When it comes to the time when you’re ready for a big change and you’re planning to move, it’s important to think through each detail of this quite difficult process, to decide on the deadlines, on which stuff you’re going to keep and what’s better to donate or even sell.
The hardest and nerve-racking part of moving is making sure that all of your belongings are packed properly and delivered to the desired destination safely and without any complications. As to this task, there’re different options you may consider choosing according to the time available and money you’re ready to spend on that.
Several factors that may influence the price the moving company will charge you
Anyway, you’ll undoubtedly have to call on the moving services. The money the movers will charge and the time it will take them to do the job depends on several factors.
1. How much work you’re ready to do yourself.
If you’re determined to pack your stuff (both clothes, pieces of technology, house decorations and furniture, etc.) on your own, then you may hire just a moving truck or a couple of them, load the boxes onto it and pay just for actual moving and, if you wish so, for unloading the things at your new place. The cost that may be charged includes the trucks’ rent, the cost of fuel and loaders’ payments. Remember, that the distance between your current residency and future home also affects the price, as the cost of each mile of the long-distance moves is usually higher than of the shorter ones.
Moreover, if you have such a possibility, shift your moving date from June, July, and August, as these months are the busiest for the corresponding companies, so the prices are often higher if compared with other months. If you live in a big city, the services are usually much more expensive.
Certainly, if you don’t want to worry about all packing and unpacking job, you may entrust this work to the professionals, who, most likely, will do it faster and in a high quality. In addition, in this case the company usually bears the responsibility for the packing job and for the cases when something breaks or damages due to moving. But, of course, you’ll have to pay more.
2. Hidden extra fees
Usually, moves are carried out smoothly and with minimum problems. But imagine the incident, when you signed a contract, loaded things onto the trucks and sent them to your new house, and when you arrived there yourself, you can’t get your belongings, as they’re locked inside the lorry. The matter is that the company has included additional charges you weren’t aware of. And, now it’s waiting for you to pay that extra money, otherwise, you won’t get your own possessions.
So let’s see, what those additional fees are.
Bear in mind that stairs or elevators in both present and prospective houses are the factors that make the moving process more or less complicated, so it may reflect in the price of the services. As well as the distance between the truck’s location and the front door, plus, if it’s an apartment – the floor they have to carry the load on and the weight of the stuff.
Besides, companies may charge you for disassembly of the furniture, additional containers, boxes and packing materials they provide if you choose the option when the movers pack your belongings. Narrow streets, flights of stairs, corridors and doorways may cost you something as well.
3. Insurance
This issue is extra important if you want to protect yourself from the situations when things got damaged, broken or lost due to the company’s fault. Nevertheless, it’s the point of your personal preference, but it’s highly recommended to choose the contract, which provides this opportunity. The services will cost more, but you will worry less.
So, when we’re done discussing the prices of moving services and you’ve already chosen the variant, which works best for you, it’s time to learn about how to hire professional and qualified movers, who won’t deceive you and take the money from you for nothing.
Here are some tips on how you may successfully choose the best moving company in your local area.
1. Check out different companies, their recommendations and reviews
Don’t hire the first people you’ve managed to come across. Ask your friends and family about their moving experiences. Maybe they have an awesome company in mind, that knows its job and does it perfectly. Or, on the contrary, they’ll protect you from the wrong choice.
Scroll through the official sites of the companies you’ve chosen by far, look for the reviews on the Internet. You may even call or send an e-mail to the American Moving and Storage Association to make sure that the company is its member. That will be a bonus to its authority and an indicator that the cases of company’s liability will go more or less smoothly.
Don’t be so confident, that bigger businesses ensure better services. As a rule, smaller companies, which are trying to enter the market and attract more customers, provide high-quality services as well, but also offer some bonuses and discounts and treat their customers more attentively.
Also, there’re different sites that gather numerous ads of the moving companies. They’ll make your searching process much easier and they may even have some feedback on companies’ functioning. HireRush.com is one of them. Here you may find quite a lot of movers’ ads in your local area and get the contact information right away.
Check the companies’ legal address and contacts, and also if it functions only under one name. Remember: the license is obligatory for such companies; otherwise they won’t be able to operate legally, so, if you end up having any problems with them, it will be almost impossible to solve the issues or to receive compensation.
2. Get several estimates from movers
It’s better to have representatives of several moving companies come to your house and get a good look at what they’re supposed to do and which amount of work they have to face. Make sure that you explain clearly and properly, what things you want to be moved, as the cost will increase if you add something else to your list after the estimate is done. Also, talk through all the services you want the movers to provide (packing, loading, transportation, unpacking), their costs and possible extra fees.
If a person wants you to negotiate the estimate on the phone or comes into your house and does it quite briefly, you should think, whether this company is worth trusting.
Ask the estimator as many questions about his firm as you can, provide him with all the necessary information about moving conditions that may cause some complications. This way, you’ll get the closest to reality estimate.
Compare the costs, choose several best offers from respectable companies, ask them questions if you have any and even try to negotiate some charges.
3. Choose the company and do all the paperwork
Having compared all the prices and conditions, check the reviews on the companies once again and pick one according to your personal preference and inner confidence. If you can’t trust those people, you don’t have to.
After you choose the movers you’re comfortable with, it’s better to sign a written agreement – a bill of lading – with a stated total price of the services. It should exclude any additional costs over the initially negotiated charges and establish the prepayment sum. The respectable company shouldn’t set too high prepayments. Look through the document carefully. Get insurance and discuss the liability cases. Don’t lose your copy of the contract.
Caution: get this done before the movers start doing anything, especially loading and transporting your possessions.
4. All that lists
It’s vital to make a list of everything that was packed, loaded and taken by movers. Make them sign it. Also, depending on your contract, you may provide your movers with specific unpacking guidelines, so that they are able to place things just as you wish.
Get a written confirmation of the fact that the company has received the prepayment and has taken your belongings.
Only after that allow the professionals to start doing their job.
5. Speak out
If you have any remarks on how the movers do their job (you may want them to be more careful while packing and loading stuff or pack everything more secure), just talk to them and explain your requirements politely. If you are still terribly unsatisfied with their job, don’t let them load the boxes onto the truck and take the things away. Those are rare cases, but you have to trust your guts if you think that something is wrong and stop the process.
6. Keep track of all further actions
Regularly contact your movers to make sure that the transportation and unpacking are going all right. They should always be able to inform you of where your belongings are at the moment and what’s already done.
7. Check if everything managed to reach the destination safely
When the things are already in your new house/apartment, check if everything from your moving list was actually delivered in its original condition. Contact the company if something was lost or damaged, but remember that some little defects are quite acceptable.
So, that’s how you can make your moving process as safe as possible, avoid any trouble and hire legitimately professional movers, who’ll do all the necessary moving stuff for you. Don’t overload yourself with completely unnecessary worries, visit HireRush.com, hire the best movers and start enjoying the life in your new house without going through all that moving chaos.
