For those of you who had a moving company pack your stuff

[flex]

So the packers/movers are coming over Monday morning.  What can I expect when they get there?  Do I need to be around the entire day while they pack everything?  Or just initially to show them what stays?  I plan on marking all the "stays" stuff with blue edging tape.

[ElizabethBennet]

We've always been around all day.

[georgeglass]

I have stayed all day each time. Boring as hell, but there seemed to be a string of random questions.

[dirtyred]

I would stay.  Remember, they will pack EVERYTHING--including garbage and dirty dishes.  My dad was career military, so I have tons of moving stories.

[flex]

Aug 25, 2017 13:49:38 GMT -5 dirtyred said:

I would stay.  Remember, they will pack EVERYTHING--including garbage and dirty dishes.  My dad was career military, so I have tons of moving stories.

It was either you or another GBCN who warned me that if there was a Kleenex lying in the middle of the floor they'd pack it.  lol  So I will be sure to be uber diligent.  : )

[NomadicMama]

Aug 25, 2017 13:49:38 GMT -5 dirtyred said:

I would stay.  Remember, they will pack EVERYTHING--including garbage and dirty dishes.  My dad was career military, so I have tons of moving stories.

QFT

Our last military move, the packers packed my butter dish. It contained a nearly full stick of butter. Thank goodness we moved in the winter!

We have always put things they should not pack in a closet or bathroom with a "do not enter/pack" sign. They hardly look at what they are packing. Sometimes the descriptions they write on the boxes are way off. Decor is used for everything!!!

Also, when they are loading your belongings on the truck or into crates, double check how they categorize the condition of your furniture. I've heard that they will "downgrade" it so they are not responsible for dents and dings they may cause during the move process.

It's a boring process, but you do need to be aware of what's being packed. Nobody is as concerned about your belongings as you are.

[sawyerthedestroyer]

I put all of the do not pack stuff in one closet with a note on the door, but also verbally told them when they showed up. H was there for it. They really do pack every single thing as evidenced by the dead plant I totally forgot about until I unpacked two months after the move.

[mich1]

Stay there, and I recommend that you move financial documents, blank checks, credit cards, etc. into an old suitcase and pack it in the trunk of your car.

A friend of mine was moving, and had a box of blank checks in the drawer of a dresser. One of the packers stole a few checks out of the back of a book, and tried cashing it. The bank was on the ball, luckily and caught it but by the time it happened, she was on her way out of town to her new location. It was an unneeded complication.

[litebright]

We just went through about about three weeks ago. The packers did have a LOT of questions, and they also moved fast, so we made sure that one of us was around all day because when they had a question they needed it answered on the spot. The loading was a much slower-moving process and there was a supervising foreman (the driver), so I felt okay with running a few errands over the course of the day once they were well underway. Unloading was more similar to packing, they constantly had questions for me about where to put things and it was hard to juggle anything else (like WAH, which I was trying to do that day ).

I'm going to echo what some other posters have said -- if you don't want something packed, I would put it in a bathtub or an otherwise-empty closet that the packers won't even have to go into. We did that during loading day to ensure that stuff we were going to take personally didn't get loaded by accident, I pretty much just tossed everything into the master tub.

[VillainV]

1. Definitely put all "do not pack" items in a room and put a sign on the door. Make sure your purse/wallet/keys, important documents, etc are in there. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR PHONE LYING AROUND.

2. Keep a bag of ziplock as and a sharpie in your pocket for when they disassemble furniture (to put the hardware in).

3. Have drinks/snacks/coffee and plan to order lunch or make a lunch run for the packers.

[DotAndBuzz]

Stay. Put all the "do not pack" stuff in a bathtub. Make sure you pack up things you don't want them to handle. Including things in dresser drawers, and clothing. During the quote, the person told me they would just wrap the dresser and take it full, as is, so I didn't empty my underwear or lingerie out of it. It was time for me to order their lunch, and I came upstairs to find a 20 year old guy carefully packing my thongs and bras in packing paper.
So that was nice and awkward, lol.

[cottoncandy]

A tip I always tell people is to put your silverware and random kitchen utensils in gallon ziplock bags before the movers come. That way when it's time to unpack you don't have to wash them because they will still be clean. And stay home for sure. We've had plenty of stuff stolen over the years from jewelry to leather jackets.

[morecoffeeplease]

I agree with a do not pack room!

[flex]

FYI: I'm flying out Tuesday evening and am taking 2 or 3 suitcases with me. One will have the basic clothes I'll need for the next 6-8 weeks, plus toiletries and the day-to-day stuff. The other suitcases will have some of the stuff that you all have suggested: personal papers, lingerie, a few kitchen utensils, etc. I'll be living at my stepdad's house until my furniture arrives.

[VillainV]

Aug 25, 2017 15:13:57 GMT -5 DotAndBuzz said:

Stay. Put all the "do not pack" stuff in a bathtub. Make sure you pack up things you don't want them to handle. Including things in dresser drawers, and clothing. During the quote, the person told me they would just wrap the dresser and take it full, as is, so I didn't empty my underwear or lingerie out of it. It was time for me to order their lunch, and I came upstairs to find a 20 year old guy carefully packing my thongs and bras in packing paper.
So that was nice and awkward, lol.

DO NOT let them leave your belongings in drawers. It makes your furniture really heavy and much more likely to be dropped, and more likely to sustain significant damage if it's dropped. Also, it doesn't protect your clothing that is inside the drawers. And it keeps those items from being inventoried so that if there is loss or damage you'll have no way to claim the contents.

I didn't know this my first few moves (and had really bad damage once), then finally someone explained it to me.

[Moe]

Aug 25, 2017 14:01:02 GMT -5 flex said:

Aug 25, 2017 13:49:38 GMT -5 dirtyred said:

I would stay.  Remember, they will pack EVERYTHING--including garbage and dirty dishes.  My dad was career military, so I have tons of moving stories.

It was either you or another GBCN who warned me that if there was a Kleenex lying in the middle of the floor they'd pack it.  lol  So I will be sure to be uber diligent.  : )

They used an ENTIRE BOX *WITH PACKING PAPER* to pack a bag of cotton balls.  ONE BOX.  ONE BAG OF COTTON BALLS.

Thank God I didn't pay for either move.  But that's just insane.

[DotAndBuzz]

Aug 25, 2017 20:52:32 GMT -5 VillainV said:

Aug 25, 2017 15:13:57 GMT -5 DotAndBuzz said:

Stay. Put all the "do not pack" stuff in a bathtub. Make sure you pack up things you don't want them to handle. Including things in dresser drawers, and clothing. During the quote, the person told me they would just wrap the dresser and take it full, as is, so I didn't empty my underwear or lingerie out of it. It was time for me to order their lunch, and I came upstairs to find a 20 year old guy carefully packing my thongs and bras in packing paper.
So that was nice and awkward, lol.

DO NOT let them leave your belongings in drawers. It makes your furniture really heavy and much more likely to be dropped, and more likely to sustain significant damage if it's dropped. Also, it doesn't protect your clothing that is inside the drawers. And it keeps those items from being inventoried so that if there is loss or damage you'll have no way to claim the contents.

I didn't know this my first few moves (and had really bad damage once), then finally someone explained it to me.

Not liking for the damage they caused, but ditto the advice. I'm glad the packers emptied my drawers, even if they saw all my undies.

[FrozenSunshine]

When we packed up this summer, I stayed. They had a lot of questions. I had to review the high value list and items as they were loaded.

I also put everything in the master bath, I was keeping and a do not enter sign. Anything large that stayed with the house was marked with large do not ship signs.

[flex]

Thank you everyone for the great advice!! : )

[flex]

I wanted to thank you all for the great advice. I went through the house for 2 days and packed "stuff" up into plastic bins. I think that saved a lot of time for the packers to pack things. All the packing's coming along at a rapid clip which makes me super happy. They might even be done by the end of the day, even though I have them scheduled through tomorrow. : )