Author Topic: Good cheap movers?  (Read 2459 times)

frugalfedmom

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Good cheap movers?
« on: July 10, 2015, 02:28:32 PM »
We're going to be moving from NJ to VA next month and looking into movers. My relocation costs won't be covered by work so it's going to have to be out of our pocket. I'd like to keep costs low but want to find a trustworthy place. Any recommendations? Or should we just hire some day workers and go cheap? I feel like that would be more of a hassle with coordinating help in two states. Also how much would be reasonable to move a small apartment (about 3-4 rooms worth of stuff)? So far I've gotten a quote for $2000 but that seemed pretty expensive. Thanks in advance!

Daley

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Re: Good cheap movers?
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2015, 02:46:24 PM »
Look into ABF U-Pack and either do it yourself or hire locals to help. Also give movingscam.com a look, plenty of resources.

shadowmoss

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Re: Good cheap movers?
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2015, 06:56:48 AM »
When I drove Mom's stuff out here to Phoenix from MO in March we didn't know anyone to help unload it.  I went on the U-Haul site, where we had rented the truck, and picked some cheap(er) movers from their list.  These guys were awesome.  $100 for 2 hours (I think it was) and they put stuff where she wanted it.  I went middle of the road on the pricing and read the reviews to choose.  I will do that from now on, if I don't get my possessions down to something I can handle myself in an hour for my next move (my goal...).

chucklesmcgee

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Re: Good cheap movers?
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2015, 03:14:28 PM »
Hire unloaders and loaders (look at movinghelp.com), then rent a truck from Uhaul/Penske wherever. Drive the truck yourself.

Really top tier moving companies are great (Allied, Mayflower, whoever), but they charge you a buttload, justifiably, I guess, for their services. You may find cheaper moving companies, but they'll pull all sorts of shenanigans. They'll give you a quote without looking at your place OR quote you based on volume. They'll take a hefty deposit, then hopefully show up. They may move your stuff well or not at all. Then when it's on the truck they may claim you're overweight or it's a bigger scheduled volume and basically hold your stuff hostage until you pay them more. It may take a week or more for your stuff to show up, as it's on a truck going to a million different places with different loads. Then your stuff may or may not eventually show up a the destination.

Look for negative reviews, but also double check the history of the company. A ton of scam companies will just dissolve and reform under a different name when too many bad reviews show up. Or they'll rename themselves very similar to a company with a trusted reputation to confuse customers. Don't pay too much attention to good reviews, as it's very easy to get fake reviewers to write them.