My boy and I are moving to Texas from Virginia soon. We’re in the process of picking movers. (Well I am anyway.) My only experience with moving has involved parents and vans. This time it’s much farther and we have a decent amount of stuff, so we need movers.
We’re not renting a truck as we have 2 cars to drive down and not enough stuff to warrant a truck with a trailer hitch. I’ve been doing my research for that. We were looking to use the you load, they drive trucks, but for some reason, they don’t seem to service our area of Texas. So it’s down to movers, which seem to have similar estimate to renting a truck. Go figure.
I am a bit confused about the whole estimate thing. What is better? Binding? Non-binding? The AMSA (American moving and storage association) more or less says that non binding is better but a few moving companies has said, no binding is better. Help! We start in house estimates next week.
I have no personal experience with any moving company, but i do follow the news and the internet closely enough to know that you need to be very careful when choosing long distance moving companies. The industry is absolutely rife with rip-off artists, and if you’re not careful it can literally end up with you either paying out thousands of dollars more than you were quoted, or having the moving company run off with your furniture.
Luckily, a bunch of people (many of whom have been ripped off themselves) have posted a lot of helpful advice on the internet. I strongly recommend that you read some of these websites before you get an estimate. Even if the sites can’t provide you with a good company, they do give good general advice about how to choose one yourself.
Thanks for the links! I checked out moving scam and it turns out that a few of the companies I had on my list to call were on the blacklist. That just saved me a lot of headaches.
Right now I just wish I had an accurate description of the weight of my goods. That would help so much right now. I’ve got ideas but short of driving it all to a weigh station, not going to happen. But thanks for the links!
this might not help, except to say keep searching on the web. When I moved out of state, I had found a few websites that gave free estimates… they had an online section where you checked how many rooms you had, the types of furnitures and what not that you have, and gave a weight estimate based on how you selected everything. When I actually moved I found my estimate from thos sites were only 200lbs different than the actual move.
Binding, I think, is to protect you from a less than reputable company that will give you a low ball estimate then end up with an outrageous bill once it’s loaded and weighed. You don’t know the actual cost to move your stuff until they’ve already got it loaded up … kinda the point of no return.
Do be prepared to box up EVERYTHING. The moving companies will provide boxes for items that you were unable to box, such as mattresses, mirrors, glass from tables, heck I think even my coffee table was boxed up.
Sorry i can’t remember what sites I used for the estimates, but they are out there!
You could also check with your local Better Business Bureau to see if they’ve had any complaints. (You might need to find the one in the city which the company is based if it’s not local.)
I’ve moved numerous times, including to Alaska and back, and I’ve never had any difficulty with Mayflower Moving. I would stress that having someone come to your house to do an estimate is essential (at least the first time, I got so I knew I had, leterally, a ton of stuff and even impressed a mover by how accurate I was). the weight estimates should be roughly the same–these guys (and guyettes) are trained in how to establish typical weights (a sofa weighs X, a sofa bed = Y), so a big difference means somebody is pulling something.
I was charged an hourly rate for the movers, with a minimum and a maximum, and then so much per pound. The last time, an interstate move, I had an estimate of the per pound cost, and signed a contract on that amount. If my weight was lower, I would get a refund, but if they undercharged me, too bad. Interstate rates (per pound) are regulated–the only way a company can save you money is on costs like packing or per hour charges, so a company that gives you a much lowere per pound cost is dishonest. For an in-state move, regulations are different, and I believe I got my final costs after my stuff had been taken and weighed. it is in their best interest to give you an accurate estimate, and by getting at least three estimates, ou should be able to tell if someone is scamming you.
My stuff was usually “shipped” by the company because I didn’t have a full truck’s worth–this means it was combined with another shipment to the same location. For this reason it was very important that every box, every piece of furniture, every object that went into the truck had its own sticker and that the number on the sticker, along with what it was stuck on was listed on the form. Then, when they unloaded my stuff, I sat with the forms and a pen and marked off the numbers as they brought things in. the system works–all my stuff ended up in my new place, and the box that didn’t belong to me went back with them so they could figure out where it did belong.
By and large, most “national” companies (Mayflower, Allied, Bekins, etc.) are on the up and up, although local owners may run scams.
I looked at that first link, posted above and noticed something rather startling about the black list: the vast majority of that black list are companies on the east coast of Florida and in New York, particularly in the NYC/LI area. S’pose this site is specific to the I-95 corridor? (I saw some MD companies there as well.)
I just thought that was strange.
The other thing that occurred to me – and this means I watch too much Sopranos – because of the NY-FL connection: S’pose some of these moving companies are fronts for organized crime operations?
Anyway, I’ve moved across country a couple times and my advice is to get at least three binding quotes from major, reputable, I’ve-heard-of-'em-before companies. Do NOT use “A Man with a Van” or any other local mom-n-pop. This breaks my general rule of thumb which is to shop locally, but you don’t want to mess around with everything you own.
Also note: I know a family who, while they were moving from NJ to FL, the moving truck caught fire and they lost everything they owned. Do NOT pack any sort of combustible chemicals even if you know the truck will not sit out in the hot sun all day.