Actually these were all much cheaper than I expected considering the four flights of stairs and the elevator. Although they were only rough estimates and not binding because I didn’t have them come out to the house to do complete estimates. I was left wondering if they would have shown up on moving day and changed their estimates on me. The other reason they were fairly reasonable is because these estimates don’t include any packing or boxes, I would be doing all of the packing.

I have to say, looking back now that it might have been worth it for me to hire the movers. I spent about $100 on a moving truck and almost another $100 buying my friend and moving buddy drinks and dinner afterward. And he continues to make me pay for it with sarcastic comments to this day. Ultimately, though, I ensured that there was no breakage in a very difficult move and I relished in the pride I had from getting it done myself and I still saved almost $500. Plus I probably had one of the hardest day long workouts that I had experienced in years. All things considered I think I made the right decision for my move. My next move though, as our family and possessions grow, will probably be a different story altogether.

Opportunities abound for the extremely price conscious looking to save a buck and willing risk their belongings.  “What’s a matter with saving money?” you may ask.  There’s always a cost and in this case it’s the gamble that your move will go well.  Here are the top three reasons to be concerned about hiring unlicensed movers for your next move.

No insurance – Even if you don’t pay for additional insurance, in most states and for all interstate moves, licensed moving companies must insure your belongings for some minimal value, typically $.60 per pound.  It’s not much but at least it’s something.  Furthermore, a licensed mover will inform you about this and supplemental coverage that provides more adequate reimbursement.

No experience – Hey, if I had a truck and maybe a trailer I could move your stuff too, but it might not arrive at your new home looking like it did when you left your old home.  At least some of the staff at a licensed moving company will have many years of experience and most larger van lines require fairly substantial training regarding proper packing and loading to ensure protection of your valuables.

No reputation and no concern about reputation – Fly by night operators won’t have a reputation to fall back on and they aren’t looking to build one.  They’re main concern is getting the next job and they’ll entice new customers with prices substantially lower than those of licensed movers.  They may change names as necessary to escape a reputation that has gotten so bad as to garner publicity.

The main point to all this should come as no surprise…buyer beware.

Most of these tips we’ve included in past blog articles but it’s good to see our recommendations reinforced by someone in the industry.  She also adds one crucial step that we might not have mentioned before about visiting the moving companies place of business which will help protect against fly by night operations and allows you to get a feel for the type of company you’ll be working with.  And there are a few essential reminders that are worth repeating like not accepting over the phone estimates and making sure you get a “not to exceed” price.

For more helpful information on how to find quality movers in your area open an account at onesimplemove.com.

It’s disheartening but it seems to be even more true now than ever during these tight economic times that poor quality, low balling movers can succeed in drumming up business while leaving families with even more to worry about.  Just another reminder that although it may seem like a good idea to bargain shop when looking for a moving company you may get what you pay for.  So do your research, search the web for reviews, check the BBB and ask for references.  Or just go to onesimplemove.com where we’ve done the work for you and you can find some of the best movers in your area.

The real question is how can you tell a moving broker from a moving company.  Unfortunately it’s not that easy but I do have a couple of tips to help you if you’re looking at a website and trying to find out if the company is strictly a broker.

1. Does the company appear faceless?  In other words, are there any pictures of employees, the office, their trucks or anything else that “personalizes” the company?  And I don’t mean stock photos of moving trucks or employees.  Seeing real pictures makes it very likely it is not a broker.

2. Is the company an agent of a major van line?  If you see any signs on the site that the company is an agent of United, Atlas, Allied, National, Global, Mayflower, North American, Paul Arpin, Bekins, Stevens, Joyce or any of the other major lines that I happen to be leaving out here it’s likely that it is not just a broker.

3. Does the company provide you with a history of the business?  For example: when it was founded, if it’s a family business, how it started etc.  If there’s any type of history provided it’s most likely not a broker.

4. Do they have a physical address listed on their website?  This is not a for sure but most moving companies will list a physical address and most brokers will not.

Determining whether the company is a broker or not by reviewing the website is not an exact science but by looking at these elements you can usually get a good idea.  And in most cases you can determine if it definitely is a moving company.

One last thing to remember is that many movers will still have to broker some moves but it doesn’t mean that they are strictly brokers.  They still have trucks, workers and experience with their own moving company and have more knowledge about the industry than a strict broker will.  And if a moving company has to broker your move they are still a better bet than a strict broker. The ideal situation, however, is using a mover that will complete the entire move by themselves, with their workers and their trucks.

For all interstate moves the movers are required to provide you with what is called “Released Value Protection” at no extra cost to you.  This is very minimal coverage and the moving company is only liable for $.60 per pound for every item.  So for example if they break a 25 pound TV they pay you $15.  Not very reassuring but it’s free and it’s better than nothing, but just barely.

For intrastate moves it varies state to state with many states also offering some sort of minimal protection similar to the $.60 per pound coverage offered for interstate moves.  If the moving company has not said anything about this coverage you should definitely inquire about it and review the contract closely.  It should mention this minimal coverage somewhere in the contract.  Again, not that this coverage offers a tremendous amount of protection but gives the movers some incentive not to thrash your stuff.

In many cases the moving company will offer you additional insurance for additional cost.  They usually want to offer this because they can make a little extra money on it even though the insurance may be provided by a third party insurance company.  The amount you’ll pay for this will depend on a deductible amount (typically either $0, $250 or $500) and the total value assigned to your belongings.  It can cost a few hundred extra bucks for this coverage but does provide you with some assurance.  With this insurance coverage the mover must either: repair the item; replace with a similar item or make a cash settlement for the cost of the repair or the current market replacement value of the item.

One more thing to consider is that if you pack your own boxes, it may be more difficult to make a claim against the moving company for any breakage that occurs in those boxes, regardless of how well you feel you packed them. In fact many movers will flat out say, we will not cover any boxes you packed.  Some, however, will say if the outside of the box is damaged they’ll cover it, if the box is still in tact, they won’t.

Even though you’d like to think that your belongings are safe, accidents do happen and it’s good to know what happens when they do.  This is just one more reason to pick a moving company with a big name, they have more incentive to be careful with your belongings because they want to keep their name clean.  If you picked your moving company blindly and because they were the cheapest they just might not care as much.
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Written by the One Simple Move Team

By looking at the cube sheet you can easily see which items have the greatest affect your total weight.   Items given a high number of cubic feet per piece are determined to be the heaviest, even if these items are not as large or heavy as indicated by the cube sheet.

Typically on an interstate move, if you are given a binding estimate, the actual weight will not affect your price because the estimated weight will be used to determine your price estimate.  If, on the other hand, you are given a non-binding estimate then the actual weight will be used to determine your final price, regardless of the estimate.  Although intrastate moves don’t necessarily follow this pattern and are governed by a state’s regulations they will still depend on the weight to estimate and determine final cost.

Either way, you can see that getting rid of certain items can drastically cut weight and save money.  If you have a bed, couch, refrigerator, freezer or other large appliance or piece of furniture that you’ve been thinking about replacing, now is the time to do it considering how much you’ll pay to move them.  This is especially true when you’re moving across country or very long distances and the cost to transport large items long distances can be several hundred dollars.

Another consideration, especially when given a non-binding estimate, are those heavy items that aren’t indicated as such on the cube sheet.  Items like boxes of books, china or anything else that is small and heavy really add up.  If you really need or want to keep them you might want to take these items with you in your car if you’re driving because it will save you money.

I’m not suggesting that you just throw these items out, but by being creative you can replace them with new items for very little out of pocket expense.  As discussed in an article from Joshua Zerkel about what to do with your unwanted stuff there are several options when trying to dispose of these items.

I highly recommend trying to sell them using a free online classifieds service like Craigslist where you can likely get a little cash.  If that isn’t an option consider donating them to a local charity and use the donation as a write-off on your taxes.   Finally, if your stuff is in bad shape, post them in classifieds as a free item (or leave them on the curb if this is an option in your area) and you’ll surely find takers.

Finally it’s important to remember that the amount you pay per pound to transport your goods varies greatly and depends on whether the move is interstate or intrastate and the overall distance of your move.  Using California as an example it can cost anywhere from $.30 to over a $1.00 per pound to transport your household goods.  Even with an average of $.40 per pound and figuring a queen sized bed that weighs 560 pounds it can cost you about $224 to move it, and that’s just within the state.

So to save money it makes sense to take a really close look at what you’re moving (and how much it weighs) and make decisions on those items before you move.  A little time spent doing this now can really pay off in the long run.

You meet the driver at the closest scale to your home and follow them back to the scale after pick up. You will have a certified weight ticket; you will then know the exact pounds.
Standard movers will be perfectly willing to accommodate you.

Is your “estimated” cost significantly lower than other estimates from major moving companies?
Your costs between movers should not vary that much, if you have an “estimated” cost that is too good to be true – it is too good to be true. The normal method of operation of these “Movers” is to quote very low, sound very nice and professional, then you will be informed on the day of pick up that you have a significant amount more than you reported and the cost will go up – usually about 2-3 times the original estimate.
By following the above guidelines you should be able to avoid “rogue movers”.

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We’ll have more helpful information on scam and rogue movers from Jay Clithero of Sterling Van Lines throughout the summer – subscribe to our RSS feed to stay up-to-date!

Did the “Mover” give you a guaranteed price?
If the mover guaranteed a price for cubic feet*, now you must know how to determine cubic feet, very few people know this or take the time to do it. You are thus under the complete mercy of the “Mover” and you could be taken advantage of. This should not be debated after the “Mover” picks up your things. If they are criminal, it is too late. The best rule if you are quoted in this fashion is to find another mover. If you really want to keep working with that mover there are a couple of ways to solve this:

1. If you have a decent size move, say, more than 2 bedrooms, have the mover come out and give you an estimate. If they won’t, have another mover who may be closer to you come out and see your things and give you an estimate. You want to know how many cubic feet and how many pounds the mover saw. That mover should be able to fix a price for you and the “Mover” who would not come out may be able to fix a price now. The point is, now you have data that you can share with other movers to get a quote.
2. If you have a smaller move, will the “mover” allow you to list your items and guarantee the price to move those items, in writing?

*Cubic Feet: Length X width X height, example: 2’ X 3’ X 4’ = 24 cubic feet. In inches the equation is: 24” X 15” X 30” = 10,800 cubic inches. To convert to feet do this: 10,800 ÷ 1728 = 6.25 cubic feet.

All movers want to know your cubic feet so they can convert it into pounds. The equation is generally 7 pounds per cubic foot so in the above example 24 cubic feet would convert to 24 X 7 = 168 pounds. 6.25 cubic feet would convert to 6.25 X 7 = 43.75 pounds.

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We’ll have more helpful information on scam and rogue movers from Jay Clithero of Sterling Van Lines throughout the summer – subscribe to our RSS feed to stay up-to-date!

Definition of a Tariff
List of charges for moving services published and filed with the surface transportation board (DOT).
(This definition is gleaned from existing data and experience in the moving industry.)

The American Heritage Dictionary defines tariff as:
“n. 1) A list or system of duties imposed by a government on imported or exported goods. 2) Any schedule of prices or fees.”

In order for a mover to get his authority to move, he must first file a tariff and it must be approved. Most U.S. movers used to use the tariff called the 400N. This is because it is a monumental task to formulate all the possible charges for all the possible moving services in all the possible cities of the U.S. Nowadays the movers are using a version of that or have made their own since 2008 saw the de-regulation of this tariff. The mover should be able to state what tariff he uses and the tariff must be published and available to the public for inspection.
It is almost unheard of for standard movers to quote customers by cubic feet. Movers who have been around a long time sometimes quote customers by the pound. This practice is dying out and you will usually get a quote that is based on a rate. The rate is based on mileage to your destination and the estimated number of pounds in your shipment. The mover will give you a discount off of the rate. No one will charge you 100% of the rate. The discount is driven up by competition. The older movers were used to giving a price per pound – this is done by simple division and is still based on the rate in the tariff.

Can the Mover tell you what tariff he is quoting from?
If not, you should run screaming into the night!

Continue to Part 2: Detecting Rogue / Scam Movers – Part 2

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We’ll have more helpful information on scam and rogue movers from Jay Clithero of Sterling Van Lines throughout the summer – subscribe to our RSS feed to stay up-to-date!