Don't skimp on bubblewrap or packing tape. Bubblewrap is cheap in comparison to the replacement value of a poorly packaged item.

If you're looking for a moving company, I just used Two Men and a Truck. They were great.

When I was moving once, I used a company called "One Man and a Dog" (chicago craigslist). I thought this would be a joke. This old guy shows up. He's got an old astrovan, a bad back, and a dog that's sweet but looks like G-d got angry at canines and this is how he'd get revenge. I felt so bad I helped him with the heavy lifting. Awesome time.

-Rudey

15 to 20%

Never ever use A. Arnold!!! They were awful

Don't let moving men out of your sight with open boxes or purses.. things tend to disappear, especially when moving an entire household like my parents did recently.

As for a tip, I don't know how much you are moving, but when my parents moved, they had me run to the bank for them and get out $400 for the men to split (I think there was 4-5 of them) BUT that money disappeared from my mother's purse before we had the chance to tip them. Some people..

We had a bad experience when I was in high school. The movers stole my grandfather's pocket watch and a number of other irreplaceable items. Based on that, my advice is to definitely pack your valuables yourself, and be sure to take them with you in your own vehicle. Also, I would advise not leaving the movers alone in the house at any time.

The only time I used a place from Craigslist, they showed up at 2 in the morning; my neighbors were not too happy about that. The guys looked around our place, said "You have a lot of stuff," and decided to come back in a few hours.

Our cross country move
 

You can't really say that one company is better than another, in diff parts of the country. When some friends moved to Miami using Bekins (paid for by the Univ. of Miami), their stuff was smashed, and the movers damaged the outside tiles of the building. These movers probably hired 1-2 guys "off the street" and who caused the damage.

When we moved from Miami to Seattle, it was paid for by Microsoft. The movers were United Vanlines (I think). But the packers were some local company...I'm guessing subcontracted by United.

First off, a rep from the local company came to survey our stuff. Next day or so, 2 guys came to pack everything. It took several hours. I think I tipped them $100 each. I also bought lunch (subs)& dinner (pizza). Though I was upset when they emptied the bureau drawers without telling me... as far as I can tell to this day, everything I had is still in my possession.

There's really no way to keep track of everything these guys pack in each box. They just label the box with the room name, and maybe what's in the box. (ie "OFFICE. Computer parts, office items")

Then, they numbered each box with stickers, and kept all this on a master sheet, listing the numbered with the contents. This is the hard part. We had over 500 boxes, and when it all arrived in Seattle, one or two were missing. Were the stickers just never there? Or did we lose the boxes forever? I don't know...but I don't seem to be missing anything of importance.

The next day or so, another team (from United VanLines) came over to load the boxes + furniture onto the moving truck.
There were about 3-4 guys loading the furniture, and a husband&wife who were the team leaders (and the truck drivers). I gave them an envelope with $50 for each of them. I had also bought plenty of pizza for all of us.

Like I said, I had no idea how much the total move was going to cost, and since I'd never moved like this before, I was clueless. (My husband had already moved to Seattle - I was on my own to pack up & sell the house. With all the help, of course ;)

Anyway, Besides the "missing" boxes, there was also some damaged furniture. I never file a claim, because a few weeks after we moved into our house, I had a baby. Believe me, I didn't care about a few hundred bucks of damage at that point!

Oh, one more thing: if you have any furniture (oh, what's that stuff called? The kind you get @ Office Depot & put together yourself? Not exactly strudy stuff?)... if you have any of this kind of stuff, the movers (I think it was the packer guys) have to disassemble it, because it can't fit on the truck. What no one tells you is you cannot reassemble this stuff (correct me if I"m wrong?). PLus, during disassemling, some of the pieces will break. So you might as well try to get rid of it before you move & just buy new stuff when you arrive.

BTW, I still have about 50 boxes in our storage room that I haven't unpacked. Mostly it's our china & crystal, which I can't really set out because of our now toddler-aged son! ;)

I'll be moving in May. I'm not looking forward to the move at all. If I had it my way, we'd hire people to pack and load and unpack and unload EVERYTHING. But, Mr. uksparkle will never go for it. :(

I am in the midst of tax season, so my advice is save your reciepts. You can file a 3903 and write off your taxes next year.

:-)

Yeah my suggestion would only help if you could see the bill. When my sister moved she tipped about $100, but she packed everything herself. They only carried her furniture and a few boxes. She had moved everything else herself in a car. She moved only a few miles.

Please don't use United. They moved me from ATL to Tampa and it was an absolute nightmare. My company finally had to get involved and they were taken off of our 'relocation list'. They broke items, were extremely difficult to deal with, charged more at the last minute but didn't tell me until 3:30 on Friday afternoon, and lost the claims when I submitted the damaged furniture.

Feel free to pm me if you want more details.

Good luck.

I just recently moved houses, and my experience is therefore fresh in my mind.

Make sure your valuables are safe. Keep your wallet or purse with you (or locked up in your car) while the movers are there. Same goes for your cash, jewelry, and important documents. If there's anything you'd be distraught over if it disappeared - move it yourself.

Keep your own inventory of your belongings, so that you can be sure the movers don't help themselves to something.

Be sure that your driveways and walkways on both ends are clear of snow.

Movers won't take live plants. If you have any, you will have to move them yourself or find people to "adopt" them.

Pack a box labeled "Open First / Load Last" (or, store such a box in your car). This box should contain all the things you're going to need right away: box cutters, flashlight with batteries, toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, maybe a hammer and nails and a screwdriver and screws, maybe a notepad and pen.

Good luck with the move.