Once you’ve made the decision to hire a professional moving company for your upcoming move, there are a number of factors that should play a role in your decision making process. Price will always play a role in this process, but don’t allow it to be your determining factor. When it comes to moving, you pay for what you get and having your items make it from A to B safely should be paramount. Below are a few tips that you should include in your evaluation process when choosing a mover.
Get Multiple Quotes
This is important, especially if you’ve never hired a professional mover before, because it will not only provide you with the landscape of what pricing looks like, but it will also give you an opportunity to interact with a few different companies. These companies that you receive quotes from should not just spit out a number at you either. They should be willing to interact with you and learn as much about your move as possible. This will help you understand the mover’s attention to detail and what your level of comfort will be with them (after all, you are letting them move all of your stuff!). They should also be willing to provide you with an in-person estimate if you prefer having them come to your home and do a walk-through. Your moving estimate will be most accurate if the mover is able to see with their own eyes everything you have in your home.
Make Sure They’re Legit
This may seem like a no brainer, but unfortunately we’ve heard far too many horror stories and received hundreds of panicked phone calls from customers who hired a moving company that either didn’t show up at all on moving day, or showed up with a pick-up truck and broke all of their stuff in the moving process. This is why we strongly discourage hiring purely based off of price. Sure, you can probably find an excellent price for a mover on craigslist, but the quality of the mover who shows up at your door (if they show up at all) may not be top notch.
As you’re choosing a mover, make sure the companies that you’re collecting quotes from are properly Licensed, Insured & Bonded. You need your belongings to be protected when they’re being moved. Unfortunately in the moving industry, things can break from time to time. It’s inevitable. But knowing that you chose a moving company who is reputable and can repair, replace or reimburse you for your damaged item if something does go wrong should play a part in your hiring decision.
Check Online
We’re fortunate to have access to a wealth of information on the internet and social media when choosing a mover. You should be utilizing sites like Yelp, Facebook and Google to check out the online ratings and presence of the companies that you’re evaluating. You should also being going to the websites of the companies you’re selecting from to get a feel for their business. Most reputable moving companies nowadays will also have their own company run social media pages. This will let you see the personality of the moving companies you’re choosing from. Also, any reptuable business will have a listing with the Better Business Bureau along with a grade which will show prior documented customer complaints if they have any.
Ask Friends & Family
One of the best resources you can use when choosing a mover is word-of-mouth referrals. Ask your friends and family if they’ve ever hired a mover in the past. If they have a company that has done an excellent job moving them before, that company should be a great place to start when you’re collecting quotes. Again, trust should play a major part in the process of hiring a moving company, and what better way to find a great mover than hearing of them from someone you already trust.
Do They Offer All the Services You Need?
If you can find a reputable mover who offers all of the services that you’ll need for your moving process, that will save you time and money. Some companies just do moving, which is great if that’s all you need. These days its fairly easy to find a moving company who also offers storage, packing services, and moving supplies like boxes and bubble wrap. Take this into account when choosing a mover. Having to hire multiple companies to complete work that can be done by 1 company that does it all is not the best route to take.
We hope these tips make your mover selction process easier as you begin trying to find the right moving day partner. If you’d like a FREE Estimate for your upcoming move from our team, please fill out the Moving Request form and we’d be happy to help!
