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I'm moving from Rockville, Maryland to Escondido, California within about 30 days. I've been contemplating taking some things with me. I have a very expensive and sturdy and unusually comfortable futon that I'd like to take with me. I also have a 32" flat-screen TV, a printer that my employer gave me for my work-from-home job (works awesome, discontinued model, employer won't get me another one, can't install software/drivers for a new printer on my employer-issued laptop (I'm not an I.T. person)), large computer monitor, shredder, and about 10 boxes of clothes and personal stuff.
I know I can get a new 32" flat-screen TV for $200, so it may not be worth taking with me, but what if it's part of the overall move? Is it worth it then?
The main problem is that I've been unable to find a reliable moving/shipping company, even after days of online research. Any company I find has tons of negative reviews. One review on Yelp said: "My advice? Use PODS. They're so much better." When I looked them up, they have tons of negative reviews, too.
What is a prospective mover to do? Would it be better to simply ship my printer, monitor, clothes and personal stuff via UPS, FedEx, or the Postal Service and forget about a shipping/moving company for the futon and TV and sell them? The stuff written about them in online reviews are total nightmares: late pick-up, late delivery (if at all), damaged stuff, lack of customer support after the sales pitch (i.e., the salesperson is courteous and professional, no one else is), difficulty getting claims for damages paid, holding possessions hostage until you pay more than what was quoted, etc.
Has anyone had a good experience with an interstate move, or have any general tips/hints on how you did it? I'm willing to pay for good service. I just want my stuff to get there undamaged and within 1-2 days of the scheduled delivery. Apparently, that's a lot to ask. Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks.
If you are OK with a PODS-type "you load/we drive" type of move, and the pickup and delivery locations are OK with parking a container for a day or 2, then look into ABF's Upack ReloCube at http://www.upack.com/ I used them for a 2000 mile move similar to yours. Everything went exactly as advertised and planned.
Of the 4 or 5 outfits that have this type of service, ABF's is the most reputable.
I recently used 1800packrat to move 5800 pound of stuff from CA to TN. The drop off of the container was fine, the delivery was fine, they picked up the empty container one day later than scheduled. However they called and said they were overbooked and I said no problem--its here when you want it.
I did like that they pick up the container without shifting it much--it was pretty level the whole time. They did get the stuff there on day 15, as promised.
I would recommend them, but with the one concern that their prices are way high to start with, then they will lower it as you talk with them. I hate negotiating, but saved $2000 by doing that...
Agree with reed303 on ABF relo-cubes. Did a 2k mile move also and they were easy to work with. Drivers were great too about communicating arrival times. You can also track your stuff online.
ABF has a great reputation. I was originally going to go with them, but when I went to their website after I knew the exact dates, their prices has jumped a lot so I went with packrat instead. Next time I would use either one, depending on the cost.
I just used Atlas (out of Evansville IN and they picked me up in UT and dropped me off in ID) have two large flat screen LED and they were great. Not one thing missing, not one thing broken, and early to pickup by one day, and drop off was two days later. I did all the packing (which I'll never do again), and for the flat screens I purchased special boxes from U-haul that worked great.
The only negative that we have experienced in using a moving company (Atlas), was that the original estimator who came to our home to give us a weight estimate....was off by almost a ton. We ended up paying WAY more than was estimated, in the beginning. Nothing arrived broken or missing though, so that is a plus.
However, it took a lot of phone calls and complaints to get compensated for the clueless estimator, but we did get some money back in the end
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