Moving can be very wearisome, particularly if you have a lot of things to move. Packing up all of your things, properly, hiring a truck, loading the truck, driving the truck to your new home, and then unloading the truck again. It’s very time-consuming and it probably makes you tired just thinking about it. Consequently, many people elect to hire professional moving companies to take on all or most of these tasks.
The fact is that, while hiring a moving company can help you save time and hassle, picking the wrong movers can add up to more grief than you want to think about. To guard yourself and your valuables, you might want to consider a few things before choosing a company to transport your things.
Some points to consider before you decide on a moving company.
1) Exactly which parts of the move do you want delegate to the moving company.
Needless to say, anything you require the mover to do will be reflected in their bill. Probably the most common scenario is that people will pack their own goods and then hire a moving company to load transport and unload all the boxes. Sometimes people, particularly if they may be moving cross-country, will rent a large truck and employ a crew to pack their goods and load the truck. Then they will drive the truck cross-country themselves and even higher a crew at the other end to unload the truck again. Of course others will employ a moving company to do absolutely everything, from packing their goods, loading, transporting and even unpacking and removing boxes and packing materials at the new location.
2) Your budget, exchanging money for convenience.
The fact is you can hire someone to do pretty much anything, for a price and when it comes to movers and moving nothing could be closer to the truth. If your funds are limited, you we’ll need to balance your funds with a certain amount of sweat equity. Consequently you may have to perform much of the work yourself and then simply pay the movers to perform those tasks that are the most difficult. Compare estimates from several moving companies and look for the most reasonable rate for the work you need performed. Note: Always check a moving companies references, as with many things, the lowest price is not always the best deal.
4) Is your mover adequately insured to protect your belongings from loss and damage?
You probably have a lot of money invested in things and there is always a degree of risk when you move them. The cost of an accidental mishap during transport could be enormous. A moving company, even a top rated one, will usually be insured to meet basic requirements however, if you wish to be fully covered for every eventuality, it would be wise to purchase additional moving insurance for your total peace of mind.
3) Going the distance.
Long-distance moves are a very different animal from local moves. Moving long distances usually entails greater expense and requires a more experienced and properly licensed moving company. Moving from state to state or province to province is usually not performed by local movers. Long-distance moves typically require specialized paperwork as well as a number of other considerations unique to this kind of move. One very important aspect of booking a long-distance moving company is the matter of the lead time. Most long distance movers require advance scheduling and will need as much advance notice as possible.
5) Reputation is everything especially when it comes to a moving company
You’ve probably heard stories about people’s bad experiences with moving companies. You may have even seen bad moving experiences depicted in comedy movies for laughs, but in the real world there is nothing funny about finding broken or missing goods after the movers have finished up and left. sometimes all the insurance in the world cannot replace an item that has special sentimental value. You want to know that the moving company you choose will treat all your belongings with the same care that you would. It cannot be stressed enough that the moving company you choose should have the best references available and it’s important for you to do your very best to find out everything you can about the moving company you choose.
Your mover should be a member of the Better Business Bureau and ideally the longer they have been in business the better. As it is difficult for a moving company to stay in business for long if they do bad work, generally movers who have been in business a long time will be more reliable. These days, checking a moving companies’ reputation and history of handling problems is easy to look up by doing a search on the Internet as well as checking directly with Better Business Bureau complaints records.
Some final thoughts on selecting the right moving company.
Depending on the value of your possessions and the distance will be moving them, you may want to consider enlisting the services of moving agent. For reasonable commission a moving agent will make an experienced estimate of the volume and weight of your contents and act as a go between matching your requirements and budget with a reputable mover, storage if necessary, insurance, etc.
You can, of course do this process yourself however, you will need to prepare yourself before hand with a list of questions for the various moving companies you will be contacting and an appropriate amount of time to conduct thorough interviews with each company.
When estimating your insurance needs it’s important to bear in mind that most often we will underestimate the value of our possessions because they have been acquired over a period of time however, if you should experience the misfortune of having to replace all of your things you may be in for a shock when you realize the cost of replacing everything at today’s prices. long distance movers broken arrow ok
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