How to Hire Full Service Movers? Best Tips
Hiring professional movers will rid you off a great burden that you might encounter with your future move. Hiring full service movers, doesn’t mean anyone, it means someone who knows what they are doing, with experience, years on the market, great background and references, nice reviews, many referrals etc. In order for you to find full service movers that check everything on your list, a lot of stars need to align!
Don’t give up if your first encounter with a moving company is a not too great experience. Maybe you just called the wrong provider, you didn’t do your research properly, or you just faced one of many who ONLY want to profit, and their main goal is not helping people.
Again, don’t give up, because there are so many different options on the market, and If you are looking for professionals only, you might need to hear about a few guidelines that will lead you in the right direction.
Research before reaching out is the most important step on the way. It is simple, if you do your research properly, you won’t reach out to a company that has bad reviews, no license, no references and is shady. These should be the red flags, and when on sight, you should turn your head the other way.
Also, all of you should be aware that professionals won’t be affordable movers, not as affordable as some second class moving companies without a clear background and permanent clients, returning consumers.
Research Full Service Movers
Let’s see what this research is and what those sides of the company should be researched before anyone hires them. The better you get to know their modus operandi, the more aware you will be of the realistic expectations and their line and way of work.
Research should be thorough, especially if you are looking for a white glove moving company that will provide you with full service, and if you don’t plan to save any money on this project as long as the quality is remaining on the level.
This “investigation” should include:
- Their license check
- Insurance policy
- Online reviews
- Asking around for references
- Reaching out
License Check The Companies
Noone wants uncertified moving companies entering their premises handling their personal belongings and most private items. That is why it is not that strange to ask them about their license.
Your first reaction should be the best sign. If they have the answer on the top of their finger, they should check out. But, If they start taking the subject elsewhere, sideways, talking about similar, but different things, in that case you should insist and ask for their papers and license numbers. If you wanted uncertified movers, you could’ve gone in front of Walmart and asked someone to help you out as a daily laborer.
Makes sense, doesn’t it?
For people that are prepared to create a special budget for this moving project, choosing a company with a license that is straight-forward, should be of the greatest interest.
Check Your Full Service Movers’ Insurance Policy
If your movers check out to be licensed, then the following step is asking about their insurance. They said and sell themselves as professionals- then some insurance should be included in the hourly/ flat fee that they provide.
The question for you is, how important is it that they have insurance?
It, of course, depends on the value, emotional and dollar value, of your belongings. It is up to you if you will accept to have a move with furniture movers that don’t offer any insurance package, free or additional available for purchase.
Check their Online Reviews
Well, the first place that you will visit when you start searching for your local movers will be in the virtual world, online, where nowadays everything is available and easy to access.
While making the “call” list of moving companies, you should also focus on their Google reviews. It can be of help if you write down their rating next to their name and the phone number. This way you will know when you start dialing: “ Hey, these are the ones with great reviews and five star ratings.”
Or: “These are the ones that have a medium rating but they were referred to me from my neighbor. “
By the way the conversation with their agent flows, you will feel if you want to give the advantage to customer service, ratings, affordable price or to something else.
Ask Around for Full Service Movers Recommendations
Every reliable movers should check out on every level. If you find someone who meets your criteria, but you want to hear about someone’s past experience with them, try to find someone who moved with them and ask them about the service, customer service, their availability and responsiveness during the whole project.
It is good to know that, even if something goes wrong, and in the moving industry things go wrong quite often, that you will have someone to turn to for help.
Reaching Out to Full Service Movers
Now that you have your list of favorites, their reviews and ratings, references or no references, you can start calling, and finally making your decision.
It won’t be an easy task, but it is better to spend more time in this segment then later during the ongoing project.
How and When to Hire Full Service Movers
Like in every other industry, if you are looking for top notch movers, residential movers that provide a professional service, you will need to get in the line.
Availability calendar in those companies won’t be as empty as in other, less popular. Nowadays, almost everyone chooses quality service and greater expense, over mediocre service with lower budget expense. That’s why popular moving companies that check out won’t always be available for your moving date.
When Should You Reserve Your Move?
Don’t wait until the last minute!
Especially because of the reasons mentioned right above, your call to action should happen in the early stages of your moving project, if not right after you find out that you will need to move out of your current place.
This way, you will almost certainly get the best service for your preferred date. You won’t need to make your schedule flexible if they are not available.
All of this can be avoided only if you start thinking about it in time, and secure your spot with your packers and movers in a timely manner.
Are You on a Tight Budget?
If you stretched your budget in order to secure professional full service movers, and you don’t have that much more wiggle room left, then you should consider making this easier on your budget.
How?
- Declutter
- Pack before the move
- Disassemble the furniture
- Think about the traffic
- Be careful with the date
Decluttering
This should be done before the packing happens, as a first step before the packing starts. Decluttiring will help you to orientate and see how much stuff you actually have, how many boxes for packing you will need. You will find things that you don’t need anymore, and that are as good as trash. When this happens, you should throw away everything that can’t fit into your new home, or you can’t think of a place where it could fit nicely.
Throwing away unnecessary things will cut the space that you occupy on the truck. Less space taken means less work done- equals less hours and less money spent on movers.
Packing before the move
When hiring movers, consumers usually have two options:
- Self packing, but hiring movers for the rest of the things
- Full service movers, they are doing everything for you.
Since saving the money is in question here, the first option will be the one to be discussed more thoroughly.
Self pack means that you will pack all of your personal belongings into boxes. Everything that fits into a box, needs to be in the box: books, decor, dishes, cookware, clothes, shoes, linen, pillows etc.
This way, when movers arrive, they won’t have to deal with any packing, they won’t waste too much time on that. If everything is prepared, they will simply disassemble the furniture and start loading the truck.
This option is way more affordable then the full service. Full service movers will do everything for you including packing. Almost zero stress and engagement in labor, but it comes with a price tag!
Disassemble the furniture
In moving, when you hire a company that charges by the hour, and almost all local movers charge per hour, time is money. That’s why a lot of people decide to disassemble big pieces of furniture on their own, a day before, or ight before the moving team arrives. Instead of spending 2 hours on breaking down the furniture, depending on the size of the move, they can start loading the truck immediately.
Again, less time spent on loading, less money going out from your wallet.
Consider traffic
Traffic conditions can sometimes turn a nice move into a horrible nightmare, and it won’t be your movers’ fault. They are not the ones that put all those vehicles on the streets. That is why you have to be careful with the timing. Suggestion is to always choose a morning moving start over the afternoon one, especially in the cities.
Early start also means that you have the first crew of the day, and that they are not coming from some other moving project, which means that they’re rested and ready to tackle your project from the early morning!
The date of the move
You will be happy to find out that even the most expensive movers have discounted days of the week, those days that are not as popular as weekends. On those dates, if you call at least a few weeks in advance, you can get lucky and get a discount, or a decent hourly rate.
If you have any flexibility to move in the middle of the week, then you can have one of the most popular and professional moving companies with a really good deal.
Day of the week is equally important as the date of the month. If the end of the month falls on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, don’t expect it to be cheap only because it’s the middle of the week. Moving companies are the busiest at the end of the month and in the very beginning of the following.
So, be careful and talk to your designated relocation specialist. You will find useful advice, or more of them.
So, Are You Ready to Hire Full Service Movers?
It is interesting how some flexibility can turn a very expensive moving project into an affordable endeavor.
For example, you want a professional moving company, full service movers with the greatest customer service, but you are flexible in some way, and if you pack on your own, prepare for the move properly, choose the date and the day of the move carefully, think about the timing, you can have it all! Professional service that will cost no more than the mediocre one.
The biggest exclamation mark related to moving companies should be the one that is at the end of the sentence related to customer service and responsiveness! Reach out to us and find out why we are at the top of the list for everyone that cares about expertise, quality and perfect planning, accompanied by affordable prices and support through each step of the project!