Moving options -

[retire48in2018]

All of our earlier moves were company managed and sponsored. We’ve helped others that hired loaders/unloaders only.

In our small town, only 1 option was found for traditional movers. (All major companies route through this company). It was extraordinarily expensive - especially with a 1 week shipment in storage.

We used a web based service that manages / coordinates the various phases of moving. - loaders/unloaders, truck drivers, etc.

BIG MISTAKE!!!

Despite the terms & conditions, which are overridden and/or ignored - once they have possession, and even federal laws protecting us - they are scammers.

Terms say - we are only responsible for accurate inventory list - and they (coordinators) determine cubic feet, etc - and reserve capacity, loaders, etc

(Buried in terms is bill of laden terms override contract - and bill of laden is cubic feet used)

So In reality, you are charged cubic feet used - regardless. And once they take possession - they can exaggerate cubic feet and hold stuff hostage until you pay. It’s a long story - but - movers decided to spread out stuff on floor - and then said all space was used - and charged accordingly. Lied about size of truck and it’s capacity (despite written record of truck actual cubic storage).

It was not our finest moment - to pay this extortion. But they had our stuff, left the property and would not do anything more until paid.

UGH!!


In future - we will just hire help to load/unload (and wrap furniture, stack, etc). Big lesson learned.

 

[Morgan22]

This happens way to often unfortunately.
If you are up to it, contact the FMCSA to file a complaint. https://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov/nccdb/ComplaintEntry.aspx?choice=CONSUMER

 

[brett]

We needed to pack and then store our household for 10-12 months. After some very serious downsizing!

We decided on a PODS container. They had a franchise and a clean, heated warehouse in our city.

They delivered an 8x8x16 container to our driveway. We had already boxed and prepped for it. We loaded it with help from our son. Five days later it got taken away.

Ten months later we pulled it out of storage and had it delivered to the outside visitor parking area of our rented condo. We hired a local firm to unload for us that we recommended by the PODS folks.

It all worked well for us.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Sounds about right. The moving industry in the US is shady at all levels. Most of the guys packing and carrying your stuff to the truck are temps, and in my experience, a lot of them had criminal records. Quite different when I lived in Europe....much more professional.

One time when the guys were packing up my kitchen items in Virginia, I walked in on one of them drinking my rum. The next day, I asked the supervisor why he didn't come back to help finish packing, and was told that he wasn't feeling well. I guess he had a hangover. Worst part was when we arrived at the new location, I unpacked the empty bottle! (they get paid based on the weight)

 

[Sunset]

The other "trick" moving companies often use is to subcontract your move repeatedly, everyone taking some cut until the last one.

So the last one is not making much profit, and has to cut corners in every possible way and maybe even cheat/lie/steal/extort to get some profit out of your move.

 

[Aerides]

We decided on a PODS container. They had a franchise and a clean, heated warehouse in our city.

I did this. And I hired a mover to pack it - Two Men and a Truck, they are franchise.

Then once I got it out of storage, I hired movers again to unpack it in the new place.

 

[retire48in2018]

Pods or we drive a couple box trucks are about same cost.

 

[brett]

I did this. And I hired a mover to pack it - Two Men and a Truck, they are franchise.

Then once I got it out of storage, I hired movers again to unpack it in the new place.

Our local PODS company was very good. We live in the snowy north. We also had some valuable furniture etc in that POD. They had a modern, clean, warehouse that we could inspect prior to committing.

One of the employees told us not to bother with PODS insurance. Instead just arrange through your current provider. We followed that advice.

They also recommended a self employed team to move everything from the container to our condo. Perfect.

The only scary part.....when the PODS driver came and lifted the container onto that truck. I thought at the time....if he drops it there goes our belongings. But hed did not.

 

[Toast]

I did this. And I hired a mover to pack it - Two Men and a Truck, they are franchise.



Then once I got it out of storage, I hired movers again to unpack it in the new place.

We did the same thing, and it worked well for us.

 

[Katsmeow]

We used a web based service that manages / coordinates the various phases of moving. - loaders/unloaders, truck drivers, etc.

BIG MISTAKE!!!

Despite the terms & conditions, which are overridden and/or ignored - once they have possession, and even federal laws protecting us - they are scammers.

Many times when people are cheated it is because they are using a moving broker and not a true carrier.

When you use a moving broker, they are not the people who will actually move your goods. So they give you a price. They then find a bidder who will do the move. Those people do not necessarily honor the price and they are not bound by what the broker told you. Many times they will essentially hold your goods hostage until you pay more.

When moving you want to use an actual carrier not a broker. (Note that actual carriers use their own local brokers but your contract is with the carrier and is binding on everyone. (I really in some locals it may not be possible to use a true carrier and then a PODS type option or Relocube may be reasonable to do).

Reputable true carriers are United Van Lines, North American Van Lines, Atlas Van Lines, Bekins, Allied Van Lines, Mayflower. They are all carriers. Two Men and a Truck is a franchise.

Here is info about a broker versus a mover.

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/protect-your-move/movers-vs-brokers

With a true moving carrier, ask for a binding guaranteed estimate. We recently moved and used North American. We contacted several of the others and got quotes. They came to our house to give us the estimate and did a detailed inventory (some carriers do this by video). They packed our goods a couple of weeks later and then loaded everything. Our goods were going into storage while we moved. When everything was loaded we paid for the packing, valuation protection and loading. We were given a specific number that matched the costs for those things that were on our estimate.

Our goods were in storage for 3 months until we closed on our house. We called a couple of weeks before that and asked for our goods to be delivered. They gave us an amount to pay. It was what was on the guaranteed estimate plus the cost of storage (the per diem cost of storage was also on the guaranteed estimate). We paid them by cashiers check when they got here. (We could have paid in advance by credit card but did the cashiers check instead).

The point is that by using a reputable moving company that had sole responsibility from start to finish and by getting a Guaranteed Estimate there were no surprises.

 

[retire48in2018]

Understood

All of the moving carriers that would accept the work delegated the task to a local company that did an outrageous quote and would not itemize or tell us anything about what it counted.

It was 5x web based coordinators, 3x what pods would cost AND they had a $15k charge for 30-day storage (to crate, etc). It was insane.

 

[brett]

As an aside, when we went to visit the warehouse where our POD was going to be stored we came across some people who were doing what we were doing.

They sold their home, downsized, put what they wanted to keep in storage, and planned to travel for a year.

One problem though. It looked to us that they were unpacking the container right on the floor of the warehouse.

When we enquired it seemed that they had packed away their passports with other important papers. But...they could not remember where. So they had some friends to help the open boxes etc.

I would never advice storing important papers in a stored container. We moved up to a larger size safe deposit box while we were away for that exact reason.

 

[Scuba]

We wanted a company that takes responsibility from start to finish. We have some very expensive furniture and artwork that we love, and did not feel comfortable hiring local crews to load/unload and using a separate company such as ABF or PODS for transport.

We interviewed 4 movers (no brokers) and chose the one who seemed best. Time will tell - I will report back in about 4 weeks after our move.

 

[Piper20]

DW and I will be moving in the March timeframe and looking for a mover to pack and move. Good reviews and not so good reviews from the 2 we are looking at. We will be interviewing soon.
Will be watching this thread.