Moving Company Recommendations?

[Guest]

So in preps to load up and head west to Crossville, I find that one of the biggest challenges is becoming to find a reputable moving company that is not at the breathtaking heights of cost. I am coming from a 2600 sq ft house, going to a 2598 sq ft house (downsizing...), traveling 668 miles. I'll be renting a U-Haul for my "unmentionables", but we've decided that we're all about a professional move for the rest of the "stuff".

The first outfit quoted (wait for it).... Twenty Three THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!  I replied "We'll be in touch", another salesman moving coordinator led with; "How would you like your move to go, "just get my stuff there", "or a smooth, professional experience?", then continued with "What would it take to have you commit to our estimate today?" , to which I replied "Okay, we're done here, I'm not buying a damn used car from you."  He emailed that I should CHANGE MY ATTITUDE!!!! 

Last night, I found Colonial Van Lines, went through a one hour + estimate with "Tom", and that seemed much better, until later on when I was reading their reviews on the Better Business Bureau (yeah, they suck, pretty much). 

Okay, enough whining on my part, has anybody had a decent experience with a moving company that they would care to recommend? This will take me from Virginia to Tennessee, and not break or steal all my junk, nor put us in the poor house

(Sleepy Joe will take care of that soon enough, I'm sure)

OMC

[RED333]

44 minutes ago, OMCHamlin said:

The first outfit quoted (wait for it).... Twenty Three THOUSAND DOLLARS!

WOW, I moved into my present house 32 years ago. We moved from an apartment to this house, it took about six or seven pick up truck loads. The move was only maybe 5 miles. I swore then I would avoid a move again. I shutter at the thought of having to move what we have now. I have no idea or recommendation of a moving company to help you. But that price, wow, wow, wow.

[Guest]

I know, I swear, I don't know how we accumulated all this.... crap! But it's GOOD crap!

[peejman]

Professional movers are expensive. There's a reason why corporate relocations are their primary customers. 

[Aloha8]

Not sure what is the story in your neck of the woods but I recently moved a 1600 sq. ft. house from Myrtle Beach to storage units in Cleveland for $5K including packing and all. North American was the carrier and the service was perfect. Mine was 3/4 of a truck (I have, amazingly, cleaned out most of the accumulated stuff) and I did have to work with their schedule for delivery (which worked out just right for me). Of course, YMMV .

[bubbadavis]

It has been a little over 4 years ago, but I used https://alexanders.net/ when I moved from Nashville to Huntsville. It included packing and moving our 2500+ sq ft house into an apartment and ministorage. They packed the entire house in a day, loaded the next day, and unloaded the next. They didn't even break a plate. It was about $8k for the packing and moving. 

We just moved back to the Nashville area but my new company managed and paid for the move. I didn't see an invoice - and based on what you have quoted, I'm glad I didn't!

Good luck with the move. 

Oh, my wife and I moved our safes, etc. ourselves. There were some items a moving company won't (or shouldn't) move.

Edited August 19, 2021 by bubbadavis

[Protongunner]

I have used these guys 3 different times. Great experience all 3 times.
https://www.baronhoffsmoving.com/

[Eggplant]

I think you'll find that every moving company has their share of bad reviews out there. They can't all be horrible, I think it's just a matter of people only posting about negative experiences. I mean I don't really know anyone that goes online to talk about what a great experience they've had with movers. Even if they have, the cost of moving alone is enough to make someone feel like they've been "had." All that said, I've used Three Men and A Truck the few times I've moved and I've never had an issue with them. They'll give you a free estimate and they've got some decent discount programs that can knock some of the top of the price. 

[bobsguns]

My buddy used 3 Men & a Truck & liked them pretty good. No clue if they'll do long distance or not.

What I would do is what my brother did & use the PODS system. They park a container in your drive, you (or hired teens) load it until you're done. They come get it & park it in your new drive & give you something like 30 days to get it unloaded. This takes a LOT of pressure off the time crunch of loading & unloading, IMO. 

Moving sucks & it's not something I EVER want to do again at my age (63) because I load everything myself, with some help. Screw all that.

Good luck, OP.

[Guest]

Well, we just (mostly) did it ourselves, with one days help on either end loading and unloading some bigger stuff. Four U Hauls and a van full each trip. Still spent too much $$$, mostly a big "Thanks JOE!" on that one, but we're glad to be here.

Edited February 1, 2022 by OMCHamlin

[bobsguns]

5 hours ago, OMCHamlin said:

Four U Hauls and a van full each trip. 

I moved my brother/sis-in-law & myself with just he & I doing the work. He used a POD system & I used a big assed U-Haul truck. I can't imagine what my body would've felt like were I in your shoes. 

Glad you got everything moved safely. The only time I will EVER move again is to the cemetery. 

[Guest]

31 minutes ago, bobsguns said:

I can't imagine what my body would've felt like were I in your shoes. 

Glad you got everything moved safely. The only time I will EVER move again is to the cemetery. 

 

Man, I heard that...

[DennisG]

I moved from VA to TN in 2020 and went through the same sticker shock. I made several trips myself with a uhaul trailer and used upack.com for the rest of it. They bring a 28' semi trailer (ABF branded - you've seen them on the highway, usually double-lugged) and drop it off at your place. You get a couple days on each end for the load/unload. You load it (I hired help from uhaul.com, it was less than $500 as I remember) and pay by the foot.  They haul it to the destination, though not necessarily directly. The quote for the entire trailer to Cookville was $2,100, but you only pay for what you use (looks like I saved $31/ft for what I didn't use). They'll put up a wall in front of your stuff and then find some other cargo to fill the rest. I contracted with a moving company out of Crossville who provided two guys for the unload for a couple hundred bucks.

It's a little more hassle to coordinate those different pieces, but it saved me a ton of money and the scheduling was a lot more flexible. Maybe this will help anyone else in a similar situation.

Edited February 2, 2022 by DennisG
update

[bobsguns]

There's a post on Scoop: Nashville about the moving company "All My Sons" who got caught stealing some Beretta's (didn't say which ones) & a bunch of money. 

While we all can decry the use of a moving party to move one's firearms, who the heck leaves cash around for some movers to see, touch & take? Stupid!

The guy(s) who stole the guns & $$$ admitted it to his boss & the cops. Needless to say, he wasn't one of the "Sons"............... LOL!

[aknifemaker]

We moved to Tn from NY back in 2019 and I rented a uhaul for the move. Had some friends help and hired a couple of guys from my job to load, and hired two guys (so I thought) off uhaul.com to unload in Knoxville. The cost was $300 for 2 hours. Since it took us all day to load the truck I asked this fellow, Rick was his name, if they would stay as long as needed to unload he said yes but assured me it wouldn't be necessary. In the morning a suburban pulls up in front of the house, and Rick and his 8 kids get out (boys and girls)! They were done in an hour it was amazing to watch!! Polite fast and efficient. I called him again last year to move us into our new home but he has a restaurant down in Polk county now, Jessica's Place and not doing that anymore.

What can I say, Tennessee is GREAT!

[Whisper]

I've used two big-name movers in the past few years:  Colonial Van Lines and International Van Lines.  Both are liars and thieves and should be avoided at all costs.  Two Men and a Truck stepped up and helped us efficiently when International Van Lines walked off the job because we refused to pay them an additional $4000 above the price in our signed contract.

[bobsguns]

11 hours ago, aknifemaker said:

In the morning a suburban pulls up in front of the house, and Rick and his 8 kids get out (boys and girls)! They were done in an hour it was amazing to watch!! Polite fast and efficient. I called him again last year to move us into our new home but he has a restaurant down in Polk county now, Jessica's Place and not doing that anymore.

I eat there quite a bit. Rick is a cool guy. All the restaurant workers are his kids too. I did the pictures for one of his daughter's wedding last year. 

The restaurant is right on Hwy 411, between Delano & Benton. Good place to eat.

[bobsguns]

10 hours ago, Whisper said:

I've used two big-name movers in the past few years:  Colonial Van Lines and International Van Lines.  Both are liars and thieves and should be avoided at all costs.  Two Men and a Truck stepped up and helped us efficiently when International Van Lines walked off the job because we refused to pay them an additional $4000 above the price in our signed contract.

I've never heard a complaint about 2 Men & a Truck. 

[aknifemaker]

We used 2 Men & a Truck on our move from Knox to Maryville, they did a good job, fairly priced I thought, they charge by the hour.

[bobsguns]

2 hours ago, aknifemaker said:

We used 2 Men & a Truck on our move from Knox to Maryville, they did a good job, fairly priced I thought, they charge by the hour.

I would think (hope?) that a company charging by the hour would take their time & not drop or break anything? Versus a flat rate company who just wants to hurry up & get it done ASAP? 

[aknifemaker]

Nothing broken we were satisfied. Pretty simple move for them lots of boxes and some furniture. I actually moved all my stuff and machinery myself, right into the basement.