How to Choose Moving Companies

At some point in time, everyone has heard the horror story of a friend, loved one or co-worker about their unenviable experience with a moving company. Typically, these stories tend to sit in the back of the brain until it suddenly becomes apparent that your own moving day is drawing nearer.

Create an interview list:

• Have this list along with any other questions you need answers to on-hand while speaking to a company.


• What is the standard fee the company charges for their service? This is what they would expect to get for a standard, local move.


• How much is the cost of labor?


• Can the price be mitigated if you choose to pack your house yourself?


• Do they do long distance relocation moves? If you’re planning on moving out of state, this one could be very important.


• Will it cost extra for a trailer for your car?


• Are the people loading and strapping your car to the trailer licensed and qualified to do so?


• What are the transit costs for the move?


• Are they bonded and insured?


• What options do you have if something gets damaged or lost?


• Do they have any special moving packages?

Have your own answers ready:

• Often, the company you call will want to know what they are dealing with as well and have questions that must be answered before they can provide you with further information.


• Examples of the things a company might want to know would be the size in square footage of your home, the size and number of rooms you have within the home, and how many automobiles you have and if you are planning on moving them or driving them to the location.


• Whether or not you are moving locally, long distance or internationally is also a question you’ll need to answer as well as how much insurance you’ll require for your move.


• Have your answers written down and handy when you begin your search.

Shop around and Investigate:

1. Call each company and interview them based on the list you created.


2. Pay special attention to how you are treated on the phone. If anyone treats you as though you are a waste of time, or in a rude and impatient manner, cross that company off your list and continue on to the next company. You do not have time to put up with rash behavior and any manager willing to hire an employee that speaks rudely to customers bodes ill for what they might be willing to put up with regarding the treatment of your property.


3. Once you have interviewed all the companies in your area, cross the names of those who, for whatever reason, did not make the grade.


4. The list of those companies who remain make up what is known as your short list.


5. Check each company on your short list with the Better Business Bureau to see if they have any grievances lodged against them and what their overall standing is within the bureau.


6. Another great place to check out the reputation of a company is to go to MovingScam online. This is a website whose sole purpose is to reveal past scams and companies to watch out for. Their message board in particular is quite a handy tool.


7. Only deal with reputable companies. Cross any who do not pass the BBB or MovingScam test off of your list. 

Know your moving itinerary:

• If you know that you are due to move within the next three months, you should be hunting for your moving company and doing your advanced booking right now; once booked, get a receipt of said booking.


• The further in advance you can book your chosen company, the less you have to worry about that company suddenly being unavailable due to people choosing not to renew their leases in their apartments and moving out over the weekends. Do make sure you call often to reaffirm that booking. 


• Accidents do happen, and while the chances for a cross booked moving session are rare when you take care of booking well in advance, it can still happen to you. Call them every once in a while just to make sure their books match your receipt.


• Should it turn out that their books do not match your receipt, pay them a visit and force them to reschedule whoever took your opening. You are a paid advance customer with a receipt. 


• If they try to get you to take another slot, tell them you will take your money back and pay a visit to the local branch of the Better Business Bureau. 

Negotiate the best deal from your chosen companies:

1. Starting from the beginning of your short list, call up each company and tell them you are interested in their services. Tell that that you are shopping around with their competitors, trying to get the best deal. Ask them for a quote to provide the list of services you created earlier. Write that quote, and the company that provided it, down and a fresh piece of paper.


2. Phone up the next company on your short list. 


3. Tell them that you are interested in hiring them, but that you are shopping around. Let them know that you have a quote from their competitor and ask them if they can beat it. If so, write that quote next to their name, thank them and tell them you will be contacting their competitors to see if anyone can beat that quote.


4. Continue this process until you have narrowed your companies down to three or four who are willing to bid against the prices of their competitors. This is your primary list. 


5. Phone each manager on your primary list and continue negotiations until one company beats all others in terms of price, services offered, distances willing to travel and perks offered for choosing that company.


6. Be sure to thank each manager and inform them that you have made your decision and that you appreciate the time they took out of their day to assist you make your choice. There is no point in burning a potentially useful bridge with a business that went out of its way to try to win your business.