Long Distance Moving Company - recent move?

Myquest55

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Happily in MAINE
We are getting ready to move into retirement. I have looked up moving companies and spoken to a few. Most of them have some horrible reviews along with glowing ones. I cannot get a handle on who to use! Last time we moved, 10 years ago, it was handled by the company - now we're on our own.

They don't send anyone out to look at your stuff any more. One company ONLY does a video estimate but I don't have an I-phone so that is out. Other companies what you to describe your stuff over the phone and they "estimate" what you need from that. I am SURE I forgot to mention things and have NO idea how many boxes we need. What a stupid question to ask someone who is NOT in the business!

I am just at a loss so if anyone has moved recently, would love to have some recommendations!
 

The last time I moved from one state to another I packed my own things and rented a UHaul truck along with the laborers to load the truck. Before I arrived at my new location I made reservations for laborers, from the UHaul website, to unload the truck. It worked out well and was very inexpensive compared to hiring a major van line to do the move for me. The biggest drawback was needing one person to drive my vehicle and another person to drive the UHaul.

If you do hire a professional moving company I would encourage you to consider getting rid of as many of your possessions as possible in an effort to reduce the cost of the move. In some cases it is actually cheaper to buy new things when you reach your destination than it is to move them. Some friends of mine found that to be the case when they moved from Central New York to the Villages in Florida.

Good luck!!!
 
The last time I moved from one state to another I packed my own things and rented a UHaul truck along with the laborers to load the truck. Before I arrived at my new location I made reservations for laborers, from the UHaul website, to unload the truck. It worked out well and was very inexpensive compared to hiring a major van line to do the move for me. The biggest drawback was needing one person to drive my vehicle and another person to drive the UHaul.

That's how I did my last move. It worked out pretty well. I rented 26 foot truck plus a car trailer from Uhaul that I pulled behind the truck. That set up only got about 6 miles to the gallon, but it was still a lot cheaper than going with a moving company. Plus the Truck loaders and unloaders were really good.
 

Well, having moved a half dozen times before, there is NO WAY we are moving ourselves.-don't have to First of all we physically cannot and secondly I am not a professional and it would take us a month to do what these guys can do in a couple of days. That said, however, we will attempt to pack up books, fabric and linens ahead of time. I just ordered the Smart Move Tape pack from Uhaul though - tape marked with the names of the rooms to put on the boxes. Very clever idea!

SO, since we are moving into a space half the size of what we have - we are certainly getting rid of the excess. Yes, we do not need to take it all! I am just frustrated with the overwhelming amount of information on line. How do you decide?
 
I recently moved and hired a local mover who came with good recommendations and who made on-site estimate of cost. My daughter and I packed boxes and movers handled those as well as furniture and large fragiles such as framed pictures, large flat screen TV. Small fragiles and 'can't live withouts' went into car trunk. Might have saved money by yard-sale-ing and new purchases but am especially fond of my furniture and many books collected over years.

Good move. Nothing broken, nothing lost
 
I used Three Men And A Truck last year and they offered an in person estimate. They were easy to work with and pretty affordable too. I'd definitely recommend them.

Edit: Sorry didn't catch the date on the original post. I'll leave this up in case anyone else needs a good rec.
 
Once I moved and the movers were athletes from the University of Houston. My new apt. was on the third floor and I'll never forget how easily they hauled everything up the stairs as if they were bags of potato chips.
 
Used a local moving company which did long distance(state to state) moves as well as local. Three men and a large truck. dove the 12 hours and stayed over night, then unloaded early AM and drove 12 hours back. I thought they were reasonable and trusted them more than an online company which would farm it out to whomever.
 
If you have to use a moving company, please remember this: They often steal. I had things stolen when I sold my house, the move was very stressful and I didn't move that much myself. I estimate they took 2-4 boxes. In a previous move, a TV went missing.

Anything precious and dear, be sure you take yourself in your vehicle. If I move again, I'm moving all my stuff and the movers can get the furniture.
 
We used United Moving, but we only move 135 miles across state. On their survey after the move, I gave them all 5’s. They did a better than expected job and didn’t break anything.
 
When we moved, every box was numbered. When they brought it in, at the end the checklist was gone over with DH for every box.

Anything of value or precious, you should it transport yourself.
That was smart. Something I didn't think of. I was also alone and I think these people notice that. And had I made a claim, complaint, they know where I live. On that move they also knocked a piece of my china cabinet. Had they at least told me and given me the missing piece I could have glued it on.
 
When we moved, every box was numbered. When they brought it in, at the end the checklist was gone over with DH for every box.

Anything of value or precious, you should it transport yourself.
This is exactly how my daughter did it when moving from Spain back to the UK last December.

She had to wave the removals van off ( man with a van and help)...knowing it would take 3 days to get to the UK... so she numbered every box...and sent me a whole list of the numbers and what they contained, and I ticked them off as they came in the door at her new temp rental place here in the UK...

She moved 2 months later again..but only a couple of hours away.. and again she took her most precious items in her car...along with the dogs.. and numbered all the boxes..

ETA... I had to pay the guys when they unloaded eveything, and I even took a photo of the money changing hands.. ( they wanted cash as you can imagine)...
 

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