Looking for a reliable and affordable moving company? It can be nerve wracking trusting all your possessions to a bunch of strangers. But remember the removalist company does this every day and will be professionals in all logistics of moving. As longs as you choose a respected and competent mover, there won't be any issues. By following these steps you can be assured of selecting the best moving company. So if you are moving soon, or needing to book movers asap, check out these moving tips.
Moving day is stressful enough without adding unreliable or messy movers to the equation. Avoid dodgy removalists by asking for recommendations from friends and family members. You surely know a lot of people who moved to another house or another apartment at one point in the past, so take advantage of this. Another to is to ask your real estate agent, they will know the movers to steer clear of and sometimes they even have special deals or discounts for removalists. At the the very least you should check for testimonals online
Next up is checking with the companies yourself. Have a list of three or four shortlisted movers to call and ask questions. Take them one by one and ask questions such as
What type of experience they have - apartments, offices, homes, moving special items like piano's. You want to find out that they will be experienced in your moving needs.
How long they have been in the moving business?
Whether or not they have experience packers and experienced drivers. For example do they send different people to pack and load the truck or is it one team the whole time. Knowing this will help you know how many people to expect on the day and if the moving company offers lots of services, some offer teams to pack your house for you!
Make sure that they are licensed for interstate transport in case you are moving to another state.
Ask for customer references - some companies will provide details of previous happy customers (who have agreed to be contacted)
Ask how big their fleets of trucks are - will they have the right sized truck for a one bed apartment removalist job or a four bedroom family home removalist job. This will tell you that the mover can price the job correctly based on the size of the job. If they just had one large truck, you may have to pay for space you don't need.
Now it's time to look at the pricing of removalists, amd remember to compare the price to service. That means if one company is really cheap compared to another are you getting less of a service? Is the mover quoting the full job and not just a bare bones service in which you pack the truck? Or is the more expensive mover quote including services you don't need like packing your belongings into boxes for you. It's about that old saying comparing apples to apples.
Look at what is included in the quote, some removalists include free boxes in the quote, even dropping them off and collecting them after the move. Have they quoted the timeframe of the move with the price? Is one a cheap moving company but in the quote have they included moving you on the same day? Especially for interstate removalists. Be sure to get the quote via email to have it on record, in case they try to charge more later.
And make sure that the quote includes absolutely everything included and no extra charges or hidden costs.
During every step of finding the best removalist look out for red flags.
Asking for large upfront cash deposit before you have agreed to price.
How professional the movers have been during your contact, if they seem dodgy now then avoid as your mover of choice.
Any signs of a business that is not legit, they turn up in a rented truck, no fixed address on the website and hassling for cash deposit.
Movers that are experienced have a system in place for obtaining prices when quoting. They will take an inventory of all your belongings to determine the weight and sizing of your move. The companies will often have these moving estimators on their website. For example;
Number of bedrooms
House or flat
Garage
And then good moving companies will have thorough online moving calculators that go through each room and list furniture. It usually works by ticking items for each room and the number of items. For instance the lounge room will have number of sofas and number of cabinets. And the kitchen will list appliances required to be moved. This estimator will help the removalist quote an accurate price.
Then a good quote process will include the location of move - where from and where to. Plus ask if any special items like piano or trampoline to be included in the move quote. And lastly the online quote may ask for special circumstance like if the home is double storey or if the apartment is above ten floors etc.
Even if you have contents insurance, your insurer will never pay for any damage to your belongings whilst in transit with a mover. Ask the mover what type of liability insurance or damage protection insurance they have. If they can't answer or explain - avoid that mover.
Want to get a moving quote done immediately? If you're moving home in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane we have developed an online moving system for you to check our availability and book online. Or if you have a more complicated moving quote, then use our moving home calculator and we will get back to you with a custom moving quote.
