How to Find a Great Moving Company
Ask Around
One of the best ways to get a recommendation for anything is to ask around. Your friends and family have probably used movers in the past and will be able to tell you about their experiences with them. This is often better than other forms of reference because it’s far more likely to be legitimate. There is one situation you should look out for though. Friends and family will sometimes recommend one of their friends or family members. In this case, their recommendation should be taken with a grain of salt, as they may be doing it to help the other person and not you.
Google Them
Googling someone is always a great idea. There are many sites that have reviews of movers. Google itself will also often have a rating for the business. This will allow you to get an idea of just how competent the business is.
Like with most things though, it’s important to not just take ratings at face value. It’s generally very easy to fake ratings. So if a business has a lot of great ratings, and a lot of poor ratings, it might mean the good ratings were paid for. Always be sure to actually go into the reviews and see what they say. It’s generally easy to sort out what’s real and what’s fake once you look into it.
Call a Few Places
Once you’ve figured out which places you think might be a good fit, be sure to call a few of them to get quotes. Prices can vary quite a bit from business to business in any industry. This is especially true of businesses where people generally don’t know how much the service or product regularly costs, like with moving services. It’s a generally accepted axiom that you should always call three places when getting a quote for anything. This will give you a feel for what the price of the service should be, and generally one of them will be where it should be.
Make Sure They Can Handle the Job
Most moving companies can, of course, handle most jobs. But maybe you have a whole bunch of stuff. Or, some very heavy or valuable stuff. Perhaps you’re a mad scientist and have some very hazardous stuff. At any rate, it’s important to check with the company if you have to move anything that’s out of the ordinary in any way. You wouldn’t want them to show up on the day of and not be able to do the job and have to leave. Or, worse yet, not be able to do that job, but try anyhow, and damage your property.
Make Sure They’re Insured
A moving company is going to be handling literally everything you own. Even if they’re very competent, it’s entirely possible they’ll break something. If they have insurance it will be much easier to get them to cover the cost of it.
Not only will insurance mean that it will be easier for them to cover any damage they may cause, but it also shows they’re a bit more serious about the business. It shows they’ve sat down and considered what might go wrong, and taken steps to ensure they’re protected if it does. This is especially true with a business like a moving business where they or their employees are handling so much valuable material.
Ask About Extra Fees
It’s important to ask about any extra fees the company might have when getting the quote. Anything that could make the move harder, and therefore take longer to do, could result in an extra fee. This includes things like if there are alot of stairs things have to be carried up or down, you have a lot of stuff, you have heavy stuff or even if you live on a narrow street they won’t be able to park the van on. Asking about these fees ahead of time will ensure that you don’t have any nasty surprises the day of.
