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Moving companies

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by WildBillyCrazyCat, Dec 7, 2006.

  1. Frank_Ridgeway

    Frank_Ridgeway Well-Known Member

    If the company were paying for it, it wouldn't be your choice, it would be theirs. I found those to be the most hassle-free.

    The past four moves have been no greater than 25 miles, so we paid it. The first was when my wife and I started living together. She used a name-brand mover, I used some guys I found in the alt-weekly's classifieds for one-third the price. They were old guys who looked like bums, their truck was covered with graffiti. But they did a better job than hers did. Unfortunately, I think they dropped dead or something because they were gone by the time we needed them again.

    Our next move, we used a small, local company that was so good we used them again. Completely different experience the second time. They tried to significantly jack up the price at the end. We were screaming at each other. I thought the guy was going to punch me. But I held my ground and said, "Unless you have a gun and are prepared to use it, you aren't gettting one fucking cent more!" He snarled and walked away.

    The last move last year, a friend recommended a local company. They were the best, not only good movers but good guys. They weren't that cheap, but it was a fair price and they didn't pull any crap.
     
  2. trifectarich

    trifectarich Well-Known Member

    Hire a professional for the moving and the car transportation if you can afford it.

    I hired American Van Lines to move me 1,300 miles. When the van was loaded and ready to go, the foreman comes to me and wants me to sign a form saying they loaded something like 286 boxes. I asked him, "How am I supposed to know how many boxes you guys loaded over the last eight hours? I didn't stand here at the truck and count them."

    A week later the guy overseeing the unloading asks me to sign a form saying essentially the same thing -- that they unloaded X number, and my response was the same. I think I said something to the effect of, "A month from now we'll have every unloaded and put away, and eventually we'll know if something is missing. Then we'll let you know."

    All went well except that the morons who loaded THE most personally valuable item we had loaded it upside down and it arrived in half a million pieces.
     
  3. HeinekenMan

    HeinekenMan Active Member

    When I moved a long distance, I had a limited moving budget. After checking into things, I discovered that it was far less expensive to load my own truck and drive it there. I also learned that moving companies are notorious for screwing people.

    Your options include Budget, U-Haul and a few others. I think I went with Budget. Sometimes, you can get a better deal from different places. For example, I rented my truck from 25 miles from my home and saved $300.

    Along with saving money, I didn't have to worry about other people being responsible for my stuff. Another advantage is that you can get a tow device or a complete trailer to pull behind the truck. This beats shipping a car. I think I paid about $100 for the tow thing. It's a little more for a trailer.

    If I remember correctly, my cost was about $1,500 for the truck. It was one of the larger trucks. They say that it's better to go overboard on the size of the truck and pay more than to get loaded and realize that there's not enough room for all of your stuff.

    Of course, you also have to pay for fuel when you drive one of those huge trucks. Our truck got about 10 miles to the gallon. So it was $20 additional for every 100 miles that we drove. So that was another $200 or so. In all, I think it cost us about $1,800. That included a hotel stay.

    Also, don't forget that you can deduct this on your taxes. And remember that you really need to ask for the special appliance dolly. It features a handy strap to help you with the heavy stuff.

    Now, if you just don't want the hassle, I'm not sure that I have much advice. I have seen a lot of the PODS being used in my apartment complex. If I understand it correctly, you load it and they pick it up and haul it. It's more expensive than renting a truck. But it's probably not as much as if you paid a reputable mover.
     
  4. Freelance Hack

    Freelance Hack Active Member

    I'd call you a yenta before I'd call you a schmuck. But that's just me. :D
     
  5. Gold

    Gold Active Member

    AAAAAAAAmen. I had a horrible experience with Starving Students. The chipped almost every piece of furniture. I had to move quickly because our closing got confused, so they were the only ones I could find on short notice. Obviously, there was a reason they were available.

    I have heard the moving industry is a really slimy and corrupt business, sort of like TV repair used to be and worse than the car repair industry.

    My suggestion would be to have somebody load the truck. You will save a good deal of money since you are going anyway.

    If you use movers to pack or to drive, a couple of suggestions how to find a reliable one. First is to speak with a couple of local real estate people.

    My other one is to ask somebody in the military who has moved, because they have more experience with moving than most people and might know some good ones. The only thing with the military is that the movers might take better care of them than regular people, because they are making bigger bucks from the move and because they wouldn't want complaints because it would affect more future business.

    What I mean is this: if you move, most likely you only move once in a great while. With the military, if they do a bad job word will spread and they might have a problem with future contracts from the Defense Department.
     
  6. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Be aware that if you don't purchase extra insurance and something is broken or damaged, you get paid by the pound. So that china worth $2,000 that the refrigerator fell on would get you probably five or six bucks.

    Seems like the biggest problem some have is that they moving companies want to hold you up when you are at the destination -- charge some extra fee -- and they have leverage because your stuff is in the truck.

    If your company is paying for it, things usually are pretty smooth because they don't want to lose the steady business.
     
  7. Platyrhynchos

    Platyrhynchos Active Member

    Some things are just out of your control, too.
    A couple weeks ago on Interstate an Allied Van Lines truck blew a right rear tire on the cab. Started the trailer on fire.
    Those poor people lost every thing they owned. The trailer, a 48-footer, was packed to the gills.
    I would imagine that Allied probably had to come up with the replacement cost of everything.
    I don't know if insurance is included in the price of the move, but you might want to check into it.
     
  8. imjustagirl2

    imjustagirl2 New Member

    My company paid for my last move. Guys that packed up all my stuff I tipped. Well. They were good guys, worked quickly, wrapped EVERYTHING, and made it all work, despite a very tricky street and driveway that they maneuvered without too much incident.

    The guys that unloaded it, however? Bitched the entire time, talked shit about my stuff IN FRONT OF ME and yelled at me several times. Broke my vanity mirror that I got from my grandmother. They did not so much get tipped.
     
  9. HeinekenMan

    HeinekenMan Active Member

    Wow. I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight unless you tell us what they said about your stuff. I'm imagining boxes and boxes of stuff from Al's Pleasure World, or maybe a collection of hash pipes, or a stuffed buffalo head, or a life-sized schooner in a giant glass bottle, or a trunk stuffed with love letters from Jeffrey Dahmer, or maybe some drapes made from the 2,000-year-old tanned hide of an Incan family, or a collection of 5,000 celebrity boogers, each tagged and dated on a large piece of posterboard.
     
  10. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Um, I was thinking that maybe the couch and chairs didn't match. Your ideas are good, though, too.
     
  11. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    It was the life-sized cutouts of Brook Jacoby for every room.
     
  12. imjustagirl2

    imjustagirl2 New Member

    They weren't Incan. AND they lost booger No. 2,379. I mean, it's not like I see Abe Vigoda every day. Those things are not easily replaced.
     
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