Hiring a moving company...

[Pom]

So we are moving (again) and I am terrified of finding a good, nonpredatory long-distance moving company. We are very fortunate in that we are moving to a home we already have, but the downsizing after 18 years in Texas is also daunting. We are not taking the whole house full, no beds, leaving many big furniture pieces to a family member who is about to get her first place. We have had several full service corporate moves, so I knew this move would come when Mr. P retired, but the timeline has been accelerated and I am overwhelmed when I start looking on line and where to start. 

Anyone move long distance recently and have advice on finding a good LD mover?

 

[ny96]

Angie’s List

[ellipses84]

Do you want someone to do all the packing for you? We’ve always done some variation of Pods, or ABF, but we pack ourselves or hire some local help for the heavy stuff. It’s nice because you can take your time and purge as you go. If you have a new address you can schedule your delivery date on the other end.

[Cappy]

We used ABF U-Pack 2x and it was really great price wise. For labor/loading we've used Bellhops which is sort of like Uber for movers and you can even tip via the app. I've never had full service movers who pack your items.

[winecat]

Mar 4, 2021 14:38:20 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

Do you want someone to do all the packing for you? We’ve always done some variation of Pods, or ABF, but we pack ourselves or hire some local help for the heavy stuff. It’s nice because you can take your time and purge as you go. If you have a new address you can schedule your delivery date on the other end.

I'd do this, especially if you're not taking a lot of big stuff.  

[sadlebred]

Clark Howard has some good advice including where to look for reputable movers.

clark.com/homes-real-estate/find-good-moving-company/

[nenejo]

We used a long distance moving company last year, Three Men & A Truck threemenandatruck.net/, that I would recommend. Weren't too expensive and no complaints about their service. It was about 1,000 move and we just didn't want to take it on ourselves so we explored our options with moving companies and they seemed to have a good balance of positive feedback and a price that wasn't sky high. I'd definitely use them again. Good luck with the move!

[woot16]

We recently did a corporate move from OH to FL and used allied van lines they packed, moved and stored our stuff for 6 months and delivered the goods last month. We were really pleased with both crews. We also used planes for a smaller amount of items from OH to FL of things from my recently deceased dads house and was also happy with them.

[spindle92]

Mar 21, 2021 20:39:32 GMT -5 woot16 said:

We recently did a corporate move from OH to FL and used allied van lines they packed, moved and stored our stuff for 6 months and delivered the goods last month. We were really pleased with both crews. We also used planes for a smaller amount of items from OH to FL of things from my recently deceased dads house and was also happy with them.

I've done 3 corporate moves, when I was married, and each time we used Allied Van lines and they were great.
There was only one incident of damage - a small chip on one of the legs of a wodden armoire-  and it was so small that we did not care but they still reimbursed of it.

[Pom]

So Mayflower and United have merged, North American and Allied have merged and we are pulling our hair out trying to get bids. LOL.

Mayflower was on top of it, but cost is high, North American/Allied is coming Friday for a walk through. We already have more vehicles than people (RV has to be moved too) so we are not going to drive a truck ourselves. This process more difficult than our other moves due to Covid and us handling it ourselves. Our house goes on the market this Friday, so.....

[RockNVoll]

FWIW, when we moved cross-country many years ago I found this site helpful: www.movingscam.com/ Haven't used it in some time but maybe you can get a couple more companies to check out.

[CrazyLucky]

Movers just picked our stuff up yesterday. We got three quotes. Allied and Atlas were within a couple of hundred dollars. I think the third one was International, and it was almost double. DH and I are long distance during this whole relocation process and the kids are with DH, so we paid to have the movers pack everything, load, and then they'll unload and put furniture back together at the new house next week. We were moving pretty much everything too.

[Pom]

Mar 24, 2021 7:20:18 GMT -5 CrazyLucky said:

Movers just picked our stuff up yesterday. We got three quotes. Allied and Atlas were within a couple of hundred dollars. I think the third one was International, and it was almost double. DH and I are long distance during this whole relocation process and the kids are with DH, so we paid to have the movers pack everything, load, and then they'll unload and put furniture back together at the new house next week. We were moving pretty much everything too.

I hope everything is seamless for you guys! 

[Pom]

Mar 24, 2021 7:20:18 GMT -5 CrazyLucky said:

Movers just picked our stuff up yesterday. We got three quotes. Allied and Atlas were within a couple of hundred dollars. I think the third one was International, and it was almost double. DH and I are long distance during this whole relocation process and the kids are with DH, so we paid to have the movers pack everything, load, and then they'll unload and put furniture back together at the new house next week. We were moving pretty much everything too.

International came in $2k less than Mayflower/United. Go figure. Lol. Still waiting on North American Vanlines/Allied.

[lilac05]

We have made three cross-country moves with Allied. All corporate. All were very good experiences, our first being beyond amazing. I can guarantee that they took much better care of my stuff and packed it more carefully than I ever would have. Any minor damage was fully fixed immediately and without hassle.

I know this is the MM board, and this isn’t MM advice necessarily, but with everything going on, I’d just choose one after you get your Allied quote and don’t look back. Sometimes saving stress is worth the extra cost. I’d pay to have them pack everything, too. Good packers and movers are worth their weight in gold to me.

[Pom]

Mar 25, 2021 23:14:44 GMT -5 lilac05 said:

We have made three cross-country moves with Allied. All corporate. All were very good experiences, our first being beyond amazing. I can guarantee that they took much better care of my stuff and packed it more carefully than I ever would have. Any minor damage was fully fixed immediately and without hassle.

I know this is the MM board, and this isn’t MM advice necessarily, but with everything going on, I’d just choose one after you get your Allied quote and don’t look back. Sometimes saving stress is worth the extra cost. I’d pay to have them pack everything, too. Good packers and movers are worth their weight in gold to me.

Absolutely to all of this! We feel fortunate we can afford packing services!

[Pom]

We got Allied to price match within a $100 of IVL. Mover booked. Now we just need to sell our house.