Packing and Moving tips - Please help (apartments, movers)

[MNCold]

As part of my relocation package, I will have professional movers who will come to my house packing my stuff, moving it and then unpack them for me. They made it sounds really simple.
So I'm thinking that I will pack with me important documents and take it with me on the plane as luggage and fly down first. Before I go, I plan to take pictures of my belongings.
Other than that, can I leave it to moving company to take care of the rest for me? I really don't have anything that is of significant financial values or heirloom. We have basic household needs: old TVs, DVDs, couch, bed, TVs, lots of books, some tables, dishes and utensils, clothings, computers, pictures, DVDs, etc....

Am I being naive about moving? I have never moved before. Please help!!!!! I have only 2 weeks. With 2 young kids, I'm swamped. I'd rather spend the time with my family in the last few days here. Please tell me if I'm setting my myself for a headache later by leaving things to be taken care by the moving company.

If I should be doing things differently, please tell me what I should do and in what order. I'm sort of desparate and run out of time.

MNCold

[tdhg566]

Yep. It's that simple. Photograph everything and take anything with you that you're not willing to loose. Even if the packers are good, and the loaders, the truck could fall off a bridge or your moving carton could be lost at sea. ANYTHING, literally ANYTHING can happen. Be sure the movers ONLY take things you can eventually replace.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by tdhg566

Yep. It's that simple. Photograph everything and take anything with you that you're not willing to loose. Even if the packers are good, and the loaders, the truck could fall off a bridge or your moving carton could be lost at sea. ANYTHING, literally ANYTHING can happen. Be sure the movers ONLY take things you can eventually replace.

I agree with the above, but would add - take with you things like your family photo albums. Also get an external hard drive and back up your computer and take the hard drive with you. That way if something happens to your computer you have everything on the external drive and can fix it.

[l3m]

If you are moving into an apartment first and will only need a portion of your stuff, you might want to tag those apartment items and tell your movers to pack those separately. The apartments items will be loaded first or last into the truck depending on where the truck will go first (apt. or storage).

Movers will keep an inventory of items and provide you a copy. Make sure you check that list. In case something is broken or missing, you can file a claim with the moving company. Ask them what the rules are for filing a claim. If you keep your items in storage, moving companies might only insure your items for a certain time period (e.g. 6 months or 1 year).

[Myztri]

Having been moved by the military and "professional" movers several times, I would NEVER let them pack my things unsupervised. EVER.

[Malvie]

Originally Posted by Myztri

Having been moved by the military and "professional" movers several times, I would NEVER let them pack my things unsupervised. EVER.

I have been moved many times, as a child with my parents (military) and personally as an adult.

I agree 100% with Myztri, I would NEVER, EVER let them pack my things unsupervised. EVER.

My son worked for a moving company in college. They picked up their labor (other than the drivers, who were professional) at the labor pool every day. He constantly had to intervene while they were packing.

Don't you have someone (anyone) in Minnesota who could babysit your kids while you watch them pack?



(Examples: My Mother caught them putting a stack of her good china into a box---just the stack of plates, no padding---and ready to seal up. On one of my moves, I watched them take my rotary fan (admittedly not a high-budget item but it was mine and it worked....) and stick it into a box; when it didn't fit, she shoved on it, "making" it fit--and breaking it as I watched. Another, I had a little family heirloom item, not worth much to anybody but me. Lady packing really, really, really admired it; she told me multiple times. Guess what turned up missing at the destination? I called them and they couldn't even find her (they didn't try). Offered me the value of it--about $20. I can buy a flea market item, that thing was given to me by a family member and was irreplaceable. And so on, and so on, and so on.)

[MaryleeII]

If the move is being paid for, you can get some packing boxes from the company in advance, also, paper and tape and bubble wrap, that stuff's expensive. Pack as much as you can of your stuff, just trust them with the big items, like furniture, etc.

Be very careful of anything that could be used for identity theft, like credit card account numbers, social security numbers, etc. I would invest in a paper shredder (assuming you don't already have one) and shred, shred, shred---either shred it or take it with you. don't trust those yo yo's with anything valuable!

Also, a big overlooked "valuable" perscription drugs, especially things like pain pills, etc. Take them with you , but be careful how you dispose of the empty bottles. I always soak the label off then discard. They put too much informaiton on those labels, including your name and home address. Drugs live here!

[MaryleeII]

Don't check important papers on the plane as luggage.

You can go to the post office and get shipping boxes for free, ship papers to yourself. You can probably charge the relocation company the postage.

[ShelbyGirl1]

We've been moved over a dozen times with Corporate transfers. Albeit, I have never NOT been present when the packing was done...but for the most part it is not too bad, as long as your crew is decent. They do dumb things like pack blown up balloons and even the garbage, should you leave it...not the brightest bulbs, if you get my drift. (And we supposedly, always had the "best" crews for moving corporate execs!)
Anything, ANYTHING...of value, make sure it is with you or pack yourself. My daughter had an aquaintance that worked as a packer in the summer months. She told my daughter she always stole "something little in size" as a memento of each pack!!!!!!!! Make use of the stickers "Open me first" etc...so your not searching for something you may need pronto. And don't leave banking info or blank checks for them to pack!
When the boxes do arrive...as tedious as it may seem....use your checklist and check off each box....it is amazing how boxes just disappear into thin air!

[debzkidz]

We have done numerous corporate moves and it is that simple, but I would NEVER let them pack me without my being there. The first one we did I had two little ones (3 and 5) too. It was not easy, but I managed to get a friend to take them for most of the day, so they weren't under foot. We too have always had the supposedly"best" crews that only do corporate executive moves. All I can say is, if they were the best, I would hate to see the regular guys! I have never packed any of the valuable things myself, because we have always been told that if they didn't pack it, they wouldn't insure it. We have had them build crates for special things like our grandfather clock and various antiques. On our last move they built a big crate for our big plasma TV. Plasmas are never suppose to be laid down flat, always kept upright. The moving company assured us they knew how to handle it and it would never be laid over. So they built this big crate and had it labeled as to how it had to sit in the truck. We thought it was in good hands. The day they were packing we were continually moving around the house watching what was going on. We walked into the living room just as two packers picked up the TV and laid it right down on the screen! I thought DH was gonna have a heart attack! And yes, it did mess up our TV.
If we hadn't just happened to see it, we wouldn't have known what happened to it.

What might be more difficult for you is the unpacking part. They do not put anything away. All they do is just take stuff out of boxes and set it on the nearest flat surface. It's up to you to put it all away. So if you have really little ones, it could be a challenge to keep them out of stuff while you are putting things away.