Moving Company Recommendations

[vanguardist]

Since we have a newborn and have a bit of money saved up, we are considering, in the event we move to NH, hiring a moving company. We will be getting rid of a lot of old furniture that we've had for 10+ years (since our college days) so other than a couple of bookcases and a bedroom set (heavy, nice and new), the rest would be ordinary stuff from a 2br apartment. It should not be too expensive.

I have heard both nightmare stories and excellent stories by using one of the national companies through a local agent. The national company provides trucks (supposedly) and other resources while the labor and other details are handled locally. Oh the other hand, there are always a variety of local, independent companies to choose from. Some of these even have their own trucks and preferred staff.

I would not mind paying a bit more to hire real professionals. Last time we moved some of our stuff got banged up and it was a shame, as we had saved months and months for new furniture.

I'd appreciate some comments on whether it's a good idea to call moving companies local to the place I want to move to. For example, if I am moving from central NY to Nashua, do I even consider calling someone in NH? I've heard about this from a couple of people but they need someone to take a look at how much stuff there is to move to give you an estimate.

Does anyone have experience with some of the major companies? What do I watch out for?

[Raineyrocks]

We had a moving nightmare moving from Florida to Maryland.   We were going to go with Mayflower first but then I found a cheaper place that promised us free boxes, lower price, etc., so we went with them.

We didn't know that much about "movers" because it was our first time using a company.  They packed up their truck then told us it would be something like $900 more because they didn't realize we had so much stuff.   We had way less in Florida than we did coming to NH from Maryland!   So anyways, Rick told them to go "fuck off", (sorry for the language, but that's exactly what he said), and they refused to take our stuff out of their truck.  They claimed since it was in their truck now they were in charge of it not us and we couldn't get it back until we paid.   

So anyways, some of our stuff got lost, a lot of it was broken, we lived without any of our things for 2-3 weeks in Maryland even after we paid the scumbags the $900.

Bottom line:   Watch the wording in the contract carefully and if we had to do it all over again we would've chosen Mayflower, in the long run it would have been cheaper and I've heard great things about them.

We moved ourselves in a Uhaul truck to New Hampshire.

[vanguardist]

We had a moving nightmare moving from Florida to Maryland.   We were going to go with Mayflower first but then I found a cheaper place that promised us free boxes, lower price, etc., so we went with them.

We didn't know that much about "movers" because it was our first time using a company.  They packed up their truck then told us it would be something like $900 more because they didn't realize we had so much stuff.   We had way less in Florida than we did coming to NH from Maryland!   So anyways, Rick told them to go "fuck off", (sorry for the language, but that's exactly what he said), and they refused to take our stuff out of their truck.  They claimed since it was in their truck now they were in charge of it not us and we couldn't get it back until we paid.   

So anyways, some of our stuff got lost, a lot of it was broken, we lived without any of our things for 2-3 weeks in Maryland even after we paid the scumbags the $900.

Bottom line:   Watch the wording in the contract carefully and if we had to do it all over again we would've chosen Mayflower, in the long run it would have been cheaper and I've heard great things about them.

We moved ourselves in a Uhaul truck to New Hampshire.

Terrible. And this is the stuff that I've read in moving forums, too. Lots of shady things going on. We might end up renting a truck after all and asking for help for the furniture. We did it after Katrina. I've read that Ryder trucks are newer and nicer than uhaul's.

[MengerFan]

I have twice used this place out of Jessup, MD called The Moving Company. Everyone I dealt with from that place were as friendly, trustworthy, and ethical as you could hope for. The packing was protective to the point of being ridiculous, even though I didn't have anything nice or in need of protection - wrapped in multiple blankets and tape and so forth. They kept the stuff in storage for me while I stayed with my grandmother. I think it was like two months free and then a reasonable charge after that. When they delivered, not only did they not try to charge me more than contracted, but they didn't have me pay until everything was unloaded. That was incredibly refreshing after reading so many horror stories.

I don't think they operate in the northeast, but they may be able to give you a referral if you call them up.

[Mike Barskey]

In the highly unlikely case that you are considering North American Movers, I suggest that you don't!

[Friday]

I used a company called ShipSmart to ship some of my stuff from CA to NH.  It's an option mid-way between paying full-service movers, and doing it yourself.  They pick up your stuff at one end, bundle it into pallets, ship it, and dump the pallets on your doorstep at the other end.  I do emphasize doorstep, as in outside.  They charge extra if you want them to enter a building and walk up and down any stairs, so I (with the help of other Porcupines on the NH end) handled that part myself.  Fortunately, it was sunny at each end of my delivery. 

They wound up charging me more than I had expected, taking longer to ship than I had expected, and I had no control over which day my stuff was delivered to my doorstep.  It wound up being a weekday during PorcFest, which was not conducive to getting many people to help me unload.    All that said, it was cheaper than other options, nothing was lost or broken, and the employees were courteous.  So I guess I'd give them a lukewarm recommendation.