Moving Companies

[clc17]

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Hey,

We are trying to decide between Mayflower, Northamerican and Bekins. Our estimates are essentially exact. Any information/experiences good or bad would be appreciated.

We checked out BroadwayExpress but it was 2200 to do all the work ourselves and 3600 to have someone come and do it for us and have it completely insured along the way.

 

[Diane Moore]

Can you tell me where you're moving from and to, how much stuff you have, and most important, the names of the particular companies (agents) you are considering? Although there are good agents in each van line, IN GENERAL, moving professionals say that Bekins is the lowest-quality van line and Mayflower isn't the greatest. The best van lines overall are said to be United, then Atlas, and then North American and Allied. Reviews on Epinions.com confirm this. Bekins is rated very low there, overall.

If your lowest quote is from a Bekins agent, you might want to be cautious. There are certain ones in Southern CA and TX, for example, that should be avoided.

 

[Furrball2]

I went with United VanLines. I packed they loaded. I'm spending a couple of months with my fiancee before moving to my residency -- unfortunately in different cities #$#@$ match! -- and I am storing my stuff for $90 qmonth with the company. All said and done I am spending a few hundred more than U-Haul but it is a much easier process. I recommend it.

 

[clc17]

We are moving from Buffalo,NY toWinston Salem NC. Our estimates from NorthAmerican, Mayflower and Bekins were all within 100 dollars of each other, including the MVP insurance. We didnt' have Atlas or united come out to the house.

This confirms our choice I think. We were leaning toward NorthAmerican to begin with.

 

[Furrball2]

We are moving from Buffalo,NY toWinston Salem NC. Our estimates from NorthAmerican, Mayflower and Bekins were all within 100 dollars of each other, including the MVP insurance. We didnt' have Atlas or united come out to the house.

This confirms our choice I think. We were leaning toward NorthAmerican to begin with.

United and Mayflower are essentially the same company, two divisions with compan parent.

 

[Diane Moore]

United and Mayflower are essentially the same company, two divisions with compan parent.

It's true that they are both members of the same parent company (UniGroup). However, if you go on Epinions.com, you'll see that United has a 52% recommended rating vs. Mayflower's 34%, i.e. it is 50% higher - http://www.epinions.com/compare.htm...sec_~product_list/pp_~1/pa_~1&Compare=Compare

I'm not sure exactly what that means, or whether it means anything, but the moving professionals posting on MovingScam.com have said repeatedly that United is much better than Mayflower. In fact, they have said that the only reason that UniGroup bought Mayflower was that Mayflower has the #1 name recognition for a moving company in the United States. Many people, if you ask them for the name of a moving company, will come up with "Mayflower" and nothing else.

PS Even on this website, someone posted recently that he/she thought that Mayflower owned all the moving companies in the United States.

 

[DrSmiles]

Diane, question for you.
I am trying to set my move up with Premier (the Virginia based company that is using Mayflower and working something out with the AOA).
I received my quote sheet today, which said that the estimate is a bound estimate between MTI and shipper.

But this is where I am confused. I was also given another sheet to sign that is called "Additional Services Price List". Is this normal? It says it is for "potential additional charges, if needed or requested by customer". Then it goes on to say that the "following potential costs for additional services may be incurred while enroute or at destination and that the estimated charges would be collected at the time of delivery if these services are performed at your request or are required in order to accomplish delivery of your shipment".
These are some of the services that were listed:
Auxillary Service/Shuttle, self-storage/mini-storage delivery, 1st day storage in transit (per CTW), delivery out of storage in transit.

Do all moving companies have this type of extra charge sheet outside of the original estimate? I don't know if it means i would get charged or not, but it does state "services required in order to accomplish delivery of your shipment".
Let me know what you think.

 

[DigableCat]

Question for all,

I have a 2001 Jeep Cherokee(automatic 2WD)...

I was wondering if it would be better to just get a u-haul trailer(probably the 6'X12') and attach it to my truck, from Texas to California.

I've heard mixed opinions. Some say it'll be okay, while others say that it'll ruin the transmission.

Any ideas?

 

[Diane Moore]

Diane, question for you.
I am trying to set my move up with Premier (the Virginia based company that is using Mayflower and working something out with the AOA).
I received my quote sheet today, which said that the estimate is a bound estimate between MTI and shipper.

But this is where I am confused. I was also given another sheet to sign that is called "Additional Services Price List". Is this normal? It says it is for "potential additional charges, if needed or requested by customer". Then it goes on to say that the "following potential costs for additional services may be incurred while enroute or at destination and that the estimated charges would be collected at the time of delivery if these services are performed at your request or are required in order to accomplish delivery of your shipment".
These are some of the services that were listed:
Auxillary Service/Shuttle, self-storage/mini-storage delivery, 1st day storage in transit (per CTW), delivery out of storage in transit.

Do all moving companies have this type of extra charge sheet outside of the original estimate? I don't know if it means i would get charged or not, but it does state "services required in order to accomplish delivery of your shipment".
Let me know what you think.

Hi again - ironically, this is the same kind of language that originally alarmed me in your Bekins quote. I know that legally, moving companies are now supposed to disclose the possibility of additional services (such as a shuttle) being needed, so the company is doing the right thing by giving you this extra sheet. (I assume that it doesn't have actual prices on it.)

The question in my mind is whether they are allowed to collect for those services at the time of delivery, as the sheet seems to say. My impression is that the company has to bill you 30 days after delivery day--it cannot insist on receiving the funds before that, or withholding your goods until you pay. Since I'm not in the industry, I've gone on MovingScam.com to ask Tim Walker (founder of the website) and the moving professionals there what they think about this.

As a practical matter, to address what's probably on your mind, I don't think you will be charged any extra because you must already know whether a shuttle will be needed to deliver you, or whether you will need storage, right? So in your case the statement is really just a CYA for Mayflower and the specific agent moving you. Do you know whether Premier is actually going to be moving you in its own truck or will it be a Mayflower/United driver?

Also, you're very welcome, Digable Cat. Sorry that I don't know the answer to your specific question.

 

[DrSmiles]

Thanks Diane for posting my question at movingscam. Mayflower will be moving me in their truck, and Premier even sent a Mayflower agent out to do the physical estimate and they left me all the fancy Mayflower brochures/info sheets. I actually went over to movingscam and saw your post, so I added my own post to try to clarify the questions I have. This Additional Services List really does make me nervous because of the fact they list estimated charges in a column next to the rate, which makes me think they are anticipating extra charges, which would increase my moving cost by over $1000.
This is exactly what my list of prices looks like (with prices rounded off to keep it anonymous)


SERVICE DESCRIPTION/ RATE/ ESTIMATED CHARGE

Auxiliary Service-Shuttle $500/ $300
Extra Stops $100/ $0
Self-storage-mini-storage delivery $150 / $50
Waiting time $50/$0
Advanced charges $0/$0
1st day storage-in-transit $10/$0
each additional day storage in transit $050/$0
Delivery out of storage-in-transit $800/ $800

 

[Diane Moore]

Thanks Diane for posting my question at movingscam. Mayflower will be moving me in their truck, and Premier even sent a Mayflower agent out to do the physical estimate and they left me all the fancy Mayflower brochures/info sheets. I actually went over to movingscam and saw your post, so I added my own post to try to clarify the questions I have. This Additional Services List really does make me nervous because of the fact they list estimated charges in a column next to the rate, which makes me think they are anticipating extra charges, which would increase my moving cost by over $1000.
This is exactly what my list of prices looks like (with prices rounded off to keep it anonymous)


SERVICE DESCRIPTION/ RATE/ ESTIMATED CHARGE

Auxiliary Service-Shuttle $500/ $300
Extra Stops $100/ $0
Self-storage-mini-storage delivery $150 / $50
Waiting time $50/$0
Advanced charges $0/$0
1st day storage-in-transit $10/$0
each additional day storage in transit $050/$0
Delivery out of storage-in-transit $800/ $800

Well, now that Tim has taken an interest in your situation maybe you'll get some answers. I agree that the "rate" thing looks confusing (if not actually meaningless) and it's impossible to understand how they arrived at the estimated charges. I emailed your above figures in the proper format to a group of MovingScam volunteers and asked them to comment.

But again, bottom line: I don't think you have anything to worry about. You know that you won't need any of that extra stuff.

This type of thing is actually partly what led us on MovingScam.com to advise people to move themselves in a rental van or use ABF or Broadway Express rather than going with a full-service mover. The whole industry just seems like a dinosaur on the verge of sinking into a swamp.

--> For anyone in the NY area: there's a relatively new company called Moovers, Inc. headquartered in Northern CA that is an offshoot of Delancey Street Movers. It is looking for loads going from the East Coast to the West Coast at the end of June, or to any point near Route 80. This company has a rave review on MovingScam.com and I have recently talked with one of the owners (Jayson Berger) at length. It's a hands-on operation run by Delancey Street graduates with low prices because they are trying to build up their business. This is one full-service mover that I personally feel pretty comfortable with. I already asked them whether they can move people north-south this summer, for example from Chicago to TX, and they said no, not right now--only east-west. I describe them further on this thread if anyone is interested - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4459

 

[Diane Moore]

I'm a volunteer on MovingScam.com and am reposting some tips just posted there on all the threads here having to do with moving:

1. -->June 7, 2005 - Someone has just posted that you can get a 30% discount from Penske just by asking a customer service rep for it on the phone--no fooling around with web discounts. - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4639 In addition, someone else posted that a Penske phone rep offered to match a Budget price in Manhattan as long as it wasn't more than 40% lower than Penske's price - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4571 These things are definitely worth checking into.

2. Also, "yc" (who is moving with ABF, not using U-Haul) posted on 6/9/05 that you can get a month's free storage with U-Haul if you use any of the loaders, etc. listed on their www.emove.com website - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4610

Since ABF does not offer free storage (which I will need for 2 weeks) I'm going to be storing my things at a local U-Haul storage center. The good thing is that if I use an emove.com helper to help me load/unload (or basically do any part of my move), U-Haul give me 1 free month storage. You just have to tell U-Haul that you are using emove.com.

Hope this helps someone.

 

[clc17]

We've done a complete about face. Now my husband has military orders so the Navy will pay for our move. We cancelled our North American move and the Navy has chosen Cook Moving Systems, a United agent, out of Rochester NY to do our move. I've looked but havent found much bad about them. Cost is no longer an issue, I just want our stuff taken care of. We are buying the extra insurance, but some of those testionials state the company still didn't reimburse for damages. Any advice about how to make sure our stuff is adequately protected and/or reimbursed if damaged?