I just cant fathom that I would ever personally do so. I couldnt trust a complete stranger to help move all of my families belongings.. I would rather me and my fiance do it ourselfs, and save the money and do more work though.

    1. Thank you for sharing your perspective, and I agree, there are many movers out there who don’t seem to concern themselves about really protecting your belongings. If you have a lot of precious or fragile items and family heirlooms, entrusting them to a stranger can be a real risk. I have hired a few moving companies when I have moved over the years. I am a single person, but I have a full house and it was worth the money not to have to drag a bunch of furniture up and down stairs. Most of my belongings aren’t too valuable, so I wasn’t too worried about damaging an item or two along the way. That being said, anything that I deemed precious or valuable, I moved personally. But there are moving companies geared toward a high-end market, familiar working with clients who own priceless and delicate belongings. Of course, you are going to shell out the big bucks for that level of service, so if you and your fiance can tackle the move on your own, more power to you!

  5. Thankfully I do not have any personal horror stories, but my brother just recently about lost his mind when he moved about a month ago. It took three weeks for him to get his bed and other furniture, and he was furious. He went for the cheaper guys, and got what he paid for. Just be extra careful and know what you are getting yourself into and read some reviews.

  6. I have a bad experience with the moving companies. I’ve used one only once and NEVER again.

    We were moving into our current house across the state and it was the worst experience ever. I had quite a few packages that had several fragile and valuable items inside. I wrote on the boxes, FRAGILE, warned the people that came to pick them up. You think that would mean they would be careful with it, right? well, guess again.

    Half of the items in the fragile boxes were broken. A lot of them had sentimental value to me and I was really, really upset. Not to mention it took them twice the time to deliver all the furniture.

    In the end, I filled a claim against them. If you do decide to go for a moving company, please, make sure to do a proper background check on them or maybe ask your friends if they have any experience.

  7. I’m so glad I saw this moving cost calculator! I have to say that when we moved here a number of years ago, it wasn’t really a pleasant experience (is it ever? hehe) But really, it was a nightmare. We did all the packing ourselves, did a LOT of downsizing in the process, and just hired a moving company for the appliances and big things that friends and family who were helping couldn’t really handle on their own.

    Now, keeping that in mind, if I recall correctly, we paid them around $600 to move the major things less than ten miles and there weren’t a whole lot of them. I just put it into the calculator for the zip from which we moved to where we are now. I was *very* pleasantly surprised to find out that for a *FULL* move, for which I wouldn’t even have to do the packing, the estimate is $1783 to $2532. That’s considerably less than I was expecting.

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