Choosing the right moving company can make all the difference for any move, but for long distance shifts it is even more vital. You absolutely do not want to arrive in a new city, a new state, or worse, a whole new country, to discover that the entire contents of your home have been lost, damaged or stolen.
With so many long distance movers advertising, it can be hard to work out who to go with, but there are certainly some key indicators. However, if on the day of the move you suddenly discover that the sales guy who did your quote and seemed like a really conscientious person, bears little resemblance to the cavalier team of movers currently throwing your grandmothers crystal around like old tires, you can call it quits right there and then. It’s rare, but it does happen, and it is much better to tell them they’re fired, spend the rest of the day loading your gear into a storage unit yourself, than to discover that your feelings about their level of care were correct, when you open your boxes at the other end.
How To Get The Best Firm For Your Needs
The majority of moving firms will have their own niche market. Yes, they can probably move anyone anywhere, anyhow, if they are slow on work that week, but that doesn’t mean they are as good when working outside of their niche. If you are moving long distance, you really want to work with someone who specializes not only in long distance moves, but in residential moves as well, as the there is a vast difference between the requirements of a commercial, retail and industrial company moving that there was with a residential household moving.
Moving firms will generally specialize in either local moves, around down or across the city, in statewide moves which do not cross state lines, in long distance moving which crosses state lines, or international moves. Within these basic categories for distances you will also find that some companies specialize in certain locations. Perhaps moving from the west coast to the east coast is their primary niche because they are able to get a good rate to ship containers of items rather than having to truck them across the country. Or you might find a company that specializes in moving between two specific states, because they have an office in each and run contracts for a major firm, so adding an extra container (see here) to their truck isn’t a big issue.
Of course, “if it is too good to be true, it probably is” still stands when you are looking at the cost of moving. Moving is not cheap, so you should be suspicious of any company that offers a quote significantly lower. Once you have got your quotes in, be sure to sit down and really compare what each company is offering. You might have a difference of a few hundred between two quotes, but when you look closer you find that the cheaper one is going to charge you for bubble wrap, packaging tape and boxes – and once you’d add in their suggestions you find that they are now a few hundred more expensive.
You will also want to make sure that you are aware of the price for any storage on route, or storage at either end of the journey, as this is often an additional extra. If you don’t know exactly when you will need your goods delivered you might want to negotiate a deal for storage, that goes slightly longer term, but otherwise you really need this to be included in the quote.
If you are moving internationally you want to make sure that your company has all the appropriate bio security sorted, and any customs paperwork filled out appropriately. You will also want to make sure that you have a contact person at both ends who can be called upon if there is a problem. If you can, ask the sales person from your moving company to talk you through the process of what will happen at the other end, of if they have someone in the international port who is able to help you understand what will happen and how your goods will arrive in the coun0try, be cleared through customs, and then delivered to your door.
Read Reviews Carefully
Testimonials are wonderful things, and any company should be able to gather a few reviews from happy customers that they can pop-up on their website which give an indication about what their clients have liked about the service that they have provided.
However, you will also want to do a wider search to see what problems people have encountered. Once upon a time the only time you would hear about issues with a particular moving firm would be if one of your friends of family members used them and has a terrible story to tell. The internet allows for anyone to write clear and to the point reviews that spell out exactly where a company went wrong – and sadly it is generally only the bad experiences that make it onto online review sites, so you still need to take these with a grain of salt.
When you are looking at reviews, sort by date rather than star rating. You will sometimes find that there was a spate of really great, or really bad, reviews, and that these have changed. https://support.trustpilot.com/hc/en-us/articles/223402108–8-tips-for-writing-great-customer-reviews Sometimes a change of moving staff, parking staff, quoting staff, or even management can make a huge difference to the entire experience. When you are looking at the reviews take note of where they are similar. Generally, you will find that they all say the same thing, something like the service was friendly and professional, that everything arrived safely because they had it all well package. Or you may find that all the complaints talk about staff that didn’t care, delays in goods arriving, hidden charges that were added on, or excessive breakages.
The reviews should be able to confirm your initial feelings about a company.
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