Hire movers for a local move?

[Laurel]

We're moving into a new house across town next week, and it's the first time I've considered hiring movers. We can afford movers but also have many friends that are willing to help. Until now, we've only had the rent-a-uhaul, get-your -friends-to-help-in-exchange-for-beer-and-pizza-type-moves. Of course, this is also our first move with kids as a family of four, so it is a bit different.

If you think hiring some movers is the best way to go, any advice or tips on hiring them?

TIA

[purpleeyes]

We're moving across the neighborhood and we're *still* getting movers! At least for the furniture, since we have three bedroom sets, two couches, dining room, etc. I just don't want to think about my friends/family doing all that.
In terms of advice, I would absolutely get some estimates, and go with a reputable company that can promise you a hired staff, not just some guys off the street. We had a problem with that in our last move, apparently they just hire guys randomly on the weekends to help with the moves, they didn't really care about doing a good job, just about getting paid.
Good luck!
B

[KrisM]

I would hire. We moved 1.5 miles 2 years ago when DS was 16 months. I was super organized and everything was in a box. They moved us in 2 trips in 6 hours. They put furniture where you want it, boxes in the correct rooms, and it just makes it so nice. I had the kitchen unpacked the first night and a lot of the other stuff within a week or so. It was very nice to have a family room with furniture and not a ton of boxes right away as well.

[o_mom]

Most of our friends that have done local moves recently have used movers for the big stuff and then moved the boxes and little stuff themselves. Some hired U-hauls to do their part and others just made multiple trips depending on how far the move was.

It seemed that most found that you could either get a rate for a set of stuff (I want you to move 3 beds, 2 sofas and these 5 pieces) or an hourly/daily rate where they would load until a certain time or the truck was full and then unload the same day.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Yes, hire them! You can just hire them to move the big stuff if you want. That's what we did one time.

Beth

[ellies mom]

By all means, yes. It is worth every stinkin' penny. You will be amazed at how much smoother and easier it goes than moving with friends. We do all the packing but we will never do the actual moving ourselves again. I agree to go with a reputable company. They usually come out and look at the amount of stuff you have and give you an estimate. One thing to ask about if you need more than one truck is to compare the price of two trucks-one trip vs one truck two trips. Depending on distance, it is worth it to only rent one truck and have them make two trips. We've done it both ways and it doesn't make a big difference time-wise.

[wellyes]

Absolutely hire movers! We just did our first "not paying with pizza" move last year, and it was so worth the money.

The one piece of advice I have is to make sure you prep everything in advance. We had a barrister bookshelf which they wouldn't move until it was encased in bubble wrap & lots of tape (understandable, lots of breakable glass). They ended up charging us something like $35 for the materials used to do the wrapping. If I'd planned ahead, I would have just wrapped some blankets around the it and paid nothing. But I still have no regrets, it was so much easier and quicker relying on the pros.

[kedss]

We moved across town a few years ago, and we hired movers, best thing we did, esp with a 9 month old. We hired a crew that was connected to the University and they even knocked off some $ since it didn't take as long as they thought it would take. :)

Go for it!

[Nyfeara]

Definitely would recommend hiring movers. Do your research on the company first and have several give you an estimate. You can cut some of the cost by packing your smaller stuff yourself, finding or buying your own boxes and packing material. I think we bought a huge roll of bubble wrap from Staples at the time.

We packed most of our own boxes and labeled each box with what room it was to be placed in in the new house. We moved some more fragile things ourselves (specific antiques, jewelry, computers). Having movers take care of the furniture is a big plus! We moved from a 3 BR rental that was fully furnished and they moved everything in one trip. So much nicer than taking multiple trips yourself over days or a whole week.

The company we used had a contract that estimated the cost and included a guarantee that they would not charge more than that estimate or more than 5% above the estimate. They actually came in below the estimate, but it was nice to know the absolute maximum we may have to pay.

Good luck!

[KrisM]

Another big benefit is that most movers move dressers with clothing in them! Less to pack/unpack. Ours also loaned for free wardrobe boxes for the closet. They gave them to me first thing when they arrived, I loaded them up, labeled them, and unpacked them right away to give boxes back.

[Moneypenny]

I am never going to move without movers again! When we moved in May it was the first time we'd hired movers and boy, is it nice. We moved all the boxes and small stuff and they just moved the big furniture. They do wrap dressers and desks so you don't have to empty the drawers. They also wrap furniture so you don't have to take cushions off the couch or anything. If you pack yourself and move small stuff, it can be semi-reasonable.

[gatorsmom]

Absolutely hire some good movers! I'd start off with some estimates from the big name companies like Atlas Van Lines, Allied, Mayflower, etc. The reason for this is that these companies train their employees how to move your things properly. If you just hire 3 men and a truck, they usually don't have any idea the right way to carry the furniture correctly so as not to damage anything.

Another advantage to a well-known company is that they have insurance if your least little belonging gets damaged or scratched. Also, the bigger companies provide worker's comp if their employee gets injured.

I'm all about the well-known name companies because those businesses meet certain standards to be part of that company. They are usually small mom-and pop type companies that follow the rules to be part of a resputable company. The weekend three -guys-and-a-truck types cut corners and undercharge to take business away but do a poor job, in most cases.

just my 2 cents.

[hellokitty]

Absolutely hire some good movers! I'd start off with some estimates from the big name companies like Atlas Van Lines, Allied, Mayflower, etc. The reason for this is that these companies train their employees how to move your things properly. If you just hire 3 men and a truck, they usually don't have any idea the right way to carry the furniture correctly so as not to damage anything.

Another advantage to a well-known company is that they have insurance if your least little belonging gets damaged or scratched. Also, the bigger companies provide worker's comp if their employee gets injured.

I'm all about the well-known name companies because those businesses meet certain standards to be part of that company. They are usually small mom-and pop type companies that follow the rules to be part of a resputable company. The weekend three -guys-and-a-truck types cut corners and undercharge to take business away but do a poor job, in most cases.

just my 2 cents.

I guess my exp is different. We did a local move with a big name moving company. It was a horrible experience. The driver didn't know what the hell he was doing. He broke our molding by trying to force it through a doorway that was too tight, b/c he couldn't figure out how to remove the door of the fridge (which was scratched up). He also ruined the HW floor by not placing enough tarps down. We complained to his boss, who came over and they fixed and painted the molding and gave us a small discount, but we were pretty PO'd about the experience. On top of that, he wasted a lot of time trying to figure things out, so I was ticked off that we were charged for that time and we complained about that and they shaved off 2 hrs. On top of that the driver (who is the one in charge of the team) was just unprofessional. When I asked him to call his boss to help out with the fridge situation, he refused to listen to me and decided it would be better to be bull headed and destroy our property instead!

We've done several big cross state moves with these companies before and have always had a pleasant experience. However, the local move with the big company was a total disaster, I don't know if I would do it again. I would rather have friends and family come over and treat them to a nice meal. I would prefer that my DH and I move the smaller things and just have friends to help with larger furniture. If they did that, they could get the large stuff all taken care of pretty quickly and we could slowly get the small stuff done over a wk.

[american_mama]

We hired a student moving company for a local move and don't regret it. But it was funny because the movers were young and small, all of them, and they'd amble into a room, glance around, and then, oh, decide to pick up a box. We had professional movers twice before and they were much more efficient. The studnet movers worked hard and well, but slowly. We paid by the hour and since it took a long time, our total cost was the same as some of the other estimates who charged more, but estimated less time.

The 20 year-old boss guy said he always felt awkward handing the customer the final bill because it was more than he would ever be able to pay. I laughed inwardly and thought, yeah, I'll check back with you in 10 or 15 years.

[gatorsmom]

I've moved several times locally and have to say I never had your experience. I'm sorry to say I think your experience was an exception. Besides, that could just as easily, if not more so, have happened with a three-guys-and-a-truck type outfit. Also, you could have insisted that this company pay for your damages to be professionally repaired or threatened to call the headquarters. Most of the big movers respond to complaints about their "agent" companies and are strict with them about maintaining their standards.

[hellokitty]

I've moved several times locally and have to say I never had your experience. I'm sorry to say I think your experience was an exception. Besides, that could just as easily, if not more so, have happened with a three-guys-and-a-truck type outfit. Also, you could have insisted that this company pay for your damages to be professionally repaired or threatened to call the headquarters. Most of the big movers respond to complaints about their "agent" companies and are strict with them about maintaining their standards.

They did end up taking care of the damages, but it was just an extremely annoying experience to have to deal with. You hire professional movers from a national moving company and just don't expect that type of service. The *only* time we had a negative exp was when it was a local move. All of our many other cross state moves with major companies went very smoothly. I felt that maybe they reserve the not-so-great drivers for local moves.