Need moving advice

[gracechristopher]

I’m moving from one apartment to another and I’m really not looking forward to packing my entire life into a bunch of boxes. Are there any moving services that will do all the packing for me? I don’t want anything to break or to be just blindly thrown into boxes, so I’m really looking for a professional packing service? Does anyone have any recommendations or helpful experiences with these or other movers?

Favorite Quote:
“And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.” Abraham Lincoln

[khorrell]

We've always had good luck with movers. I suggest that you clear out your stuff, then hire any of the city movers in your area.

It is nearly inevitable that something will get broken, and they'll never pack it the way you would, but that is the trade-off for not packing it yourself.

Good luck to you.

[purplefdu]

We've had about every professional moving company pack our stuff while we were a military family. Mayflower, Bekins, etc. We moved cross country three times and shorter alot more. I can only recall getting something broken one or twice, although we lost boxes a couple times on multi-family moves.

So long as you supervise and keep a separate inventory yourself you should be ok. One of the best tips I ever recall was to take an picture of the top of the box contents before it was closed to check it wasn't tampered with at the destination.

[Money Beagle]

I know it's a hassle to pack your own stuff but I wouldn't rule it completely out for a couple of reasons. First, it will save you money if you do it yourself. Second and probably more importantly, is that you'll probably filter out a lot of stuff that you don't need if you pack yourself. Every time that I've packed for a move, I've found tons of stuff that I realize I no longer have a use for. If you have movers pack for you, you'll end up moving stuff that will just continue to cause unnecessary and that you could perhaps donate to help someone that could use your no longer useful stuff.

But, if you do go the route of having someone pack for you, I would look for companies that specialize in relocation. I've had friends who were transferred in jobs and had the entire packing and moving process paid for by their company, so my guess is that the moving companies that do a lot of re-locations will be best equipped to help.

[Julie Rains]

Years ago, I used name brand movers (which were typically franchise owners who upheld certain standards) as part of relocation packages. My understanding that packing is time-intensive and can be very expensive, relative to the move itself. You might want to call and get some idea about pricing just to make sure it's affordable. You could move certain smaller items yourself and let the movers move the big stuff. We didn't have any problems with the movers. They use lots and lots of packing material.

[trustno1]

Whatever you choose to do...if it involves anyone but yourself doing the packing...

Buy, rent, or borrow a camcorder. (pics are fine, just takes more time). Buy the local newpaper, preferably the day prior to packing. Record everything that you own, making sure to place the newspaper (front page is best) where it can be seen in every image with your possessions.

This provides documented evidence of the condition of all of your possessions on the date of that newspaper. (don't worry about "seeing" the actual date of the paper in each photo. You can easily prove the paper's date later.)

I would never let "movers" pack jewelry, etc. It tends to "fall out" of the boxes during the move, with all of that "shaking around" during transit. (sounds like a good "story", eh?)

[nelsonclassic]

Hello friend,
We have moved recently and we hired packers and movers from Mobile Storage Units they are good and efficient,they moved our whole luggage without any loss and took the same amount as written in paper so if you want you can hire them ...


Regards,
Nelson

[Ms. Ferret]

Well, the original poster started this thread in May so I'm guessing they've moved since then. Gracechristopher, did you end up using movers? Did you find one that would pack your items for you? Was it cool, or did it suck?

I'm particularly interested since I'm moving soon, and even my inner tightwad is wondering whether or not she really wants to drag twenty-seven big boxes of books to the other side of town. Again.

[trustno1]

Originally Posted by Ms. Ferret

Well, the original poster started this thread in May so I'm guessing they've moved since then. Gracechristopher, did you end up using movers? Did you find one that would pack your items for you? Was it cool, or did it suck?

I'm particularly interested since I'm moving soon, and even my inner tightwad is wondering whether or not she really wants to drag twenty-seven big boxes of books to the other side of town. Again.

In most cities, there is a version of an outfit called "Starving Students", which usually bills themselves as honest college students working for tuition money.

The same concept can be logically applied to any college/university located nearby when it comes to "cheap" labor. All you have to do is find the bulletin boards and post a note for what you are looking for.
I have used that method for many of my requirements over the years... electronic schematics and devices for surveillance applications, programming needs, document format/compiling tasks, etc. I have also employed other recruits from specific academic disciplines I paid by the hour.

(I would not recommend hiring freshmen...lol)