Questions To Ask Your Movers Before Hiring Them

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Planning a move is not an easy thing to do. Not all of us are organizational professionals. Luckily, moving is something that has happened to a lot of people worldwide, and we can learn from their experience.

The first step will be to contact a moving company and get a quote. Getting a quote online is not a bad thing. It is the fastest way for sure, but not the only one and the best one. Suggestion: Get them on the phone and you will get better answers!

• Remember that it is of the utmost importance that you find out at the beginning If they provide the type of service that you need. 

Not all moving companies are residential, commercial, long distance etc. Don’t waste your and their time If, for example, you are moving an apartment and they are specialized for heavy duty industrial move.

If they have what you are looking for, you will need to find out If they’re available for a date that you need. This is the next elimination step. If they are, then you can start a conversation and find out about their way of operation, insurance policy, services that they provide, etc. 

Here you will have the most common and the most important ones that will help you to lead the conversation.

THE MOST COMMON/IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

1. Availability?
2. How do you charge?
3. What does the price include?
4. Truck sizes?
5. Packing options?
6. Do you have any additional fees?
7. What is your insurance policy?
8. Cancellation/scheduling policy?

1. AVAILABILITY?

Like mentioned before, this is the one that you shouldn’t pass. If you have only one date that works for you, and they’re not available- that’s a deal-breaker. If they have, or If you are flexible with dates, then the conversation goes on. There are a few more that you can ask about dates and that can help you to get a better deal, balance your budget and hire movers.

Do you have different pricing for different dates?

Well, who wouldn’t want to save If they knew how! 

In the majority of cases, moving companies have different prices for certain dates. Usually, weekends are the biggest hit for your budget because everyone wants to move on weekends when they’re off of work.

So If you show some flexibility you can save money by choosing a business day. 

They are also premium dates during the month. So ask your agent! Stay informed and save money!

Does the price vary depending on the availability?

Yes, that will be the answer in 95% of cases! It does vary. Dates with low availability are more expensive and they know that whoever has to move on a certain date, this person will be willing to pay. 

If you are not this person, you will be happy to find out that If you change the date for a day before, or after, you will get a much better price.

2. HOW DO YOU CHARGE??

If you are trying to find budget movers, you will have to ask this one. If we are talking about local moves, almost all moving companies are charging by the hour. When we say almost, that means that there’s something opposite to it. In this case, that’s a flat price.

CHARGING BY THE HOUR1

When we say that they charge per hour, that means that there is an hourly rate that covers labor, movers, possibly a  truck (for example- two movers and a truck), some services that help to deal with the furniture, some insurance, etc. Charging by the hour produces a few more interesting questions.

When does the clock start?

For a person that wants to stay informed about the move and the way of pricing, you might be interested to know when does the clock start. 

The usual answers that you can expect are:

• When we leave our facility
• The time starts when the actual move starts.

This is only to keep you informed and aware of what you can expect to hear from the sales agent. Ask them to explain because there are many ways for you to misunderstand these statements. And for them, it’s just another question repeating itself all over again. But for you it is important!

When does the clock stop?

Obviously, after you find out when the clock starts, If the salesperson doesn’t explain how it ends, you are coming on the big scene!

Answers that you can hear:

• When we come back to our facility
• When we complete the move at your new place

Asking these questions will make it clear that you know how it works, that you are informed and that will leave them no chance to try to cross you over. Even If they wanted to try at the beginning, by now you made it clear that you are experienced or pretty well informed! And this is great for you!

FLAT PRICE DEAL

It might happen that you will encounter this- moving company that offers a flat price for the whole service. This can be a tempting option for those who are moving out of a larger place,  moving further from Long Beach, or moving to Long Beach from, for example, Riverside. 

Moving a large house 

When it comes to moving a large house, there is a big chance that they will organize an onsite estimate. Ask if they do that! You won’t have a headache about how many hours it will take them to move everything that you own. 

There is a large distance between the old and the new place

You asked and they offer a flat price? Perfect! The Los Angeles area is known for its traffic jams. Maybe you will be interested to hear out a flat price for this service and compare it to the hourly rate that you got elsewhere. 

Make options for yourself. It will give you a feeling of control over a situation. We all know how good it feels when you have at least some control over something that doesn’t depend only on you!

3. WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU INCLUDE IN THE PRICE?

This answer will clarify many things. Keep it simple. Ask and listen. Take notes. Write down on a piece of paper everything that they say they include. 

If they don’t mention something obvious, like for example disassembling the furniture, ask why.  

Listen to what they say because that might come like an extra fee that they “forgot” to mention.Rare are affordable movers in Long Beach that include all of these services in the price. You will be happy to find and hire movers that include 80% of these services.

4. TRUCK SIZE?

Especially If you are moving locally within Long Beach, and you are moving out of a larger place, truck size will be something that you will want to know.

The first reason is that you will need a truck big enough. If they have a large truck that can accommodate everything that you own into one single truckload- request it. Sometimes the content of your house exceeds one truckload and they will need to make multiple trips. That’s fine as long as you asked for the largest one and they sent it, and It wasn’t enough.

But, If they don’t have larger trucks, only smaller ones, you might want to shop around and take your business elsewhere.

The second reason is the parking permit and the parking space. If you didn’t move before, probably you will never ask this question. But, usually, you are in charge of this. Moving companies don’t have time to deal with the City Hall and requests for permits, so you will need to take care of that.

In order to get a permit, you will need to find out the size of the moving truck that they will use. This is something that you will take care of after you reserved a moving date and chose the company- but it is worth mentioning because of those that are moving for the first time.

5. PACKING OPTIONS?

Maybe you decided to pack by yourself, so you won’t be interested in what follows. What will interest you are the tips for self-packing and how to get all the materials that you need.

For those that want FULL service, and don’t want to take a day off from work to pack, you will have to ask this question- naturally.

Here are the most frequent ones:

• Do you offer FULL pack service?
• Do we schedule a separate day for this?
• How much are your packing materials?
• Can you use my materials instead?
• Do you unpack?

6. DO YOU HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL FEES?

Don’t forget to ask! Do you have any additional fees? Is there anything else that I should be aware of? 

Fail to ask- you can be disappointed on the day of the move. Maybe they have, maybe they don’t, but you won’t know unless you ask.

This doesn’t need any thorough explanation. A simple question can result in a simple answer If it’s a “NO”, or in a complicated explanation If it’s a “YES” and “WHAT” are the fees. 

It’s better If It costs you your time on the phone than your money on your moving day!

7. WHAT IS YOUR INSURANCE POLICY?

Insurance might be something about what you won’t be willing to compromise. For people that are moving, insurance is either a deal-breaker or not important at all.

If you are the one to whom it matters- welcome!

The company is doing great on your checklist by now? Let’s see If they will pass this test.

• Are you licensed and insured?
• Do you include any in-move insurance?
• If not, do you offer any additional insurance?

How they handle these questions will, pretty much, determine If you will hire them. Listen carefully!

8. CANCELLATION POLICY?

One of the last steps, before you make a reservation and hire movers, will be about rules for scheduling. 

Do you collect the deposit?

In order to make a reservation, almost everyone will ask for a security deposit. What happens with that deposit is different, from case to case. That’s why you will ask about their scheduling policy and how they handle deposits afterward. 

What is your rescheduling policy?

No matter how much and long and hard you plan this move, there are things that you can’t control and it can happen that you will need to change the date of your move. 

One simple question will clear your doubts and you will know what to expect If it comes to this.

What happens in case of cancellation?

Do you lose the security deposit that you gave in order to reserve your movers or not, depends totally on the moving company that you are hiring. Present them with a question and listen. Inform yourself!

LET’S SUMMARIZE!

You’re at the very end of your checklist! Those were the most important questions that you should be aware of. 

Now, let’s see how you did and test If you learned the “highlights” at least. Contact us and let us show you how an agent should handle a client and their questions. Let us be the quote that will make you compare all others to it!

After you compared it to all other local movers in Long Beach, we hope that we will hear back from you again dear reader!