Duncs

I have been thinking about getting organised to move up north for college in the summer. I just wondered if anyone on here had experience in using a removal company or even Uhaul etc and could offer advice on the best way to move a relatively low amount of stuff from Jackson Mississippi to Boston? Costs an issue so low price is good.

regards,

Duncan

lairdside

My stepdaughter and her husband moved from Long Beach, CA to Metarie, LA. Cost was an issue so they hired a U-Haul truck and moved themselves.

Worked for her.

Duncs

Been thinking about that but lots of u-haul horror stories so wont be using them.

http://www.clanboyd.info/uhaul/

We had hoped to find a reasonable priced mover so we can drive up at a more leisurely pace and visit my wifes various family members along the way.

lairdside

Sorry I can't be of any more help

The only moving company I've ever used, I've used them several times, are (Allied) Pickfords, known as Allied here in the US.

They have a full packing service which I like but I think they are not exactly inexpensive. I've only footed the bill myself once, the other times my employer paid for relocation.

Vic.

Rockgurl

I'd be interested too, as I will be moving from AZ to CT in May. I have to ship my car too, as I don't fancy driving it across the country, but I've been quoted approx $1000! I don't have much to ship...no furniture, only a few boxes (I haven't accumulated that much in 3 months!), so if anyone has had any experience of USA shippers please share.

ScousePete

I have moved inter-state twice since I have been here and found that you basically have three options, which vary based on price and how much work you want to do yourself.

1. CHEAPEST OPTION - MOST LABOUR - ALL THE DRIVING
One-way do-it-all-yourself rental such as U-Haul, Budget, Ryder, Penske. You will get an empty van (various sizes available) with the option of a car hitch (TIP: get a flatbed style - all 4 wheels off the ground, better for your car and safer too!) You will get a certain number of days and a certain number of miles to get to your destination. You pay a flat fee plus gas. You load everything in and out of the truck yourself. Go to their websites to get a quote.

2. BIT MORE EXPENSIVE - MOST LABOUR - NO DRIVING
One area that is expanding is the rental of a container (or a section of one) The company will drop off a container outside your door, you fill it, they deliver it to your destination, you unload it.
I will post the names of some companies here as soon as I have the time.

3. MOST EXPENSIVE - NO LABOUR - NO DRIVING
A complete moving service, such as Mayflower, who will send a bunch of guys into your house, pack all your stuff and drive it to your destination, where they will unload it all for you. A bit like the bailiffs, but you get it all back a few days later

Your choice.

joto

There was an article on TV the other night about a mover. Seems that the client accepted their quote for moving their stuff, then when the mover got to the new house the mover upped the quote and demanded more money or they would not see the stuff again. If you do get a mover in, check them out thoroughly with Better Business bureau or past clients references, or neighbours recommendations.

dunroving

ABCWheaton were very reasonable and professional (I used them for my move back to the UK, but I believe they do domestic also).

I've also done the cheap route (UHaul), but beware that, depending on where you are going from/to there may be a large one-way drop-off fee (I doubt if that will apply to you Duncs, because you will be taking a truck from low-need rural Alabama to high-demand Boston).

When I went fro grad school in Mass. to grad school in Georgia, UHaul wanted to tack on a $1,000 one-way drop-off fee. So, I said sod that, sold my car and bought a second-hand van (Chevy Astro) and used it to haul most of my stuff, and shipped the rest in boxes via RPS (cheaper than UPS, higher maximum weight limit).

jaybob

Hi Rockgurl

Been following your US experience coz my wife is with the same agency as you. She is waiting and waiting to sit her NCLEX, she has taken and passed her preflight. So how has the agency experience turned out? Are you taking some of the proceeds fron the sale of your house(Congrats) and buying yourself out of the contract? Or perhaps you would rather not say if they don't already know? Any advice? Oh we were seriously thinking of mesa or scotstown (SP?) what's it like? Hope I haven't hijacked the thread, I'm only new so don't anybody shout at me!

Jaybob

NC Penguin

I can't give you any suggestions since I've only ever lived in one place in the US.

However, when visiting the Homebuyer's Fair recently in my city, I got into a discussion with a professional moving company.

There is a trade organization for movers. The name escapes me but they may have a website and the org might be helpful in identifying a mover for you.

Also, I discovered that there's different regulation for state to state moves compared to moves within a state.

Again, there's probably sources of info on the internet about that.

excpomea

That's exactly what happened to us.
To top it all off the bastards wanted a tip too.

effi

We moved from Philly to AZ 6 years ago. My company moved us and they used Allied. It cost them over $11,000, but that included our cars being shipped on a transporter. I would not recommend them. We had a 3 storey house and it was impossible to keep an eye on what they were doing. The result was I had some stuff stolen and a bunch of antiques damaged thru poor packing.

UHaul is an option, but beware, the price they advertise is not always the price you will end up paying, plus you do all the humping, dumping and driving. Why don't you get in touch with some movers and see if you can get a partial load from them if they are going up that way. It could work out cheaper. I would just say, do your homework. It is like everything else in the US, they are out to make a $ from you.

effi

I guess where you live will depend on where you will be working. Trust me you don't want a long commute to and from work every day. The roads here in AZ are beginning to look a lot like LA, they are extremely busy and it does not seem to matter what time of the day you are travelling. AZ is the fastest growing State in the US at the moment.

Mesa is ok, pretty central. Scottsdale (commonly referred to here as Snottsdale is very expensive) if you are planning on buying property there you had better be prepared to pay mucho $$$$$$. There are a lot of outlying areas around Mesa which are quite nice, but like I said, you don't want to be too far from work. During the summer months when the temps can reach 123° and you cannot hold the steering wheel cause you burn your hands, it can be a bit of a shit travelling.

Right now the temp is 91°. Beautiful, these few months until about May make it worthwhile living here, then you have about 6 months of misery because of the heat. Good luck.

ladyofthelake

To avoid that, make sure the company you use adds a price gaurantee onto the contract you sign.
I don't know whether it actually stops them from trying to increase the price, but I would have thought you would be in a better legal position if they tried that one on.

Ben

We moved one state NJ to NY and, given the choice, I would NEVER do it again. It was even a removal company that was a franchise of a big company and so had certain guarantees. It was terrible! They ruined our freezer, stole my daughters money (which was well hidden away and we found the box open inside a toy chest after they had gone!) and they were a day late. The driver wasn't qualified to drive It was a total sham and they wanted a tip! the move from UK to NJ would a piece of cake compared to the move through states!!! Cost us, if I remember correctly, $3,000 for a whole house but not a huge amount of furniture.

Anyway, my advice to you would be either do it yourselves or pay a fortune to make sure eveyrthing is covered and you are using a reputable company that is not a franchise! We found there weren't many companies that were set up to go from state to state so if you have a long way to go you might find your choices limited. To be honest, if you don't have much stuff you are far better doing it yourself if you have the time.

You have to remember that when crossing states to move, it is like moving country - you have to pay tax and the cargo has to be weighed so it works out very expensive compared to other types of moves. If you are moving a car, you sometimes have to pay additional taxes on it. Apparently it depends how far you are moving. There are ways round this type of thing and it has something to do with selling and buying your car back but don't know all the ins and outs of it because we never had the problem with only moving one state. I know friends who moved CA to NJ and they did this to avoid the taxes they would have to pay.

anyway, sorry I can't give you any good removal companies and good luck in your move.