Hiring A Mover – Everything You Need To Know

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Considering hiring a mover for your next move? There’s a lot to consider. Here are questions to ask a moving company before you hire them.

We recently moved from the “big city” of Halifax, back to our hometown. Although the driving distance is only about an hour and a half, I was quickly overwhelmed by the thought of moving all our stuff. We owned a 2000 sqft house in Lower Sackville, and had quite a few pieces of large furniture. After lots of thought we decided to hire movers.

Tips When Hiring A Mover

To make sure you hire a reputable company, follow these tips:

Do Your Research

Doing your research will help you hire reputable movers, which will make the whole process so much smoother.

Ask Friends and Family

The first thing I did was put a post up on Facebook asking my friends for a recommendation. One of my friends had recently moved and put me in touch with the person she dealt with when she was moving. We ended up booking with them, and I felt better knowing that my friend had a good experience.

Check the Better Business Bureau

I usually check reviews on BBB.org before booking any company for major work. If they have any negative reviews, I usually take them with a grain of salt, but also read into how the company has responded to bad reviews. 

Check Google and Facebook Reviews

My last step is to check Google Reviews and Facebook Reviews. Always keep in mind that people are more likely to leave a negative review than a positive one, but you can definitely learn a lot about a company by how they respond to complaints.

Read all about our 1850s house right here!

Questions To Ask When Hiring A Moving Company

Asking the right questions will save you a lot of headache down the line.

Will You Do A Free Estimate?

The first thing I wanted from any moving company was a free estimate, which most companies will do. Right now during a global pandemic, the company I dealt with did this by going through our real estate listing to get a sense of the contents, and by chatting with me on the phone about our stuff. At other times, companies should come to your home to do the free estimate.

How Is Your Price Determined?

Most companies charge by the hour, but some charge by weight. Ask for a detailed estimate breaking down how the price is determined, and what factors could cause your price to increase during the actual move.

What Is Your Payment and Cancellation Policy?

Make sure you understand when payment is due. For us, we had to give our credit card information to hold the date, which was then charged after the move. Some companies might require a deposit. Also check the cancellation policy just in case you change your mind!

Do You Have Insurance?

Insurance might just seem like an extra cost that you don’t need, but insurance is always a smart decision. Content insurance will insure your belongings, and make sure they have workers compensation insurance so that if one of the movers is injured on your property, you aren’t on the hook.

Will You Store My Stuff?

Depending on your move, you may have your stuff delivered same day, or at a later date. We had a few days from the time we moved out of our Sackville house to the time we got the keys to our new house. Our movers stored our stuff on the truck for a few days at an extra cost. 

Will You Pack?

You may want to have the movers also pack your stuff. Obviously this service will be more expensive, so you’ll have to decide if it’s worth it to you. Sometimes if the movers haven’t packed the box, it affects the insurance if the box contents get broken. Be sure to ask the company about that policy.

Do You Provide Blankets / Wrapping?

In order to protect your furniture, the furniture should be wrapped. Our movers wrapped our furniture for free, however there was an extra cost for plastic mattress bags to protect the mattresses. 

Will You Disassemble Furniture?

Furniture like bed frames, dressers with mirrors, etc. will likely have to come apart before they are loaded onto the moving truck. Check if the movers will do it for you, or if you should do it yourself. In our case they did it for us, but of course that takes extra time and we paid per hour. If you have time to do it yourself, it’s probably best if you do, so the screws don’t get lost!

How Many Movers Do I Need?

Our moving company had the option to have 3 or 4 movers. Hiring 4 movers was more expensive per hour, but they can get it done quicker which can end up saving you money. We went with 3 since that’s all they could fit in the cab of the truck, and it would have ended up costing us more in the end to send a second truck on the 90 minute drive. 

If you have a local move, it may be worth it to have things done quicker! Chat with the company and see what they think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tips To Prepare For Movers

Once you’ve picked your company, it’s time to get ready for the move. These tips will help you be ready on moving day. 

Read Their Policies

Make sure to read the policies sent to you by the movers. It should outline what they will and won’t move. For example, most movers won’t take any chemicals like cleaners or pool chemicals. They also wouldn’t take any perishable food, or plants. Make arrangements to move those things yourself!

On moving day, label anything you don’t want them to move with “DO NOT PACK”. I put everything we were moving ourselves (including our cats!) in a room in the basement with the door closed, and put a sign on the door so they would know not to pack anything in there on their truck.

Use Appropriate Boxes

Sturdy boxes will be the best thing for you to use. Our movers required we taped the lids on any plastic totes, to make sure the lid didn’t come off. Our mover also told us horror stories about showing up at a house and the owners had everything packed in plastic bags – don’t be that person! 

Label Boxes

Label your boxes according to what’s in them AND what room they’ll be moved to in the new house. This will make unloading your stuff so much faster. Our movers were quick to memorize the rooms, and carried all of the furniture and boxes to the correct room while unloading the truck. It made unpacking for us a breeze!

Don’t Make Boxes Too Heavy

It’s easy to overload a box, especially when you won’t be the one moving it! Most moving companies will tell you the maximum weight of boxes. 

Is Hiring A Moving Company Worth It?

Hiring movers is definitely not the most frugal option, but all in all, it was worth it to us to hire a moving company. We originally planned to rent U-haul trucks and do it ourselves, but all of the time we saved (not to mention the prevention of injuries haha!) was worth it to us.

I won’t lie, it was expensive, but that first day we were able to get so much more done because we didn’t have to spend hours unloading a truck. 

What do you think? Would you hire movers?