What do I need to know about hiring a moving company?

First you need to know that a common scam is to offer a seemingly very good estimate, and then to hold your belongings hostage until you pay exorbitant fees. So, perform your due diligence and check the bona fides of any company you consider.

Get all the information from your new employer on what their rules are. The last time an employer moved us, they wanted three bids. They also had a list of companies they wanted us to pick from They also had rules about how they paid (where the bills went, etc.)

You will need written estimates.

Then the moving company will ask a list of questions about what they will be moving, size of rooms, etc. They may want to see your place.

Good luck.

Be very careful, scams like the one @pdworkin mentions are common. Do research on google for their company name and include keywords like “scam” to see what results you find. Always get an estimate, get everything in writing no matter how friendly they appear to be. The best way to find one is to get a recommendation from someone you know, but since this is not always possible, due diligence is your friend.

Have a written agreement in hand before they touch your stuff.

Be prepared for it to be a horrible experience no matter which company you go with. I did everything people suggested; I had several companies come and give me an estimate. I checked the BBB. And I was treated horribly by the company I hired. They didn’t come on the day they said they would. When they did come they sent one (yes one) inexperienced and very seedy employee who wanted me to buy him lunch and who made ugly comments about my deceased mother (whose house I was packing up). They failed to pack everything up, and I wound up having to rent a van to move the rest of it. When I complained to the company, I was treated discourteously and the situation was never resolved.

From what I’ve read, my experience is pretty typical.

What company did I use: Bekins. I don’t recommend them (obviously).

My experience was wonderful, but that seems to be the exception rather than the rule. I used a smaller local company that also makes long distance trips and had several recommendations from people I knew.

Ask for references from your company and people you know. Check the BBB for complaints. Also, the BBB here has a list online of recommended businesses for all types of companies; you might try that.

I’m with suzyq. All my experiences have been nasty. Note that they itemize every article they pack. They write down all scratches, cracks, dings, minor chips and even invisible damage. So if something arrives mashed by the movers, they pull out the list and explain that it wasn’t their fault. With obvious things, like broken glass, somehow their insurance doesn’t cover it.

I’ve had a packer leave early due to drunkenness so packing took an extra day. When I moved to this house on a dirt driveway, the truck got bogged down in the mud. Pulling that out was a two-day production.

Rather than move again, I would probably torch the house and its contents and then put myself on an ice floe.

Take your jewelry and treasures with you (the Rembrandt, the Tiffany lamp, the Rodin sculpture, for example).

We have moved many. many times, and whether a move was good, bad or indifferent, one thing I would say is never take your eyes off the packers for a minute. For them it all pays the same, but their random carelessness can cost you a priceless heirloom.

They don’t get paid all that well, so they sometimes have sticky fingers (as in the time they broke open our piggy banks, took our Christmas money, and then neatly wrapped the broken banks up and packed them).

Movers are also not necessarily the brightest folks so sometimes you need to make sure they don’t do something really dumb (like the time they turned my mother’s drop leaf dining table upside down, loaded it with boxes of books and were about to swing it off the end of the tailgate when my mom caught them).

And sometimes they are tired and moving essentially by remote control, as in the time they packed my grandmother’s sandwich and the typewriter she was using to type a letter to the landlord, with the half-finished letter still in it.

When you ask for the bid show the rep everything you plan to move, absolutely everything, so they can make an accurate bid that includes all the packing materials.

Otherwise, as others have said make sure you follow your employer’s rules, get everything in writing, check with folks you know who have moved for their recommendations, and really do check everything off the various lists at both ends. Also. follow the truck to both the empty weigh in and the full weigh in and document the weights.

And here’s a big one: if they don’t pack it themselves, they will not cover any loss or breakage. So your stuff that is still in boxes can be moved as is, but it will not be covered by insurance.

Personally, if I never move again I won’t mind at all.

If your move is international contact me directly and I can help you get a quote from a decent company. If it is local, well, that depends on from where to where…