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How to Choose A Moving Company |
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| Back to Residential | Local | Long Distance | International | How to Choose a Moving Company |
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Consumer Experts Suggest the Following Ways to Select a Moving Company: |
- When possible it is best to get recommendations from family, friends or coworkers.
- Always get an estimate in writing after an in home survey has been performed.
- When comparing estimates make sure they are complete and detailed. Some price quotes may not include all articles to be moved or all services you require. The cheapest price at first glance may not be the best value on moving day.
- Research the companies before you set up an appointment for your survey.
- Visit their facility if storage is needed.
- Request a guaranteed price. Most moving companies will guarantee their price after they have seen what items are being moved.
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The 5 Most Important Things to Consider When Choosing a Moving Company:
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| 1. Are they licensed and insured? |
This is important for the obvious reason that any company that is not licensed and insured is running their business unlawfully. Dealing with such a company exposes you to serious legal difficulties if there is a problem during the course of your move. A homeowner can be liable for injury or damage caused by an uninsured mover hired by the homeowner. A moving company should also offer replacement value coverage for your belongings as an option to the basic coverage required by law.
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| 2. Have they done an in home survey to prepare your price quote? |
With the recent explosion of internet usage and availability to the buying public, a parallel explosion of moving websites has occurred. Most of the companies running these sites attempt to book your move online. While this may work for general freight shipments, a residential move requires an in home survey to insure accurate pricing. Moving quotes generated online historically have been 20 to 50% off on the low side.
Internet moving brokers are also running these websites. They do not have trucks or personnel to physically perform your move. Your move is sold to another company and the new company will not honor their price quote. On moving day they typically pad the price with extras and unless you have other options lined up you are stuck with the new company ’s new price. Insist on an in home survey.
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| 3. Do they have a good record with the Better Business Bureau? |
Avoid companies that have more than 8 complaints over the past three years( which is how long the BBB keeps them on file ) Customers usually use the BBB as a last resort, so a company with numerous complaints filed with the BBB usually has plenty more unhappy customers who took no action.
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| 4. Do they have offices in both your origin and destination areas? |
On an interstate move this is very important as the office at destination can play a critical role in ensuring a good move. They may be needed to provide assistance in unloading your shipment or arranging special services at destination that the origin office cannot provide.
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| 5. Do they provide their license numbers and physical address in their advertising? |
Typically disreputable moving companies or moving brokers do not like to disclose where they operate. It usually is a boiler room type of setup without the resources of a traditional moving company. If they do not display their license numbers it is because they probably don’t have them.
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