Cross Country Moving?

This isn't really a home repair question (I did post the same question to misc.consumers and misc.legal. moderated) but I thought someone here might be able to pass on some info.

My friend is planning on moving from California back to Michigan in the next year or so and called PODS to find out the cost.

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They want over $10,000 to move his stuff!

WTF?! I would think using PODS would be far more cheaper then using a conventional moving company, as they're only loading/unloading the pods and not physically handling every single item the customer owns.

On the other hand, I remember reading that when using a conventional moving company (United Van Lines, etc.) one needs to be very careful and have a rock solid contract that spells out everything in detail, as the moving company will nickel and dime you death with hidden costs once they have possession of your stuff.

Any advice and/or links to consumer help web sites related to a cross country move that I can pass on to my friend?

Reply to
Ed Stasiak
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Maybe that's how they get you, because people think it will be cheap.

What does a regular moving company like United or Mayflower want?

Hard to believe but maybe 10,000 is cheap after all. 27 years ago, I paid 800 dollars just to move from NYC to Baltimore, 3 1/2 hours. Prices have gone up and Cal/michingan is a lot farther. Plus the guy who moved me would have changed a lot more if he had realized how much I could squeeze into an apartment. (He quoted the price sight unseen, becaue he had a move to Boston and wanted something to do on the way back. I tried to tell him that I had a lot of stuff. He gave me a list of big furniture and asked if I had it. I really didn't. All I had big was a spinet piano and two lightweight warddrobes but I had loads of other stuff. But he was a mentch. He never complained. I tipped them 200 dollars)

How many rooms in your house? Are they and the closets stuffed or are you into fin shway. (sp?)

I didn't see your post there, but this sounds like the kind of advice given by someone who writes a weekly advice column and has to come up with something to say. Sure, you should read the contract. Your contract should list all the costs and there should be a sentence that says, These are all the costs. I presume they fill out such a contract and wait for you to sign it. Well, maybe they weigh the truck before it is loaded and after it is loaded. I'm not sure**. But I still don't see where nickel and diming will come in. So look for a company with a good reputation., not just the national company but the local affiliate, which is probably a separate company.

**That's how they did it when I moved a bunch of my mother's stuff to Texas, but it was only a room or two and no one came out to estimate it. Just the trucker who had a local guy to help load. So he weighed his truck twice.

The only time we had trouble moving, there was some strike in Pennsyvania, so they had to unload all our stuff in Ohio and wait until they stopped shooting at the trucks in Pa. Why do strikes bring out the criminal nature in so many people? There was extra damage because of the extra unloading and loading. A corner of the washer was crumpled and looked terrible but it still worked fine, and I think one piece of furniture was scratched. I guess most contracts call for them to repair damaged stuff, and they have was pencils in many colors that they use to patch dents in wood.

Reply to
mm

I dunno and he doesn't either yet. I got an email from him last night about the cost of PODS and figured I'd try to get him some advice.

He's got a pretty big place but this move is precipitated by a recent divorce, so I'm not sure how much stuff he has left to move?

I've personally never had to use a moving company but from what I remember reading years back, (probably on the misc.consumers newsgroup) moving co's will scam their customers with additional costs once your stuff is loaded on their truck and you have no choice but to pay, as either they'll hold you stuff "hostage" or dump it right back on the driveway if you don't.

Reply to
Ed Stasiak

Depending on exact locations, you are looking at about 2500 miles. I'd expect a regular trucker would charge about $5000 to $6000 for the run. One factor is distance, but other factors are the amount of freight moving between points. For instance, moving freight fro NC to MA may be $3000, but the return trip can be had for about half that.

About four years ago a friend moved to Florida, about 1200 miles and paid a regular moving company about $10,000.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Hmmm.. back in 2003 we moved my father-in-law from Ca to Mi and it was only$3,000 with a moving company. He had a 3 bedroom condo and they loaded and unloaded everything. I would get a couple of additional quotes.

GoodLuck,

Reply to
jimmydahgeek

Yet another argument for doing a massive purge/garage sale, and only moving the high-dollar and/or heirloom stuff, hopefully on your own in a U-haul. Personally, I'd never move chipboard furniture, or any mattresses over five years old, or anything that would be cheaper to replace than move. I'd donate it to whatever local charity keeps the warehouse of stuff for fire victims and abused women needing to set up households, and take the deduction. But then again, I'm a bit of a pack rat, and moving would be a good excuse to clear out the excess.

Of course, if the move is for a new job, and they are picking up the tab, all bets are off. But even with that, I'd still move the valuable or non-replaceable stuff myself. Heard too many tales over the years of people realizing something was missing or broken, a month later.

-- aem sends, cringing at the thought of what moving out of this place (to wherever) in a couple of years, is gonna be like....

Reply to
aemeijers

Last time I had to do a long distance move, we used U-pack and it wasn't anywhere near $10k (otherwise it would have been more economical to just sell everything and buy new; at the time I didn't have anything particularly valuable.)

We drove the cars, because moving a car any significant distance tends to cost at least $1K unless you have a friend with a car trailer to move it for you.

Another option, if you only have one car, would just be renting a truck with a car trailer, but keep in mind that both the trucks and trailers tend to be garbage (doesn't matter what company) and at least U-Haul

*will not* have your reserved equipment when you go to pick it up (this is a universal truth) so it will not be a pleasant experience. It will likely be the least expensive option, however.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

When we moved from NY to Michigan 6 years ago we used a service connected to United Van Lines, I think. They parked a 48ft trailer at our place and gave us 48hrs to load it. They gave us an approximate date on which it would be delivered to our new place in Michigan, and then we had 48hrs to unload it. I think perhaps approx. $3000.

We did have to get an OK from the municipality in NY to leave the trailer on the street that long, since it wouldn't fit in our driveway.

The only problem I recall was when the moving company in Michigan called long before the 48hrs was up and said they wanted the trailer back already. We told them, "No way!" and that was that.

Perce

Reply to
Percival P. Cassidy

My one and only long distance move was about 6 years ago from CT to TX, about 1,700 miles.

I did a U pack move, which made the most sense as my move included my shop, forklift and truck and much of my stuff was palletized. Regular residential movers aren't quite prepared to forklift 2,000# mills or

1,000# lathes, or to load 7,000# pickups and 6,000# forklifts into the back of a 53' semi, but fortunately I am :) After loading and sending the semi on it's way I had a day to wrap up and then fly down to be ready to unload when the semi arrived.

The move cost about $6,000 which seems pretty reasonable since I had

100% use of the semi and driver for a full week, two days loading, three days transit and two days unloading, and semis don't exactly get 50 MPG. I did have an extra $100 cost on each end for a tile bed wrecker which I used to load and unload the pickup and forklift, and a couple hundred for a 24' box truck with lift gate which I used on the loading end to get my palletized stuff from several locations to the semi where I backed the trucks together and palette jacked the stuff across.

All told it was a remarkably smooth move for the odd lot of stuff, and yes, the move did also include the usual dishes, china cabinet, bed, etc.

Reply to
Pete C.

If I were to move far again I would go to "Old Dominion" trucking and buy a used trailer for $1000. They have them most of the time and they are road worthy, and they do any repairs needed before selling them. get a tow truck to park it at the house, (the tow truck can drop it and pick it up again at different angles to get it where a tractor can't. Load it up and leave a center isle for things you will unload first. Have a private trucker take it to the new house, and get a tow truck again if needed to park it. When all done sell or give away the trailer, or cut off the axles and every thing underneath, set it down on blocks, and you will have one hell of a big shed. I mention "Old Dominion" trucking because they seem to be everywhere I've ever been. Other trucking companies get rid of there old trailers in a similar fashion. The best part is you can take as long as needed to unload. I'm in a very rural area and parking a tractor trailer here is no problem. I'd think that if they can leave PODS all over the place, the trailer wouldn't be much more of a problem?

Reply to
Tony

A friend of mine some years ago (before "Pods") moved by calling a trucking company which dropped off a large wooden crate at her house. She packed everything into the crate, including a piano, and nailed it shut. They picked it up and delivered it across the country, setting it into her new front yard. She said it was way cheaper than a mover at the time.

IIRC, the crate was maybe 8x8x16 feet.

Reply to
Bob F

I've heard those horror stories too, but have never experienced anything like it. My moves have gone rather smoothly, in fact. I've had a few small things damaged but not enough to even bother with a claim. My last move I had to drop the major company I'd chosen because my new employer didn't want to pay up-front (no leverage). They then suggested a local company that they've done business with before. They were paying the bill, so I agreed. Worked out flawlessly, in fact better than.

The key, IMO, is to READ THE PAPERWORK and investigate the moving companies AT BOTH ENDS. You can also ask up-front for a guaranteed not-to-exceed price and them make sure you got it. I found that the major companies were more than happy to give this, but again READ THE PAPERWORK *before* signing anything.

You can do google searches for the moving company at each end. Really pissed people tend to spread the word. However, these people are not always right, so read the specific accusations.

Did I mention, READ THE PAPERWORK?

Good luck to the mover.

Reply to
krw

My last move, less than two years ago, was about $9K from Ohio to Alabama, (~650mi). Nine months before that, I moved from VT to Ohio (about 600mi) and the cost was about $6K. $10K from CA to MI isn't necessarily bad, but if I read it correctly this is only one POD. That may be high.

Reply to
krw

My mother tried sold quite a bit, including our unabridged dictionary that was almost a foot thick. I was 10 and I missed that thing until I was 35 or 40 and bought one at a yard sale, for a dollar. (I didn't really use it but I like having it.)

We had parties and there was a lot of liquor too, and in order to avoid paying the moving cost, my mother decided to drink as much of it as she could. After a while, she decided it wasn't a good idea for a recent widow to be drinking as much as she could. So she moved it, and some of it probably got moved 2 more times and then a few blocks to my house. She stopped drinking before she became an alky.

It's a good excuse but are you sure you would do it? :)

In my only pro-move, an original oil was lost, not by anyone famous but by an art college girl who had my apartment before I moved in. Picture of a girl vaguely semi-nude. I liked it. :) I called the moving company. I went back to NYC and asked the new tenants. I finally found it about 5 years later, at my new house in my own suitcase. I thought it was too big to fit and even after finding it, I didn't remember putting it in there.

Reply to
mm

On Sat, 20 Feb 2010 05:25:24 -0500, mm wrote Re Re: Cross Country Moving?:

What is a "mentch"? It's not in my dictionary.

Reply to
Caesar Romano

You need to get a Yiddish dictionary:

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Mentch translates literally to mean "man". But a good idiom for it might be "standup guy". Yiddish is fading fast. I'm going to miss it.

-- Doug

Reply to
Douglas Johnson

jfgi

Reply to
AZ Nomad

I've always seen it spelled 'mensch', fwiw. Mebbe that is what he was ragging on.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

On Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:03:53 -0600, Douglas Johnson wrote Re Re: Cross Country Moving?:

Thanks for the info.

Reply to
Caesar Romano

Someone who lives up to his responsibilities. Male or female.

Aem may well be right that it's usually spelled mensch, but there is a t-sound in the word and a t-letter in the Yiddish spelling.

Reply to
mm

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