On moving day, the guys were right on time and right to work. I went to the store to buy kitty litter (a big shift in house-to-condo life!) and came home to the new place. All my stuff was right where I wanted it. It was time to unpack and take a nap!

Thanks, McGregor!

Longtime Intown Resident

On time – On Budget – And Everything Moved Was In One Piece.

I Would Use Bob And His Team Again & Again.

Bob – You’re The Best

Jay

1) THE MOVERS PUT THE TIP IN THE BILL: Thank you for mentioning that; I have to admit I had never heard of that stunt involving moving! What audacity! There are actually movers out there who are part of an international mafia. Customers respond to advertisements and the numbers they call are answered in New York City. The jobs are booked and passed to Mafia members up and down the East Coast. The workers come in from the middle east, and work as moving workers illegally unless they happen to get student visas. The arrangement is that most of their pay is held in an account for when they return to the middle east. For money to live on, they must get EXTRAS from their moving jobs, which means Tips and extra box sales–as in on the day of the move, the worker says, “I see this $20 Ikea lamp is not in a box. I think I’ll put it in a box and charge you $25 for it. Many times the moving workers take it upon themselves to extract tips–and this may have happened with the “Adding the Tips into the Bill” strategy. And here I thought that just happens when you have a large party at a restaurant, or you’re on a cruise!

2) Lateral File Cabinets: Need to be emptied before moving. Vertical file cabinets can usually be moved full, unless they’re “fire-proof.” Often lateral file cabinets will break when moved full. That really does qualify as a MOVING HORROR STORY in my book–moving a full lateral file cabinet upside down.

3) As the unloading part of the move is approaching completion, it is good to walk around and examine the furniture. Then when all your items are unloaded from the truck, the moving workers should not mind if you ask to inspect the truck. It is standard professional moving procedure to fold and re-stack the pads as the furniture is being unloaded. When all your furniture is off, there may still be pads unfolded. They have to be folded before the crew leaves, because some of your items may still be under the pads. This may take a few minutes, and it is appropriate to keep the clock running if your job is done by the hour, though they may also be charging you a flat fee for your move.

Thank you Greg for your long comment, and for you closing words. I have been in the moving business since 1994. I’m sorry I did not know you when you needed a mover back in 2005. You’re correct that the rogue movers give the moving business a bad name. As with most personal and business services, the best way to find a good vendor is through personal referral. If you just check the internet and call and compare prices, you’re not getting enough information. Moving services need to be affordable, but they are not a “commodity” like say, a Canon Camera.
A Canon camera may cost $10 less through one internet provider and it will probably–though not always–turn out to be the same camera which is sold for $10 more elsewhere. A mover who charges $10 less per hour than the other movers, may make up for that by adding a $75 tip into the bill; by charging $200 extra in spurious box charges; and adding in a fraudulent 5% fuel surcharge on top of that.

Please feel free to comment further, or contact me in any other way.

All that said, I will do a walk through with the moving crew chief to inspect my move BEFORE ANY MONEY CHANGES HANDS in all future moves. The company I had was called–back in 2005–5 star moving out of Doraville, GA. I placed several complaints with the BBB and noted in my complaints that this one outfit actually appeared to do business under several different names.

Since I know you personally, I can only say that I wish that you had been in the moving business back in 2005–or that I knew you were back then–because the company I had to use should be run out of business by all the legitimate movers in Atlanta since they seem to be doing more to give the business a bad name than any company I have ever seen!