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

[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.