Information on Movers

[Job's3dAnswer]

DW Fiddlekat & I just signed a P&S for our home in TN. We've decided on a mover, but have no information on them at all. They say they have an "Unblemished 10 year record", and are members of the BBB. However, the BBB claims not to have any info on them They also claim to have moved 10,000 families since 1993. DW & I just want to make sure these folks are reputable. They also claim to be "Christian Owned and Operated".

Their name is "A-1 Affordable Movers" from Alvarado, Texas. The website is www.a1affordablemovers.com . I emailed the BBB for help, but haven't received anything yet.

Any ideas or comments? All are welcome.

Steve

[Barb]

I don't know anything about those movers but I have a question for you to ask them. Ask if they are going to load someone else's things onto the same truck. We were told by the companies we talked to that they almost never run just one household. Our thought was what if the other people have cockroaches or fleas then we would be infested with them also. Ask also what kind of written guarantee you get of your things being delivered on time. We ended up moving ourselves and that wasn't a picnic either but at least it was cheaper.

[james dilley]

Barbs thoughts are on track, You need to watch which Bedbugger hauls your household, Ask for at least 10 references and don't be afraid to check them and get rates from more that one Bedbugger ,And do consider movers insurance and a garenteed time for del. as some use roach infested warehouses to let your stuff set, Heres an Idea check with P O D S they bring a container to your house give you time to get it loaded and they deliver it set it down and you unload it , that may be the ticket.

[EasyDay]

We're considering a moving co. too. So I am anxious to hear responses.

Have heard about scams where they take off with your stuff... never to be seen again.

I would LOVE the POD thing! What a great idea someone had! But, we checked and they don't go to Arkansas, yet. In fact, they asked DH if he knew anyone who would want that area?

Please keep the responses coming for Job AND me.

[DAVID In Wisconsin]

The BBB is generally not a good source to check out a business. They are totally slanted to the businesses which support them. I've had dealings with them and was surprised when their procedures were explained to me. In my opinion, the BBB is a joke.

[mulliganbush]

I don't know--one of the names on their guest book also filed a rip-off report. Either or both could be bogus.

Why use a Texas outfit?

Ray

[james dilley]

You also need to inquire about pest proofing the load/Fumigatetion. to get rid of any pests that might get into your shipment.Check with some other movers also to find out who will be best for you. Plz double check references on the Bedbugger you use. And plz note what bedbugger is refering to as we have a influx of them after almost total eradication a decade plus ago. so mothball all you clothing, befor you ship. tou might be better off finding a Owner Operator and post a note in a fuel and pay for a backhaul for the driver.

[Ruby]

Be very careful of the movers. There is a scam going where they take your stuff and hold it hostage in an unknown place until you come up with more money.

I was listening to a talk show on the radio with a trouble shooter who would try to salve problems of people who called in. There was this one guy who called in because his mother was moving from Ca. to some other state. They were over a week late and the movers could not "find" the woman's funiture.
Not sure but that name rings a bell.

[TimandPatti]

If in doubt......
I would be VERY careful. If they claim to be a memeber of the BBB, there should be info on them. Also make sure anyone you use is bonded and insured!!
I have been involved in an ongoing problem with a Fence Company here. They were a member of the BBB but I found out recently they go by several names. Now our fence isn't complete and they have disconnected the phones. I thought I checked them out enough, I was wrong.

[Cosmic]

I used MoveAmerica on the recent move from Ma to Oh.

http://www.moveamerica.com/

Was cheap and more important I could move a lot of weight. I probaby had ten tons or better as I mostly moved my shop, tools and heavy stuff of value. Did the move door to door. Really must super plan how to get the stuff on and off. I packed that sucker tigher than sardines. Wanted to use POD's but they didn't have enough weight capacity and wouldn't go door to door.

It works but they are poor at coordination and try to set you in some regards. Basically you must overpay them a small amount. You cannot owe any money at time of delivery or the trailer will not show up and you must be in a position to wire money quickly. Can be very tricky. It is a commercial standard 28 footer freight truck, you load and provide a plywood bulkhead that is secured with provided loading bars to separate your load from general commercial cargo that they will finish loading the trailer to cube it out.

Lots of phone calls to attempt to get firm dates. Lot of sweating to attempt to get it into Oh exactly on the required date. MoveAmerica don't have a clue about the trucking business, truck was in Pa and ready in 1-1/2 days and MoveAmerica had me giving them 5 days. I had to wait in Boston for a nephew to fly in a drive one of my vehicles to Oh. Still worked, but you better be on top of the planning game. I totally planned it out, including providing two wheelbarrows and dollies to load / unload plus being able to build a ramp system on both ends. Need your comm and bank stuff to really be totally together. Need to be able to communicate, give them a phone number at both ends and have lots of money to throw at any gitch.

Beware of movers in general. Lot of Identity Theft going around, probably based of maverick employees of these companies. You are in a prime condition to be had by many, many scams. You are in extreme poor condition for several months to detect you have been had. Same for a number of these storage companies.

In this deal you are basically dealing with a standard freight trucking company. Once I had an invoice and knew who to call, I said screw MoveAmerica as they are trying to run a company out of their kitchen and using their kids with voice mail and are totally screwed up to make it work. I called the freight company dispatchers direct and finally got my trailer on site on the desired day. Lot of calls to make a simple trucking move. Lot of telling people the same information over and over again.

Basically moved all my junk for a little over $1000 something like 780 miles, nothing else was even remotely close. Plus I had enough time at both ends to pretty much do the load / unload myself.

[sapphira]

Wheaton Van lines is a reputable mover. They have been in business since my father was a boy and I am 58. We just used Ellis moving (Wheaton) in Nashville to move my mother in law here and they were better than excellent. You can use a wheaton 800 # and they will direct you to the most sensible mover near you and give you a choice. Sapphira

[Job's3dAnswer]

Thank you for so many responses!! I'll try to answer all your questions, but bear with me if I forget one. They did offer to give us a $350 +/- discount if we wanted to move on August 1st, sincew they had someone from the area moving then. And yes we would be splitting the truck. Lucky for us, we won't be moving until the end of August, around the 24th, so we'll have the entire truck.

I did check into PODS. For renting 2 8x8x16 PODS from MA to TN would cost $3,722; with $3,000 being for mileage. For 3 PODS, the cost went up to $4,600.

They also have a page on their site promoting Moving Insurance, which I'll check out further tomorrow.

Why a mover from Texas? Good question. I did a search on Yahoo, I think, and these folks came up with lots of others. After narrowing it down, I did another search of movers in MA. Everyone of them quoted us between $4,000 and $5,000. My FIL lives across the street from Daley & Wanzer in Hull. He has for 40 years. Their standard rate is $300/hour.

The best price for do-it-yourself was from Uhaul. With a 28 foot truck,a car dolly, and a 5 day time limit, the price was about $2,400. This was very tempting to do, but having done it before, we'd rather have someone else do it. This is actually our 4th move in 8 years. Hopefully this will be the last for a while.

Thanks again!
Steve

Sorry! Quote from Daley & Wanzer was $160/hour, not $300. Oops!

[goatlady]

I am moving cross country in less than 2 weeks. I contracted with NorthAmerican Van Lines and got a written guarenteed not to exceed price. They will pack, load, deliver, and unload at that set price. My brother used them to move from Fla. to TN as was very pleased, I'm going from SD to Arkansas. I get a truck to myself, but I've got literally tons of stuff including an extra kitchen sink!

[perennial]

We just moved from Massachusetts to SW Virginia. We used United Vanlines and LOVED them. I packed everything myself to save money. They came to pick up when they were supposed to, were curtious, nice and very professional. They delivered the same way. Nothing was scratched, dented or broken - except for one beer glass and a handle off a mug (which i packed).

Hubby did pack his stereo stuff himself and made a special box for his speakers. We did everything we could to have our stuff packed appropriately. They came, backed the truck up to the front door, rolled out their ramp, put mats down on wood floors and unassembled furniture and put it in truck - even our finest furniture was perfect. The same for when they arrived and they were very helpful because our rental while we build is tiny and they professionally stacked the 10 foot high shed for us and really aimed to please and helped us fit and 8 room house into four rooms. They were so good that we will be calling the local united guys the driver used to come and move us into our new house when it's time.

A sales man came out to our old home and assessed what we had and came up with an approximate weight, we got rid of tons of stuff. They added 10% padding to what they thought weight was. They gave us a quote'

There was more weight than they expected because the company nor hubby knew how much stoneware, cookbooks and baking supplies in the cellar - I wasn't about to tell anyone that!

We paid $6,000.00 that was with two kayaks, an 8 room house, cellar, shed, and all yard equipment, workout bike, weight bench, and loads of books. Also, included in that figure, we had to pay 850.00 because we had an extremely narrow driveway with a big turn in it and they couldn't go over neighbors lawn. Otherwise, it would have been 5,100.00 That price also included mix. taxes, charges.

We chose not to get extra insurance because i called our homeowners and i was insured 30 days from date of move - for anything that broke and we had a replacement value policy so that was a nobrainer.

I can't say enough good things about those people/company.

Any questions, let me know.

[perennial]

Yes, they do put more than one person's stuff in a truck, they wall it off from
ceiling to floor. As for bugs, there is never a gurantee, we didn't have a problem. Weather you move into a rental or a home just bought, there is never a gurantee that there isn't bugs there either.

I found that not worrying about things like that helped me sleep better during the process.

I would recommend going with a big name company because their agents who serve you represent hte big name and if they don't do their job, they are then not agents for that big company. A small company can be anyone.

I went online and found the united mover that was closest to us which happen to be the next town over.

We had considered doing it ourselves, but we had too much stuff and the drive from MA - 81 to 84 can get quite nasty especially if you have never driven a 25' truck. Our stuff wouldn't have fit in a 25' truck.

Sometimes it worth paying, cursing under your breath, having a stiff drink and let someone else worry about packing a truck and delivering it that distance.

I packed 189 boxes and i'll tell you neither my hubby or i was in a proper state to then pack heavy furniture into a truck and hope it would fit. Also
what's an injured back worth?

If you want the route that we drove, PM me it was great!

[Job's3dAnswer]

Turns out DW was having second thoughts about the movers as well, so we made a list & her Dad went over to visit the Fleck Brothers at Daley & Wanzer. He's certain to get a fair deal, since he's known their Parents and Grandparents. We also contacted Wheaton for a quote as well. I also double checked Uhaul this morning. Their biggest truck is 24 feet, & with the car carrier for 5 days was $2,000.
As son as we hear from Daley & Wanzer, and Wheaton, i'll email the other folks in Texas, and ask the questions they might not want to get.

Thanks again to everyone!
Steve

[Snowdancer]

Have you checked with Ryder trucks?-we had a 28' one when we moved to TN.

[Old Jack]

Why not do a do it your self "pods"?
When I moved I bought a 40 foot cargo container (40X8X8) for $1200.00

Loaded everything myself
Paid a friend with a crane to set it on a truck ----$200.00
the truck carried the container 3000 miles to the new place --$2985.00
Hired a local crane to off load and place (I had gotten here before the container and put some RR ties in place for a foundation)----$550.00

The cheapest mover I talked to was 8k
U-Haul would have been 2 trips cross country @$3400.00 +gas

with the container, I can offload at my own pace, and I gained another building
that will eventually be a wood kiln or what ever.

[Grizz]

ABF Trucking has a service they drop a pup trailer (28 ft trailer) And deliver it !! Others might do it to!
I also like Ol jacks idea!

[FiddleKat]

Just out of curiosity....can you put windows and doors into one of those containers once you have it on a "foundation." Not that I'm thinking of turning it into a house. But something like that might work out as a small barn for goats, sheep and other small livestock. Or a workshop or something.
That is a good idea!