If you haven’t moved recently and you decide to talk to a moving company, you’ll probably have a few questions. When I walk into the home of a customer to help them get the next steps ready, I hear many of the same questions over. Hopefully, reading through this can answer some of them for you.
What Do I Do About Packing?
You have several options for packing, and choosing the right one will depend on your situation and comfort level.
1. Pack Yourself
To save the most money, you can pack all your items yourself. The pros of this option are that it saves the most money upfront. The cons are time and liability. It typically takes a family about 1-2 weeks of packing every night to pack up their home and you’ll need to get the packing materials. More than that, when you pack your items yourself, the moving company will not take liability for items that may break inside the box (without obvious box damage, like if it were dropped).
The reason this is the case, is because most of the breaking of items inside boxes comes when they aren’t protected from rubbing and bumping against other items. In other words, it’s not the transporting that breaks items inside the box (most quality moving trucks have protection against hard bumps), it’s the packing.
If items break inside a box without box damage, it’s a good sign that the packing wasn’t done right. If you pack yourself, you are then responsible to make sure you get those items packed so that they won’t break. A good moving company can give you tips on how to do it right, but you’ll still be responsible for packing properly. As a result, this is a great option for some people, but it’s not right for everyone. If you’re nervous about how long it would take you to pack yourself or any of the other cons of packing yourself then
2. You Can Have a Moving Company Pack Your Belongings For You
This option takes a lot less time. Most of the time, a team of experienced packers can pack a home in 1 or 2 days. It’s the fastest and typically easiest option but it will also be the most expensive. There’s a few reasons for the expense. First, is the time of the packing team. You’re buying a service, so that means you have to buy them time of the service provider.
Second, the materials will cost a bit more. Every moving company can decide what type of boxes they want to use. Here at Bailey’s Moving & Storage, we use non-recycled cardboard.
That’s not because we hate the environment (we do reuse boxes in other ways as much as we can) but its because recycled cardboard doesn’t hold up as well as new cardboard against friction and movement. A good box costs a little more money, but it also protects your belongings better, so there will be an expense for you on those materials. Lastly, the expense also comes from the liability. When a mover packs for you, they hold the liability that items won’t break because of packing. If they do break, you’ll be eligible for a claim based on the terms you set up with the mover.
3. You Could Use a Hybrid Approach
Let’s use an example on this one. Let’s say Alice wants to pack everything in her house herself, except for her TVs and her fine china and perhaps a few other items that she might not be as confident on her packing ability. On pack day, the packers will bring the materials to pack what was listed specifically and leave everything that wasn’t on the list to you!
Are There Items a Mover Can’t Move?
Yes. There are items that movers can’t move for you and while some movers will have specific rules (so check with the mover to be sure), there are a few common items:
- Aerosol Cans
- Corrosives
- Paints
- Ammunition
- Flammables
- Perishable Items
- Bleach
- Cleaning Supplies
- Plants
- Combustibles
The main idea is that movers don’t want to put items on their trucks that have a tendency to be corrosive (and spill), explosive, or have sensitivity to high heat. It can get hot in the back of a moving truck depending on where you are and where you’re going. That being said, some movers might have more items than this so it’s always good to check.
When Will I Know When My Items Are Going to Be Delivered?
This is probably a very important question for you. I get it, this is everything you own – you want to know when it will arrive! Moving companies work like most transportation companies will. The closer the distance between pickup and drop off, the easier it is to narrow down a delivery time. The farther you move, the more this can become a question. The reasons? There’s a lot that can happen such as weather, traffic, accidents on the road, etc. You’ve probably dealt with this too last time you went on a long road trip.
More than this, there might be more than one person’s furniture on the truck – just like there are typically more than one customer’s packages on a delivery truck and that might cause some unexpected delays, like if that customer is late for accepting delivery of their goods.
A moving company shouldn’t expect you to know all of that in advance, so they will assign you a moving coordinator to help you get a time narrowed down before you move and to answer any questions about delivery dates at any time – but be aware that it might be a spread of dates to help account for problems that might occur during transportation. More than a coordinator, you can also count on the driver of your goods to call you 24 hours in advance to let you know when he or she will be at your residents to deliver.
When and How Do I Pay For a Move With a Moving Company?
Many moving companies do this differently, but there is a standard recommended practice in the industry. First, you can use a credit card that will be preauthorized for the full amount of the move on the day that your goods are loaded onto the truck. You’re not charged yet, instead the credit card company is making sure that you have enough room on your card to approve the charge when it does run. You’ll actually be charged before delivery. If pickup and delivery is on the same day, then the charge is that day.
If it’s not, then it’s typically the day of, or the day before delivery. Most customers seem to like the ease of the credit card process. If that’s not right for you, then you can give a certified check to the driver before he unloads any of your items at your new residents. Just remember though, that like the credit card process, the driver will not be allowed to unload your goods until he or she receives that check.
What Do I Do if I Find Items That are Broken Once Everything is Delivered?
You’re probably expecting that professional movers would never break items during a move. If you’re paying for a mover, you want it to go flawlessly. That’s typically true, but moving companies are like any other service industry: sometimes it doesn’t go right. There’s a few things you should do to help ensure damages are takin care of properly.
First, take pictures of everything including the boxes the items were packed into. Remember the packing question? The moving company is going to be looking to see if the box was damaged or not during the move. Then call or email your move coordinator to let them know about the damage. They will then set you up with a claims department to start the process of resolving the damage according to the valuation protection coverage that you chose before the move.
Ultimately, moving is stressful. However, being prepared and educated before you move makes the process go smoother, easier and with much less stress. If you have any other questions, I recommend you read some of our other blogs to help learn more and make your next move, the best one yet.
