Movers

Zeldman

Zeldman

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Jun 13, 2014
Messages
18,831
Location
high desert NM
Display Name
Future Speedo Zeldman
I am moving. Anyone have any good or bad experiences with movers, like Mayflower?
 
Always rented a truck and used my friends on major moves. My last move however,just ordered new furniture and had it delivered
 
Just used United. Great on one end, no so much on the other. Lots of damage in between. Lots. They were VERY nice about it and said it will all be covered. We have nine months to document. The pick up guys were just sooooo careful and cautious. Loved them. Not sure how it went so far downhill. Cost roughly 9k, 1200 miles. The guy that delivered drove to the old home address depot to pick up stuff and bring to me.
 
3 years ago we used (were given) Allied Van Lines for moving. They did great. Very little damage, hard working, quick.

A couple months ago we were assigned Graebel. Would not use them again. Driver was late, guys broke a lot (some of it was pure carelessness), and slooooooow. Slow to load, slow to get here, slow to unload.

If you're paying for it yourself, get a Penske truck and just do that.
 
One of the newer things is to get one of those pods dropped on your driveway. Load it up over time or hire a couple guys. The company then picks up, stores it for a while if needed and then drops it at the new location.
 
I would add, beware of some of the smaller movers. There have been cases of some of the "fly by night" ops holding your stuff hostage over additional "fees" after quoting a low initial price and getting your stuff in their truck. Had a car carrying service try that on my dad. They tried to hose him an additional 2000.00 and also tried to insist on meeting in the middle of the night (the trucker was calling him from the road to set up delivery). Worked out in the end but buyer beware.
 
I wouldn't be able to stand paying thousands of dollars to do something I could accomplish myself with a few days and a $500 uhaul truck.
 
cowman said:
I wouldn't be able to stand paying thousands of dollars to do something I could accomplish myself with a few days and a $500 uhaul truck.
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I really wish I could have done it myself. I thought about it, but for me it was too much. Partly because I had limited time plus I needed to move two cars.
 
lots of moves, all bad. Why pay someone to do something badly when I can do it badly all on my own for a lot less.

Moving companies are crooks, the movers that come into your house are a complete unknown, they could be really nice guys, or they could be some guy of unknown background, hired off the street and told to show up at your house to "meet the truck". Don't trust movers.
 
I've spent my life moving, currently in Town #22; just moved into the 6th house I've purchased. Not a magnate, I sell the old one when I move . . .

If your move is being paid, stick with tha majors: I've had good experiences with Allied, Atlas and United. Mayflower didn't seem interested. May be related to where you are moving from.

Avoid the small timers, they are the ones who pull stunts like extra fees after loading, holding your stuff hostage, etc.

If you only have a little stuff and want to do it yourself slowly, get a POD (UHaul now offers a similar service, others are also around)--you pack up, they store, drive and deliver, you unload.

If you want to do it cheaply, there's always UHaul, Ryder, etc., where you will get a fixed number of days a an allowed mileage based on the distance you are going. Load, drive and unload; you pay mileage from the pickup point to your home to load, to your new place to unload, then to the drop off point. Remember to buy gas before you turn the truck in.

You will have to make your choice and pay your money. I'd say have fun, but I'm still unpacking and know that it's anything but fun . . .
 
Rent a penske 26ft. Hire a local mover to do the packing and loading for you. Get some local help to unload. Your stuff will be at the destination at the same time you get there, none of the 'oh its on the truck' and 'maybe next week' BS.

Interstate movers are a form of organized crime.
 
How far are you moving and how much stuff do you have? Give me those and I'll give you a good recommendation. I've moved 5 times in the last 7 years.
 
Gucci Pilot said:
How far are you moving and how much stuff do you have? Give me those and I'll give you a good recommendation. I've moved 5 times in the last 7 years.
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Just under a 1000 miles. I probably have a two bedroom amount of stuff and a garage full of stuff.

And thanks to all who have replied. We are considering selling most of the furniture and buy new. The problem I have is time, not enough of it. I also don't have a place to live yet. We are considering one great apartment complex, one of the higher end places and also a retirement village. I do qualify....:(

We will buy or build a house next summer.
 
Thankfully, I've only moved once and it was perhaps, 11 or 12 miles. We used a local mover who was pretty good. Since then I've heard they went down hill. Long Distance moves are a whole different animal. I can't think of anyone that had a great experience.

The only advice I can give you is that feeding the movers goes a long way to them taking care of your stuff and perhaps doing a bit extra free of charge. When the crew showed up in the morning We had a box or two of coffee and a box or two of doughnuts for them. At lunch time we had a couple of pizzas and sodas delivered. The $30 t0 $40 I spent on that food was the best money I spent on that local move!
 
I've moved a lot.
I always rent a truck, pay people to load it/unload it.
 
AdamZ said:
The only advice I can give you is that feeding the movers goes a long way to them taking care of your stuff and perhaps doing a bit extra free of charge. When the crew showed up in the morning We had a box or two of coffee and a box or two of doughnuts for them. At lunch time we had a couple of pizzas and sodas delivered. The $30 t0 $40 I spent on that food was the best money I spent on that local move!
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I did that with this move, and the crap I found was astounding.
 
If it's a local move, get references.
If it's an interstate move, go with a high quality national mover.

I've had extremely good luck both times I used the highly rated Wheaton Worldwide Moving and Storage. I've had bad luck every other time I've moved with a different companies.
 
If it's a local move, get references.
If it's an interstate move, go with a high quality national mover.

I've had extremely good luck both times I used the highly rated Wheaton Worldwide Moving and Storage. I've had bad luck every other time I've moved with a different companies.
 
From Alaska? American Fast Freight has a household moving division. They'd be my first call when trying to figure it out.
 
Zeldman said:
Just under a 1000 miles. I probably have a two bedroom amount of stuff and a garage full of stuff.

And thanks to all who have replied. We are considering selling most of the furniture and buy new. The problem I have is time, not enough of it. I also don't have a place to live yet. We are considering one great apartment complex, one of the higher end places and also a retirement village. I do qualify....:(

We will buy or build a house next summer.
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If possible, take occupancy of the new residence so you can ask for a door to door move. That way your stuff only goes on and off the truck once. Otherwise, it will get loaded, go to destination city, unloaded into a warehouse, then reloaded and unloaded when you are ready for delivery, all by a different crew. The unload and reload happens out of your sight, so that is where it is most likely that damage will happen. For a 1,000 mi door to door move, I would think they could pack and load on day 1 and deliver and unpack on day 3.

Also, if you know you'll be making a more permanent move in a year, ID what you can live without, and ask them to quote you a price for crating and storing those items long term. I can't speak to cost as the military paid for all my moves and storage, but definitely least demanding on your time.
 
Stewartb said:
From Alaska? American Fast Freight has a household moving division. They'd be my first call when trying to figure it out.
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Not from Alaska, I am in the real world now...:lol:

I have furniture and other stuff in Bryan, Tx, Gallup, NM and Nolansville, Tn and I need to get it all together. I really need to get a house first.

I like the idea of selling of all my furniture here in NM first. I will probably buy a good cargo trailer and put the garage and shop stuff in. Whatever is left in NM will go into a U-Haul type truck and tow the car. After we buy or build a house then I can get everything else.

Back when I was single moving consisted of me backing up to my 5th wheel, disconnecting the water, sewer and electricity and away I go.
 
Almost all of the movers use contract companies and day laborers for their packers and loaders. If you are lucky one of them, the lead, will have some decent packing and loading experience. If things come out broken on the receiving end, it is normally the fault of the packers/loaders.
 
wilkersk said:
lots of moves, all bad. Why pay someone to do something badly when I can do it badly all on my own for a lot less.
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Corporate moves are usually paid for by the company, which changes the equation. I would not pay for movers myself.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I've moved a lot.
I always rent a truck, pay people to load it/unload it.
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Glad I opened this thread. I never thought about this as a possibility. Moving is probably a little ways off, but I've been thinking about the logistics. This sounds interesting since I'm not taking much furniture and I wouldn't need a huge truck.
 
Zeldman said:
Not from Alaska, I am in the real world now...:lol:

I have furniture and other stuff in Bryan, Tx, Gallup, NM and Nolansville, Tn and I need to get it all together. I really need to get a house first.

I like the idea of selling of all my furniture here in NM first. I will probably buy a good cargo trailer and put the garage and shop stuff in. Whatever is left in NM will go into a U-Haul type truck and tow the car. After we buy or build a house then I can get everything else.

Back when I was single moving consisted of me backing up to my 5th wheel, disconnecting the water, sewer and electricity and away I go.
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Just in time. Winter's creeping down the mountains fast. Funny how 35* feels so cold this time of year and so warm in spring. C'mon, spring!
 
DC region, JK Moving has a good reputation.

I had good luck on 2 moves with Graebel. One relatively poor move with Mayflower.

But with ANY mover it comes down to how the local office personnel pack your things and load the trucks. Poorly trained and inexperienced folks will often damage stuff - well trained and experience folks do very well. You may also find that movers do better with corporate contracts than individuals as the larger repeat business is key to their success.

Good luck!
 
Everskyward said:
Glad I opened this thread. I never thought about this as a possibility. Moving is probably a little ways off, but I've been thinking about the logistics. This sounds interesting since I'm not taking much furniture and I wouldn't need a huge truck.
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When Laurie moved to PA from FL we did this. She paid a couple strong guys to load. I drove the 26' Penske, she drove the Avalanche with the motorcycle on back. It worked very well. I wish I'd asked my employer if we could do that as part of the relo package.
 
Dont rent a truck from uhaul. They only guarantee availability for the day, not the time. You may end up waiting 8hrs. Go with Penske, they deal with professionals. I blew out a tire on a Penske on the Indiana toll-road and their road service contractor had it changed and me back on my way within an hour.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
When Laurie moved to PA from FL we did this. She paid a couple strong guys to load. I drove the 26' Penske, she drove the Avalanche with the motorcycle on back. It worked very well. I wish I'd asked my employer if we could do that as part of the relo package.
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I rented a truck and drove it from Boise to Denver back in the day. But I didn't have quite as much stuff so I loaded and unloaded it with a couple friends at each end. I made a separate trip for my car.
 
Don't have any direct experience but these guys were started by the 1-800-GOT-JUNK team to combat all the shady movers out there:

http://www.youmoveme.com/us

Event the majors just use sub haulers and owner/operators that just care about extracting as much money as possible in the shortest amount of time and don't give a rats a$$ about your property. In the trucking industry, residential movers are at the bottom of the barrel along with container haulers.

Uhaul offers moving help on either end if you go with renting and driving a truck:

http://www.uhaul.com/MovingHelp/
 
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I've rented trailers from u-haul several times and never had any problems with them. Rented a 16' box truck from Budget once, also no problems.

If you're able to do it, the best way to go for a long distance move is really to get the biggest truck you can rent and get as much of your stuff in one shot as possible.

I guess if one can't load/can't get help to load/unload then you'd have to get movers. I just don't like it, the expense is a big part and the other is I don't like a bunch of strangers handling my stuff and having temporary possession of my stuff. I've moved a number of times, twice over a distance of ~8 hours of driving. Always done it myself. It's stressful, takes longer than you think, stuff always gets chipped or scuffed or something. I think if I had this last one to do over I'd have junked, given away, or sold more of the furniture and just bought new at the new location. No reason to take up space on the truck for a $30 bookshelf...
 
I'd agree with not renting a truck from UHaul, at least if you're going big. Their big trucks are GMs with an 8.1L gas V8. Can you say "Worse mileage than a Navajo"?
 
cowman said:
I've rented trailers from u-haul several times and never had any problems with them. Rented a 16' box truck from Budget once, also no problems.
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Trailers and local rentals are not a problem. The one-way corporate trucks are where they will gleefully leave you hanging if you rely on the date on their reservation.

If you have a lot of stuff, rent the 26ft from Penske and a 6x12 cargo trailer from U-Haul ;)
 
cowman said:
I've rented trailers from u-haul several times and never had any problems with them. Rented a 16' box truck from Budget once, also no problems.

If you're able to do it, the best way to go for a long distance move is really to get the biggest truck you can rent and get as much of your stuff in one shot as possible.

I guess if one can't load/can't get help to load/unload then you'd have to get movers. I just don't like it, the expense is a big part and the other is I don't like a bunch of strangers handling my stuff and having temporary possession of my stuff. I've moved a number of times, twice over a distance of ~8 hours of driving. Always done it myself. It's stressful, takes longer than you think, stuff always gets chipped or scuffed or something. I think if I had this last one to do over I'd have junked, given away, or sold more of the furniture and just bought new at the new location. No reason to take up space on the truck for a $30 bookshelf...
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I think I may have talked my wife into this idea when I told her she can pick out the furniture.
 
wilkersk said:
lots of moves, all bad. Why pay someone to do something badly when I can do it badly all on my own for a lot less.
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That's always been my philosophy, too. When I hire someone it's either because they're better at it than I am, or because the job is so unpleasant that I just don't want to do it. Moving meets neither requirement.

I usually just rent a truck and hire some strong men from wherever strong men hang around looking for day work in the area in question. Sometimes it's a Home Depot, other times a Goodwill, and some times just a street corner; but every town has a place where men in need of an honest day's work gather in hope of finding one. I like helping them out and I pay better than most, so it's all good.

Once I used guys recommended on the QT by a friend of mine who was a parole officer. They were the hardest-working guys I ever hired for a move. I was moving from a third-floor walk-up with a narrow staircase, so it wasn't the easiest of moves, even though I'd already packed everything. When the day was over I'd saved a bundle, they made some coin, and nothing got broken.

Rich
 
Everskyward said:
Glad I opened this thread. I never thought about this as a possibility. Moving is probably a little ways off, but I've been thinking about the logistics. This sounds interesting since I'm not taking much furniture and I wouldn't need a huge truck.
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You might be a good candidate for doing the Pods thing. Friends out here just did that. Loaded the pod in their driveway and did their own packing and it headed off to Florida without them, to be delivered to their new place at the date and time of their choosing.

If I were moving again, I'd go that route. A large roll off dumpster and a pod or two, all parked on the driveway for a few days. Enjoy a leisurely drive and a road trip on the way to the next place if far away, and have the pod dropped there once I was ready to arrive and unpack it.
 
denverpilot said:
You might be a good candidate for doing the Pods thing. Friends out here just did that. Loaded the pod in their driveway and did their own packing and it headed off to Florida without them, to be delivered to their new place at the date and time of their choosing.

If I were moving again, I'd go that route. A large roll off dumpster and a pod or two, all parked on the driveway for a few days. Enjoy a leisurely drive and a road trip on the way to the next place if far away, and have the pod dropped there once I was ready to arrive and unpack it.
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Someone previously suggested the pod idea to me but there is no place to park it at the destination. I have a parking spot in a garage but I doubt it is big enough for a pod, let alone for the truck which delivers it.
 
Everskyward said:
Someone previously suggested the pod idea to me but there is no place to park it at the destination. I have a parking spot in a garage but I doubt it is big enough for a pod, let alone for the truck which delivers it.
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Well the trucks that deliver them are no larger than a typical moving truck, but understand about the parking garage thing.

If it's high enough and the corners aren't too tight, they could probably drop one of them in the parking spot, and the smaller pod doesn't really take up any more space than a pickup truck parked in your spot would.

But I know generally where you're talking about and even a pickup truck is sometimes a bad idea there. Understand.
 
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