Moving Company Recommendations?

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

Anyone have moving company recommendations? We're moving a 1BR apartment's worth of stuff.

edit 9/21/2016: we went with gentle giant and it was amazing. They showed up on time, they were enthusiastic, the amount of time was under the initial estimate. There was a gps glitch that increased their drive time, and they told me about it and took the cost off the bill. Moving sucks but this was seriously the most painless move I've ever done.

Comments

[rose_garden.livejournal.com]

I looked into pony express and raimond's movers, but my move hasn't happened yet. I started with unpakt then booked directly with the moving company.

Safe Responsible Movers

[mwsound.livejournal.com]

Just used Safe Responsible Movers - http://www.saferesponsiblemovers.com/. They were fantastic. Everything their name includes! HA. They gave me a 15% discount for moving on an off day which was great for me. I also used BoxSave - https://www.boxsave.com/ which was fantastic. Made the move 1000% easier. Highly recommend both!

Re: Safe Responsible Movers

[rose_garden.livejournal.com]

Huh, Raimond's movers have a surcharge for moving on an on-day. But it's pretty much the same thing, isn't it.

I was able to negotiate a better rate with them because I saw their rate on unpakt, so I'm basically avoiding the surcharge.

[veek.livejournal.com]

I can highly recommend both Raimond's and Stairhoppers from personal experience.

Barnes Brothers all the way!

[courtney (from livejournal.com)]

I use Barnes Brothers movers out of Cambridge: 617-480-5331 or Max@BarnesBrothersMoving.Com. Please tell them Courtney sent you if you decide to use them.

[kelkyag]

Gentle Giant has done well by me.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

Their quote seemed high. Either I mis-estimated the amount of stuff in the inventory or ... I dunno.

[shadow.livejournal.com]

They're on the more expensive end of the range for full-house moves, so I'm not surprised their quote is high. That said, they treat both their workers and your stuff in an exemplary way. I've used them several times and I plan to use them again next time I move.

[kelkyag]

They are not cheap; they are good. They've moved my one-bedroom-apartment's worth of stuff (lots of boxes, moderate furniture) down two flights of stairs and across town in under their minimum booking window on a hot sticky day.

Their prices do (or at least did) vary with time-of-the-month -- September 1st is the worst day.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

I've got requests for quote in on nearly everyone here, so we'll see how much higher they are than the rest. Thanks!

[zenala.livejournal.com]

I've never regretted paying the extra. I've used Gentle Giant for 4 out of 7 moves in the past 20 years, and of the 3 where they *weren't* hired, I've only had one positive experience, but all of the Gentle Giant experiences were good. 2 of the 3 times I didn't hire them, I had movers not want to move things all the way (including trying to leave an upright piano in the middle of a room when I was 8 months pregnant) as well as breaking and scratching antique furniture. The relevant saying is "penny-wise and pound-foolish"...

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

Yep. I have tried less expensive movers; never again. Gentle Giant is AWESOME.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

Now that I've tried them.... YES.

Gentle giant all the way. It wasn't even much more since they were both more efficient and more hustle-ey and really didn't take long.

I hope never to move again, but if I do, I know who to call.

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

Beware of companies lowballing the quotes; when they're done, the workers will give you a much, much higher number and then shrug and say that it's not their fault the guy in the office always does that.

[zenala.livejournal.com]

Or worse, they'll break your stuff. I have a big crack on an antique cupboard door from one of the few moves I've done with not-GG movers...

[jducoeur]

I've used them several times, and they've been fabulous: punctual, startlingly efficient, and almost ridiculously careful with my stuff. (Far moreso than I would be if I was moving it myself.) Zero complaints from me.

They're basically the gold-plated option: the best movers at the highest price. Consider them a benchmark -- you should *never* pay more than them, and if somebody else is anywhere close to their price, probably go with GG instead.

Also, note that they *strongly* favor the estimate-high side. As far as I can tell, their estimates are built around the typical movee -- badly-organized and maybe not quite completely packed. I'm one of those people who is careful to make sure everything is in good boxes and labeled by the time the movers arrive, and as a result they've always come in considerably *below* the estimated price.

[unferth.livejournal.com]

If you go with them, ask about their minimums based on time of day. When I used them almost seven years ago, the morning time slot they first offered me had a four hour minimum. We were done in well under that, and I later learned that their afternoon time slots had a two hour minimum instead - I could have paid half as much by not taking their first proposed time.

[she-of-emeralds.livejournal.com]

I just had a major move with Gentle Giant. They were great!

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Spry Moving is our pick!

[madrigal.livejournal.com]

We love Fabio movers. We used them last year and then two of our friends used him twice. All great reviews. He has one guy working for him that has biceps the size of tree trunks.

[pklemica]

I've had very pleasant experiences with Intelligent Labor and Moving.

[rozasharn.livejournal.com]

I think I used White House Movers (or possibly Whitehouse Movers) a few years ago. Good service, stuff undamaged, turned up on time, and they will visit your apartment in advance, if you want, to do a more accurate estimate of what size truck you need.

[pearlythebunny.livejournal.com]

We use Benny's last time we moved: http://www.bennysmoving.com/

What I remember most about them is that the movers were these lean and wiry types who carried everything in and out, up and down stairs. Nothing went on a dolly or cart. I remember at one point two men were standing in our driveway holding a refrigerator between them while carrying on a conversation with their boss about the precise location to place it. ("It's all in the grip," they said to me.) They made everything look so easy, and no walls were ever bumped even though our stairs are narrow and twisty.

[soong.livejournal.com]

I recently used X Movers (http://www.xmovers.us/) (I think they're based out of Allston). I just used them for a couple hours of labor to unload a shipping container in the driveway into the house, but that totally worked. Nice diligent guys.

[bettyw.livejournal.com]

We used Stairhoppers two years ago for a whole house move from Malden to Arlington. We thought the estimate was high, but they actually came in well under it. They did an excellent job, especially since our old front door was up 1.5 floors of stairs from the street.

One thing to be aware of: some companies charge you for the # of rolls of packing tape they use to secure drawers/doors/etc on items they are moving if you haven't done that yourself. They used the very inexpensive, thin kind, and a lot @ $4/roll. I suspect you can buy it in bulk for cheaper at Home Depot/Lowes.

[jwg.livejournal.com]

About 15 years ago I used Gentle Giant to move a bunch of stuff including a Grand Piano out of the house into storage while major house renovation was in progress and then move it back several months later. Every interaction with them (arranging, getting boxes, the two moves) was excellent. They were competent, friendly, and helpful. It was a great choice.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your tip- we went with GG and it was everything we could have asked for.

Moving Related Services

[robertlaurent26.livejournal.com]

Thanks for updating an information about Best Moving Company Toronto (http://www.augustamovers.ca/) is that by obtaining moving equipment to protect the furniture or to facilitate the moving process itself.