Cross-country transports, tell us your stories using moving companies...

[gwualum4mpp]

Although I’ve seen topics covering moves in this forum, I thought I would start a thread specifically treating the subject of moving companies. For those whom have used them before, what was your experience like? How did you go about choosing a moving company, and what did you do to cut costs? Anything you would have done differently?

 

Currently I am preparing a move from central Texas to the bay area in California. I have some treasured furniture that was a gift, and under the circumstances I got them, I’d rather not part with them. I will probably take a full living room set and a bedroom set. I’d love to hear your experience! thanks

[perpetuavix]

My stuff is currently in storage with the movers until I give them the final address of where I'm moving to. I'm flying out tomorrow and hopefully will be able to find a place by the end of the week. I'm about 70% happy with my choice to use movers. Basically, it will always end up costing more than you think it will, and most movers seem to know this and exploit it. I made a packing list on their 'online inventory' system based on what I knew I had furniture-wise, and an estimate of the number of boxes I thought I would need. They gave me a quote based on the square footage of what I had. The inventory said I had 304 cubic feet, but they quoted me for 375 cf. I was annoyed, but I figured it would be fine, since I would just take more stuff than I originally planned. When they showed up, the movers said they could only take what was on the list I had supplied, and that it didn't matter how many cubic feet my stuff took up, because "that's not how we do things". The people that I got a quote from (who repeatedly said that the rate per cubic foot wouldn't change if I brought more stuff, both over the phone, in emails, and in writing) also said that it was the inventory list that mattered, not the cubic feet. It felt like such a bait and switch. In the end, the office made a deal with us to take everything for slightly more than the original price (about $300 more). We also added a few items that had been in the maybe pile, since the movers didn't actually seem to care what they took, once the office told them we had a deal. I think we ended up with more than 375 cubic feet worth of stuff (although maybe that's just because telling myself this helps me sleep at night). In the end, it's costing more than my moving stipend, but I'm getting a lot of stuff. It was cheaper than just the rental on a UHaul (before gas, taxes, and the week of my life it would take to drive). It's probably not as cheap as shipping stuff via Amtrak/Greyhound, but I was able to take all the furniture I really wanted. 

I did check Better Busines Bureau before picking a company. Most of the cheap places have multiple, multiple complaints against them; it seems like the expensive companies still have a few complaints, as well. I ended up picking a cheap company with relatively few complaints. If I had to do it again, I think I would maybe try packing some boxes before I made an estimate. I booked the move at least a month in advance (they were offering a discount for that), but if I had at least started boxing things up and knew how much stuff fit in a given size box, it probably would've been obviously that my box estimate was way off (I thought I would need 20....I had 51). 

[gwualum4mpp]

When they showed up, the movers said they could only take what was on the list I had supplied, and that it didn't matter how many cubic feet my stuff took up, because "that's not how we do things". 

 

 

That sounds awful! And probably pretty common. Good to keep in mind for the future and check with them in advance.

 

I did check Better Busines Bureau before picking a company. Most of the cheap places have multiple, multiple complaints against them; it seems like the expensive companies still have a few complaints, as well. I ended up picking a cheap company with relatively few complaints. If I had to do it again, I think I would maybe try packing some boxes before I made an estimate. I booked the move at least a month in advance (they were offering a discount for that), but if I had at least started boxing things up and knew how much stuff fit in a given size box, it probably would've been obviously that my box estimate was way off (I thought I would need 20....I had 51). 

 

This is all really helpful advice. In looking at the inventory lists they provide, I really haven't had a clue about how many boxes my place would take up. Some of them have been recommending an in-person review to generate a quote, which I've been wary of, but in light of this I might consider going for that after all.

 

After submitting my information to moving.com I was inundated with emails and phone calls from different companies and it has been kind of overwhelming. I am making a spreadsheet to compare them but it is pretty cumbersome. I worked with several realtors before in my current city (for free) and they were very aggressive, placing a lot of pressure on me to find a place and credit them. This feels the same. Some of the calls have also been kind of sketchy. 

 

Luckily, I know the address where I will be moving to, but I am trying to figure out a way to get them to pick up my stuff and send it at a later date. The way it sounds, this may come at an extra cost $ .

 

Well, thanks for the helpful reply @perpetuavix, and I'll keep readers posted on how it goes!

[rising_star]

It depends. Do you want to pack your own stuff and then load it and unload it or have people do all of those things for you? If you don't mind doing it yourself, there's ABF (U-Pack and also another one with moving units they drop off), U-Haul's U-Box, PODS, and a few others. You'll have to go to each of their websites to see if they offer services in your area and pricing can vary widely. Some companies offer a student discount, while others don't. Some give a discount for reserving online and others don't. 

 

If you're going the more full service route, be prepared for it to cost more and potentially take longer than you expect. I've heard of National, United Van Lines, and Allied, though I haven't used any of them.

[Vene]

I just use uhaul and do it myself well I guess myself includes my wife and any friends we can buy with beer.

[Between Fields]

One tip: If you're going to use a Uhaul (especially around the first of a month), reserve it 3-4 weeks in advance. My dad and I tried to get one a week out, and it was impossible, even given that we had the major metro area I'm from to look in, plus the town I got my MA in.

 

My dad and I thought we could do it on our own, loading up his truck and his cargo van in KC, driving to rural MO the next day and loading up my apartment, and then driving to the middle of Illinois the next day, but we were completely worn out. He and I got one chair up to the living room, and I gave up. Luckily enough, the first moving company we called in the phonebook was available right then and there, and unloaded everything in about an hour. There was a three-hour minimum, so it cost us $150, but considering we didn't get a U-Haul, it was a pretty good deal.

 

The best cost-effort ratio is probably loading up your own vehicle, if stuff fits, or a UHaul, but paying someone to unload, as you'll probably be too worn out to want to even think about unloading it yourself, if you drive. A full-service company could run into the thousand dollar range, or more. (The office I worked in handled faculty moving reimbursements, and even assistant professors without families (and thus little stuff) complained that our ~1500 allowance was way too low...)

[Munashi]

If you're going to rent your own truck, try Penske.  We had a great experience with them for our move.  They had the best rate, plus the truck was clean and in great condition with not too many miles on it (~50,000).

 

As Between Fields mentioned, make a reservation.  Penske (unlike Budget and U-Haul) actually guarantees your reservation.  So if you make one ahead of the time, the equipment WILL be there.  We also hired some local guys to help us unload.

[gwualum4mpp]

Yea, for some of the reasons mentioned above we are going the full service route. Both my current and future lodging consists of stairwells to the entrance, and with furniture it is bound to be a pain. I've heard before that paying a little more is worth the cost of all that effort and the possible obstacles that can come along the way. 

 

I havent seriously contacted companies and my move is 2 weeks away, i'm getting slightly nervous. it's been one of those projects where the workload seems so big that you ironically put it off. hopefully I'll get on that asap...anyhow I'll post an update when it approaches.

[bakalamba]

I can't really provide much experience, since I'm moving in a few weeks. However, I did decide on a moving pod, since calculating the gas on top of rental fees for a Uhaul truck made it cheaper to get a pod. After comparing the major ones in our area, I found Uhaul pods to be the best deal, because they let you customize how you pick it up and drop it off: you can pay more if you want them to drop it by your door (which is a lot for Los Angeles), pick it up yourself with a trailer or rental van, or load it at their warehouse.

 

I'll have a moving story in a month, and will let you know if the price was worth it.

[bakalamba]

I can't really provide much experience, since I'm moving in a few weeks. However, I did decide on a moving pod, since calculating the gas on top of rental fees for a Uhaul truck made it cheaper to get a pod. After comparing the major ones in our area, I found Uhaul pods to be the best deal, because they let you customize how you pick it up and drop it off: you can pay more if you want them to drop it by your door (which is a lot for Los Angeles), pick it up yourself with a trailer or rental van, or load it at their warehouse.

 

I'll have a moving story in a month, and will let you know if the price was worth it.

 

It actually was. It was kind of a pain packing the pod, since I elected to save $500 and not have it dropped off in front of our apartment - we had to drive to two different Uhaul locations to pack the pod. They shipped it as soon as we were done packing, and it ended up arriving there a day earlier than scheduled. Didn't want the hassle of another unloading by car, so I rented a pickup and towed the pod to the new place. It moved from California to Minnesota, and no evidence of things shifting around inside (but I like to attribute this to our expert packing skills, using cushions to protect valuables and flat boxes in between layers of boxes to keep things from jumping around).

 

So a pretty good experience, and Uhaul has more money saving options for those who want to do things themselves. Didn't find a competitive offer from other companies, and for the distance we traveled, it would have been more expensive to rent a truck and drive it ourselves. Their pod comes in one size, and it was enough to transport our disassembled Ikea furniture. We probably would have needed two pods if we had a couch, a box spring, actual real adult furniture, etc.

 

Now that all the stuff is in the apartment I have to do something with it ... :/

[bakalamba]

Oh, and stretch wrap is amazing. Holds everything together and doesn't leave a residue on your cheap furniture like packing tape.

[juilletmercredi]

I recently moved from New York to State College, PA.  They're about 250 miles apart, so a 4 hour drive in a car.

 

To save a bit of money, instead of hiring a full-service moving company (who would come load my stuff, drive it to SC and then unload) me and my husband rented a UHaul.  We loaded the stuff on my end ourselves, since we had an elevator and ramps in my building and had rented utility dollies.  On the other end, I hired movers to help because I live on the third floor of a building with no elevator.  (As a note, I got a UHaul about 6 days ahead of time with no problem.  So I think it varies widely depending on the moving market in your area.  If I tried to get a U-Haul now in my current town I probably wouldn't be able to, because I live in a college town so college it's called State College.)

 

I used Bellhops in State College - they're a national moving company that basically pays college students to move.  You have to hire them for at least 1.5 hours, but they are $40/hour per person.  I hired two.  It took the four of us (because me and my husband helped them unload) just 1 hour to move my stuff into the building (I didn't have a whole lot).  The Bellhops were AWESOME.  Courteous, sweet, careful, just really nice individuals.  They weren't professional movers, of course, just a couple of college kids who didn't mind lifting heavy stuff for extra money.  But given that I didn't have a lot of stuff and that most of the stuff I had was IKEA furniture I don't plan on keeping forever...that was fine.

 

So I paid $120 for the movers, plus ~$550 for the UHaul including the dollies, taxes, and the rental fee.  I think I spent like...eh $100 in gas on the truck?  So I spent a bit under $800 for the whole shebang, but a moving company would've cost me at least $1100.

 

Oh yes, that was one think I found out about U-Haul, is that they guarantee your reservation for the truck but not the equipment.  That was very unpleasant, because I got to the U-Haul and they told me they had a truck but neither of the two dollies I reserved.  What is the point of reserving equipment if you are not actually going to reserve it? 

 

I was going to do U-Haul's UBox but they were going to charge me $1500.

[biisis]

Tried using the uhaul pods service to move from Montreal to New York. Their phoneline (located in the Southern United States) gave me a quote for door to door service that seemed sort of reasonable. When I contacted the local franchise to work out the fine details, however, I was told that they flat out didn't offer the service, so I should just tough it out and hire someone to ship my stuff to their Montreal storage depot. After a lot of ridiculous customer support drama I decided to just walk, sold most of my furniture, and moved my odds and sods via Greyhound. 

 

Moral of the story: if you book with Uhaul, don't trust the guys at the end of the international phoneline!

[twinkletwinkle]

I used the UHaul U-Box service to move from Ontario to British Columbia. It was expensive (I'm not sure how the price compared to driving a truck yourself, since I don't drive) but worth it to bring everything I wanted. I've lived on my own for many years, so I already had everything I needed for an apartment and didn't want to buy things again. Plus I had stuff I wouldn't have wanted to get rid of, even if it was cheaper to replace. 

 

My experience with UHaul was decent. I had to contact the branch in Ontario several times to finally get my reservation correct and to confirm that everything I needed would be available. Actually packing the box went really well. It was packed full, so nothing moved around and everything arrived safely (including furniture, tv, computers/monitors, art, mirrors). I used the truck delivery service in BC, so they brought the box right to my new place. Slight problem with the delivery - they let me know late in the process that the day I booked for delivery wasn't going to be an option. But after rescheduling movers and the use of my building's elevator, everything worked out fine. Overall, it was a good option if you aren't able to drive/move everything yourself. 

[CarefreeWritingsontheWall]

I've been fortunate enough to thus far avoid a formal moving company but I have yet to move 'across country' per se. I started my undergrad roughly 600km from home. We drove a large SUV full of stuff in the first time. My mother then shipped me a few things by mail. I didn't have to worry about furniture for the first two years as I lived in furnished housing (first year was in residence, second year in furnished all inclusive building). To cut costs in third year I moved again into a one bedroom where I accumulated my first apartment's worth of furniture. I fully intended to stay there for my last two years, but they wanted to raise my rent by almost $100 a month after renovations were done to the building the year I lived there. I moved again at the start of my forth year and was forced to downsize. That move was the most stressful as the decision was made last minute after months of trying to figure out whether I could cut costs and stomach the rent increase. At the end of the day, I found a place that was half the rent so the expense of moving was worth it.

 

When I moved out of that apartment, I was working from home during the summer. Problem number one: to rent a U-Haul we had to pay a much higher rate because we weren't renting one within the city, or even the same province (I'm Canadian). I strongly agree with everyone as well that you should make your reservations far in advance. We've run into troubles repeatedly with short term bookings and we've rented large SUVs instead twice because we were stuck. Problem number two: I had no time to sell anything, and I didn't want to throw anything out. What I wanted to keep went into storage, but about half of my stuff came home. My Dad and I did all of the moving ourselves as my Mom was sick, my brother was working and my friends had left town already for the break. It was perhaps the most stressful move we had, all the while my Dad was cursing that I had so much stuff. We drove everything home, settled and such. Then came move into apartment four.

 

We made the decision to ask the place where I stored my stuff over the summer if they knew of a cheap moving company that would lend us a hand for an hour or so. I lived on the forth floor of a building with no elevator and the staircases were narrow. Luckily he suggested two guys that worked in the warehouse and could get downtown. They came and hauled up the majority of my things in an hour and we paid them $60 each for their effort. This was moving about 30 boxes/rubbermaids, as well as nearly assembled furniture (shelves, table, chairs, desk). What was left I hauled up myself. Admittedly we were lucky that these guys were responsible and willing to help even though they weren't part of an official moving company. But I underestimated how helpful those extra hands were.

 

I'm now in the middle of move number five within the same city (circumstances have me moving again as I start my MA). I'm moving the majority of my things myself as the new place is only a few buildings up the street, but I do plan on getting help to move the bulky things. I'm wrecking my body doing most of it on my own, and I'm exhausted. Thankfully I don't have work to do in the meantime, and I'm selling quite a few things to minimize what I have. This is probably the cheapo way of doing things - just doing it myself - but it's incredibly laborious. I'm doing it over two weeks, and I know that not everyone has this kind of time on their hands.

 

Prior to these moving experiences, I did move from BC to Ontario in high school. We moved through Atlas Van Lines, and one of their smaller local companies. My dad had a moving stipend from a new job in the GTA, so his company actually paid movers to pack our things and ship it across. We were extremely worried about things being damaged or lost, but my Dad spent time getting to know the truck driver responsible for shipping our stuff. Everything turned out. They were late though because the truck broke down halfway through the trip. I think we got something back for that, but I'm not sure. I do know the cost was over 10k to do it that way though - but I consider it the luxury of luxury: we didn't have to lift a finger of our own throughout the process.

 

At the end of the day, I think you have to evaluate the value of your time and effort in relation to the cost of movers. For this move right now that's ongoing, I could have had myself moved in a day if I had help. Instead it's taking two weeks. But can I afford movers right now? Nope. But at the end of the day it all works out.

Edited August 23, 2014 by CarefreeWritingsontheWall