It’s sounds like you’ve been through the wringer! I’m glad you’ve settled on a reputable mover. Last minute moving is no fun — in fact, all moving is no fun! I hope Atlas can get there in time.

Thanks for stopping by and best of luck!
Amy

This is a very informative article which will help many that haven’t moved recently or been taught how to protect themselves. There are a couple of things that I, being a mover for 25 years would like to clarify;

In the Large Moving Companies paragraph you stated that moving companies with major van line affiliations don’t change the price and care about satisfaction, so true, a recent industry report said; 6 out of 10 unhappy customers will likely post, but only 1 out of 10 happy customers will. You mentioned United and Mayflower, we are both, making us an award winning “Dual Agency”, this means we have the full authority of both van lines.

You questioned the costs being higher with these agencies, normally true, but about 3 years ago we started our Alternative Services Division, the web address is http://www.thepackpros.com . We provide nationwide alternatives for customers which include small shipment moving, portable storage containers provided by United, Mayflower or PODS with packing, loading or unloading, U-Haul truck rental and moving labor to load or unload, we drive trailer space and any labor needs, overseas international containers with forwarding and labor services, auto transportation, plus many other options. We use the entire booking commission to lower the costs of the labor services for the customer. Our United Van Lines service now offers a very small delivery window, customers no longer have sit around waiting for the shipment to arrive.

The Loading and Unloading Help suggests emove for helpers called casual laborers, also available on Craigslist, you need to be extremely carful and let the readers know the risks when hiring these guys. The reason why they are so cheap is because you are assuming the liability in case they break or damage items, if they break and hide items at loading or don’t wrap and protect the furniture correctly you will have plenty of damage when you go to unload. I have heard many horror stories over the years, including a theft from the un-loaders coming back to house when the customer wasn’t home knowing there wasn’t a burglar alarm, don’t ever write on the outside of the box things like – Playstation, jewelry, stamp or coin collection or guns. I spoke to a person that was being sued because a big piece of glass broke and the worker had to get a bunch of stitches on his leg, the customer had to foot the bill because she was the employer and this emove service never requires workers comp insurance. I don’t understand why they recommend and don’t warn customers that there’s no drug testing, no insurance for worker’s comp or general liability nor any type of background checks to see if you will be safe. When you do file a police report they ask for the crew’s full names, addresses, dates of birth and S.S. numbers which emove and you do not have. I spoke with a emove laborer once, he was so proud of the fact that he had his friends give him great reviews to help get him work. You think you’re hiring professionals and there’s a possibility that this guy you hired to move and drive a rental truck can get into an accident and possibility kill someone and the customer is responsible because the worker may not have a driver’s license, could be on drugs and a wanted man. I’m not saying you should never use this option, but you should be aware of the dangers and protect yourself at all times, you get what you pay for.

You had mentioned the idea of a salesperson coming out to the house, this means they will need to be paid a commission which is between $200 and $500 dollars, this gets blended in with the labor fees, at times this is a waste of the customer’s time and money, the way efficient movers calculate now takes into consideration for items that use to be missed, but the customer needs to either prepare a written inventory which is incorporated into the flat rate pricing guarantee or they need a cordless phone to go through each room. If a customer wants to confirm accuracy they can have one major van line sales person come out and provide a survey which will list materials with special instructions, if the shipment is billed by weight and mileage, the survey provides a space or weight amount to use or if it is hourly, it provides a time estimate. When you contact other moving companies for a price quote give them the survey results and they will be able to give you a quote that is based on the same information, a comparison is the first salesperson say you need to ship 3 apples and the cost is $0.90, another one says 4 apples for $1.00 and another says 5 apples for $1.05, the highest price in the cheapest rate. A onsite survey is usually only required when a customer has an extremely large home, 4 bedroom plus or if they have a bunch of items needing special preparation like antiques, pool tables, pianos, German shrunk or full packing services.
Boxes can provided by military approved moving companies like us, we bring back boxes that are not reusable on another military shipment. We give these boxes to our COD customers totally free, we also offer the option to buy new materials direct from the wholesaler, at a price that is lower than what moving companies usually pay, we have combined buying power of all our alternative services providers which are located in over 350 metro areas across the U.S.

Let me know if I can ever help, I have been trained in sales, claims, operations, legal liability, marketing, van foreman, packing, crating and 3rd party services.

Nick Brieger G.M. for Alternative Services
Website http://www.thepackpros.com Email nick@thepackpros.com Phone(877)696-6831
Darren Holloway United Van Lines darrenh@browningmoving.com (800)722-6683
Pam Mueller Mayflower pamm@browningmoving.com (888) 327-0108

Thanks for writing in.

How about Moovers in No. California http://www.mooversinc.com/ or STS Movers in So. California http://www.stsmovers.com/?

They are some of the few recommended by the watchdog site Moving Scam.

Otherwise, have you tried networking with other families in your area about who they have used? Email loops are great for this, but lacking that, try asking around, everywhere you go.

It might make you feel more at ease if you can talk to someone who’s had a good experience with a certain company.

Hope this helps!

Amy

So at the moment I am trying to plan a long-distance move. As soon as I have contacted various movers on-line, I received MANY phone calls returning my ELECTRONIC message (which was rather overwhelming). The most resonable phone call, was from Omega Movers. Their website looks very professional and helpful, and they have a good Better Business Bureau rating (A-). I was thinking of going with them, but now I saw some concerning reviews from customers on Yelp.com. I am getting really confused. I’d like to stick with a local (Ca) company, whose location I know of, and who is not a broker; but these negative reviews sound night-marish – something I’d like to avoid….

If you have any suggestions, I’d appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,
Tatiana

Yes, moving is definitely anxiety-producing! I’m impressed that you did your move all by yourself. What a huge undertaking! I feel way too old to do that anymore.

Thanks for writing in!
Amy