Guidelines for Choosing the Best Moving Company

Choosing the best moving company is important if you want to ensure that your things arrive safely and on time. Too many moving services have taken advantage of uninformed movers, with bad moving policies and unreliable transportation. The result is that many have had personal belongings lost or stolen. You can help guard against that, by following these guidelines:

Find Moving Company Reviews

Consumers have had it with unreliable moving companies and/or scam artists, and are taking action by writing negative reviews. Before you sign a contract with a company, you need to research what others are saying about it. You can check moving company ratings and reviews on websites like Moverreviews.com or Movingscam.com. If a small company receives more than three negative reviews, you probably ought to avoid them. If a medium-sized or large company gets more than ten reviews, you should avoid them also.

If you can’t find a review on your moving company, good or bad, you should ask them for references. If they won’t provide you with any, and if you don’t know of anyone who has actually used them, choose another company. You don’t want to risk your items with a brand new company, or with one that no one knows anything about. No amount of insurance can replace some of the things that you love and hold dear, and therefore, it’s not worth the risk.

Get Personal Recommendations

In addition to finding reviews, get personal recommendations from families or friends. This will confirm your online research and give you hints on what services to choose or which to avoid. You can still negotiate with good moving companies to try and get the best deal possible for add-on services. Sometimes, it takes asking people about their personal experiences to even know what to ask for. You can get this information from review sites if you don’t know anyone, but it’s better to find someone who you can ask followup questions.

Ask Questions

Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to ask lots of questions. Call each company and ask them:

• What insurance they offer
• What they can guarantee for arrival dates
• What add-on services they offer
• How much extra it costs for moving to an apartment that’s upstairs or downstairs
• Do they charge extra for traveling down walkways
• How many movers will be assigned to the move

It’s not enough to just get verbal answers on any of these. Get written estimates that detail all costs and other key information, so that you don’t end up paying for hidden fees. Compare at least three estimates before making a decision.

The best moving company is one that will get all of your things to your new location in a timely manner, without being damaged or stolen. These can be few and far between, depending on where you live. Follow these guidelines and book your move right away when you find a good one. Otherwise, you might not have much of a choice if the company you want is all booked up.