Category:Choosing a Mover
Every mover’s website says the same things. Here is how to tell them apart.
Request multiple quotes
Three is the right number: fewer and you have no range, more and you are comparing noise. Ask all three to survey the property, and ask all three for the same scope — the same packing level, the same date, the same insurance. A quote that is thirty percent cheaper than the others is not a bargain; it is a different job description.
Verify insurance and licensing
- An interstate carrier should have a USDOT number. It takes ten seconds to look up and tells you whether the company exists as it claims to.
- Ask for the certificate of insurance, not a sentence about being “fully insured”. Read the liability limit.
- Check that the trading name on the quote matches the name on the license.
Understand the services offered
“Full service” means different things to different companies. Get these written down: how many crew, how many vehicles, whether packing materials are included, whether reassembly is included, and what happens if the job overruns.
Watch out for red flags
- A large deposit taken up front, especially in cash
- No written estimate, or an estimate that is not binding
- A blank or generic inventory sheet handed over on the day
- No physical business address
- A name that has changed recently, or several times
Key points to consider
Price matters, but so does whether the answers come quickly and consistently. The company that tells you plainly that your sofa will not fit through the door is the one you want, even though it is not what you wanted to hear.
Conclusion
The right mover is rarely the cheapest and almost never the fastest to quote. It is the one who came and looked, wrote down what they saw, and priced the job in front of them.
