Estimates on household contents in self-storage unit (moving company, truck, furniture)

[Rapunzll]

I sold my home in Sept. and put everything into a storage unit. I'm really worried that I won't get an accurate estimate because the unit is pretty full. It's a 10' X 20' unit. There is not a lot of furniture there, but a number of boxes including book boxes. I'm getting three estimates tomorrow while I'm in town, and will try to make a passage so they can see better, but I just don't know how successful I will be. Have any of you ever got estimates under similar circumstances?

I got a call back from Three Men and a Truck today and they quoted me $7500.00 without even looking at anything. I was shocked at this price as it was tons more than I expected after seeing posts here from others who say they paid much less for much longer moves and from much larger homes. I'm moving from Traverse City Michigan to Greenville South Carolina. That's not even 1,000 miles! I told them that there was no point in continuing the conversation. I hope that I don't find that to be a average price, or I will have to dip into my 'buy a new house' fund!

[bobmulk]

I worked in the moving and storage industry for 18 years so I can give you some headway from my perspective.

First off, a person would also need to know the third dimension of the storage unit. From there, one can get a reasonable estimate of the weight. If this unit is crammed from top to bottom, one end to the other and there's a lot of boxes, it's entirely possible for the amount to be $7500.

Be forewarned...no moving company will give you a guaranteed price since they can't get a real view of what's there. Chances are the company who estimated was trying to cover their butts. Good luck.

[Rapunzll]

Thanks Bob! Here is the update:

I met at the locker with all three reps Friday. It was interesting to say the least. The first rep spent over an hour with me going over things and his final quote, a binding quote was $3000. give or take a few bucks.

The second guy I really don't think wanted my business all that much. He spent a whole 15 minutes didn't ask many questions and wasn't very informative and of the three, he was the only one to give me his business card only, not a packet with a lot of information.

The third woman was very nice and also spent about an hour with me. Her quote (non-binding) was around $2700.00

I'm pretty sure I am going with the first company as that guy actually worked in the field moving stuff for many years before becoming a rep. and I think that gives him a leg up as far as being able to tell how much was in there.

I'll call the BBB about the first and third company however before I make my final decision.

Oh, and the first is the only one to give me references.

Bob, are you saying that even a binding quote is not really binding? I haven't researched the subject yet, it's on my to do list. I was told that I might actually end up paying less and the first guy used 5500 lbs to be on the safe side. It is not packed floor to ceiling and he even spoke to that.