Advice for cross country movers (Cleveland, Dayton: insurance, credit card, house)

[hollydh]

Hey all, I am in the process preparing to move from AZ to Cleveland. I have called around to a bunch of different companies and have some advice for moving. I am only moving a 1 bedroom home with really minimal items. First off you want to call during their "winter" months to set up your move because they have rates by the day and rates go up significantly once they hit "summer" months. This differs per company but calling in March for a September move seems to have left me in a great position. Almost all of the companies require you to set it up that day and provide a credit card to secure your price, most of them do not charge a dime until their specified dates which is usually 1-10 days before your move and you can cancel for free, all except one of the companies below. I haven't moved yet so I am not sure how it will go but here is some info I have found in my search:

PODS: looks great, sounds great. Great customer service - until you call to cancel your order because you found a better deal. Tip- say that your company is paying for your move that's why you are cancelling, they appreciate that more than saying bro your rates are pretty high. They quoted me with $2300+ without taxes included with one month storage, property insurance, pick up, drop off.

ZIPPY SHELL: again, fabulous customer service! You get assigned to a single person who handles your case and I like that. They also will load and unload your items at each end for you! They stated their claim rate is less than 5% due to their proficient packing and unpacking while PODS has about 35% claim rate - where they came up with this number I have no idea. They quoted me at $2588 with taxes included. This is one month of storage, pick up, drop off, pro load/unload, property insurance, did I mention taxes? This was a great deal but I found a better one.

UPACK: this is the one I have chosen and am BEYOND ECSTATIC! They offered two options drop off and pick up at home, or I could take my things to their facility in AZ and pick up in Parma. I selected the second because it was $400 cheaper. They quoted me $1270 to drop the container at my house and drop at my new place, and $826 for me to bring my things there. This is a bare bones service but I am not in need of anything special or exciting, I need my stuff to go from AZ to OH. I figured that saving $400 is worth having to drop off and pick up at their facility, a u-haul for $50 or $400 for at home convenience?

ALLIED VAN LINES: I never got a quote from them because they needed to do an in-home estimate and I don't know why but that annoys me so I said no thanks.

LEADERSHIP LOGISTICS: these guys had a great price of about $1000 with tax and insurance included, the issue I had with this is that they required you pay upfront upon booking to secure your date and it was nonrefundable, only about 10% but compared to all the other companies that allow you to secure your date but don't charge anything so this turned me off completely

All in all, UPACK had the best price, no frills or thrills, and I love the major money saving option! $400 is about what it would cost me to drive to Cleveland so not only did I save nearly 2K but these options allowed me to have my drive financed in without issue. I know this is super long but I sure hope someone out there finds this helpful!

[teacherdad]

We did a year from CA to near Dayton and used UPack. We packed at home and had it dropped at our place. We had a 3 bd. home to move and 3 kids. It was a great deal. Only slight negative was that we drove and timed it so the trailer would be there the day before our arrival. It actually came 3 days after so we spent 2 nights on the floor with sleeping bags and paper goods. Not a big deal for use because I like to camp and we had shelter, but some people would be annoyed. Unload and they pick up the trailer right away. I'd do it again. I only broke our older dining room table (drop leaf) because I had too much on top of it.

[Minervah]

I did Portland, OR to Cleveland a couple of years ago. I used PODS. Worst moving experience in my life. One problem is having to deal with so many different people along the way. I can't recommend anyone else but I definitely would not recommend them.