Will I piss off the movers if some of my items are loose?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

On Friday, I’m moving about a block and a half to a better studio apartment. For the first time in my life, I hired a moving crew.

There are a few items that are awkward to pack into boxes, such as my ironing board and some large framed posters. I also have some stuff packed into suitcases, as well as an inflatable bed that’s in a totable bag. I was also going to leave my microwave unboxed.

Is this pretty standard for a short move, or will the movers bristle at anything that’s not boxed up? Obviously for some of this stuff, I can just run back and forth myself (5-minute walk), but I’d also like to get my money’s worth.

#2

Call them and tell them what you’ve told us. If something’s awkward to move loose, they’ll pack it for you.

#3

Who boxes posters? Or an ironing board?

It all sounds fine to me but if you are worried, just call the company.

#4

If it fits in a box, put it in a box. I wouldn’t sweat the ironing board. I’d also not worry about appliances as big/sturdy as a microwave either. But the more you can pack, the better. I almost walked out of helping a friend out a few years ago when his claim of “I’m 80% packed” turned out to be more like 10%. I’ll help you move - I’m not packing for you. (The entire kitchen, bathroom and two full closets of shit weren’t boxed!)

#5

The movers themselves may be pissed at having to pack your stuff for you because it’s often a slow, painstaking job, but the company’ll be only too happy to charge you for the labor & materials of packing, it’s usually a big moneymaker for them, & one cause of customer “sticker shock” when they get a final bill that is much higher than the initial estimate from less reputable companies. “What, you didn’t want the sofa wrapped in three layers of cardboard and 17 rolls of tape?” Do yourself a favor & pack as much as you can by yourself, get boxes from the local liquor store or wherever (don’t buy from the movers), and/or make sure you get a binding estimate if you can. Maybe consult Angie’s list or BBB first. The moving industry seems to lend itself to alot of this type of scamming, at least among fly by nighters, something about interstate trade regs making them hard to go after legally. Most are fine, of course, but moving can be such a hassle you just don’t want to deal with any extra nonsense.
Better yet Uhaul if the job’s small enough. Buy your buddies a case of beer & you’re golden!

#6

We hired movers for our move this summer - if I had it to do over, there would be a couple of things I’d do differently. I’d hire a three man crew instead of a two man crew (the two man crew took forfreakin’ever, and of course we paid hourly), and I would have had more of our things taken apart before they got there (I would normally move a lot of things with legs left on, etc, but they took everything apart, which increased the time it took). So yeah, movers won’t mind if they have to pack loose stuff, etc, but you’ll probably pay for it. You can also tell them that there are things they don’t need to move, that you’ll just move yourself later (it’s better if you can put these in a separate area or something so it’s easy to say, “Don’t move anything from this room”).

#7

Just noticed your location. If it’s any help, Big John’s Movers have a pretty good rep here in NYC for being on time, honest, & conscientious. No, I don’t have stock in the company! But friends of mine have had good experiences w/ them & I’ve seen them written up positively in various “Best of New York” articles. Anyway, might be worth your researching. Good luck with your move! :slight_smile:

#8

The main problem movers have with such ‘loose’ stuff is that it tends to disassemble itself.

So for your ironing board, tie a cord around it, or tape it together securely, so it can’t unfold while being moved.

For your microwave, make sure the cord is coiled up and taped to the machine. And tape or tie the door, so it can’t come open even it the latch is bumped.