Advice needed ASAP for professional moving companies!

HI!!

As some of you may know, a company has been wooing me to come work for them and I've accepted their offer! I"ll be starting my new job June 2nd and don't have a lot of time to get ready for the move! My last day of work will be May 21st and my goal is to move the last week of May.

Now my challenge is to find a good professional moving company and i'm getting real frustrated. I went to BBB to get ratings and the ones I considered were rated B- which meant above average.

Any of you have had personal experience with OR know of professional moving companies and if so, can you recommend to me ASAP??

Thanks!

All I can say is make sure you get ALL charges stated up front, and find out who does the long distance work. Do they drive it themselves, or do they hire out to a secondary company. If they're using a full length trailer, find out if it'll fit where you're going... and if not, what options do they offer for offloading your stuff. Mine hit me with an exorbitant u-haul charge because the boys (they didn't act old enough to be driving that thing) couldn't/wouldn't drive the rig closer to my building. Jerks. Not to mention I still have a missing box which I'll never see again. All of this was due to the twits from the long haul company, not the initial company I had a contract with. These boys didn't care.

If i can find my paperwork, I'll PM you with the name of the contracted company. Thy certainly took advantage of my being female and rather PO'ed at them already for being late... as in two days late.

Get every little detail in writing, especially numbers. Don't get too buddy-buddy with the guys... they'll know you're not paying attention. they placed a 'this side up' box upside down... it had my old sewing machine in it.

Anyway... I know better for next time... if you think the detail is too small, it isn't. Ask. Make sure.

I know that all sounds a bit negative, but bad moving experiences stick with you...

Amanda

Ask a LOT of questions. We had movers move us in November. I told them that I needed my kitchen packed. I was expecting them around 10am. I got a call saying that they were "en route". Well, apparently that meant that they were on the road, in KENTUCKY (I lived in Macon, GA). They showed up at 9pm. I was beyond upset. I had to drive all the way to Norfolk, VA the next day. So anyway, they didn't get finished packing all of my stuff until 6am the next morning. I went and got a hotel room for 3 hours and slept then drove all the way to VA. They showed up the next day to deliver and wouldn't unload our stuff until I gave them a money order. My husband's work was paying for the move. They had given them a credit card!! But aparently they needed the money up front, so I had to take the 1500 out of my own bank account and get reiumbursed. I was SO MAD.... So just be careful.

Be careful when we moved here we were cheated and some stuff was missing. Also alot of my Crystals and Vases broke. They were late 1 hour at our other place. Then they kept drinking all my Bottled Water. When they got here they complained it was Hot. Then they charged 500 extra. I hope you find a good Mover.

I have to say that my experience with moving companies has been negative, too. In Texas (at least the last time I used one), the state even provides nasty little loopholes that allow moving companies to essentially add any charge they want AFTER they've loaded the truck -- and if you don't pay, they keep your stuff and charge you for storage! It's a blatant scam.

I've also seen individual people on the moving crew who work all sorts of side scams on people, and my parents and I have had things stolen during moves as well. My impression is that there's just a whole lot of corruption in the moving industry.

So be very careful, question everything, watch what you sign, move anything fragile yourself if you possibly can, and don't let the movers leave until you've checked on all your valuables.

I'm sorry it's such a bad report! But maybe you'll get lucky.

I've been moved twice. The first time I got a referral from the HR department who often gets involved in relocations. The second time I got a referral from our real estate agent, who hears the good and bad stories of moving.

Don't know the companies that are located out east. You might want to call HR of your new company and ask for a referral. If they wooed you, they will want to help you.