Not so great: our movers earned 6/10 on today’s performance. (That’s a Canadian 6/10, which is overly generous and actually a 3). I’ve never used professional movers for an inter-city move before, so I had high expectations for a day with little stress and minimal exertion on our part. Instead? Very much the opposite. Here’s the movers’ scorecard:
- They were on time - 1 point
- They made certain to check what was staying and what was going – 1 point
- They were fast – 1 point
- They dealt with our jumble of mismatched boxes - 1 point
- They brought covers, blankets and shrink wrap – 1 point
- They worked hard – 1 point
No points awarded:
0 points for: no uniforms
Somehow, I just trust people more when they’re in uniform. Flight crews wear them, why not moving crews?
0 points for: whining (constantly) about the building’s layout
It’s got an elevator, what’s the problem? Shut up and start lifting.
0 points for: leaving all our boxes in a messy heap
Seriously? I’d colour-coded the boxes room-by-room. Bedroom! There’s only 1! Big, bright labels also gave a fairly good indication of which way was up. Our movers felt that ‘upright’ was a value-added service they’d ignore.
It was like they’d never seen a Duplo set in their life. Their delivery system abused physics and sacred order. Actually, minus points. -50 points.
0 points for: dropping boxes off the side of the truck
Oh those boxes? No, of course the contents of those boxes are shatter-proof. Try again – they’ll probably bounce.
I appreciate that this time-saving maneuver saved us some dosh. But my precious possessions weren’t so keen to defy gravity. I can still hear Färgrik and Svalka crying.
Not sure where I went wrong in picking these guys.
- They were Better Business Bureau approved
- Had good reviews on Google Maps
- And I grilled them as to why ‘they’d be the best’.
I don’t dream there’s such a thing as a truly painless move, but these guys… kinda sucked.
As for the really sorry looking guy painfully packing his life into a U-Haul yesterday…. dude. Promise us you’ll never do it again.
Who do you guys recommend? Who gets 10/10 and why? What are red flags and how do you avoid the sucky ones?
P.S. Just popping over to feast your eyes on the ugly? Subscribe now or get email updates – like ugly, ugly magic!
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Looney Tunes photo property of Warner Bros.
Hey, you want a s'more? Some more of what?
I’m sorry to hear that…I’ve never used a moving company before, so I don’t have any advice. At least the hard part is over….oh wait, you have to unpack…haha.
Do you have 12 beefy, burly brothers? How have you managed to escaped moving companies? Hats off, Shannon – that’s a very enviable statistic.
Ooo but you have Panago! So that makes it all that much better.. is it a Chicken Fajita??
A long-gone BBQ chicken =) Poor thing didn’t stand a chance.
Aaand done! All up to date and looking forward to future entries!
I, too, lack for advice on professional movers, but I do have this one piece of advice: Definitely don’t forget to stop once and a while. Need to stop on a budget? I recommend hitting up Saje where you can smell, spritz, and shmere every tester in the store and walk out feeling very lovely indeed with only your time spent!
Cheers and good luck.
Great advice for pikeys everywhere!
I moved recently. My movers were supposed to come at 9:30 am, Saturday morning. A brief summary of the conversation with their dispatch guy is as follows:
Me: “Um, yes, hello. Your moving man was supposed to be at my apartment at 9:30.”
Him: “And?”
Me: “… it’s 11:15 …”
Him: “I think I see what you’re getting at…” Checks computer, confirms driver sent to wrong address, many miles away “… Okay, sorry about that Mr. F, we’ll send you another driver right away.”
Me: Patiently awaiting offer of discount at the very least “And? This is going to cost me what?”
Him: “I can happily confirm we will be giving you absolutely no discount.”
Well I can happily confirm they were even later so I didn’t pay the schmucks a dime. Not recommended.
Dead pan for deadbeats – classic. Surely your humour exceeded theirs when you refused to pay? How’d that work out?
I’ve only done the “beg friends to help” thing, so I don’t have advice on how to choose the best movers for you. Well, unless you want to use our friends
They did a good job — even managed to get a freezer down a narrow staircase into the basement without dropping it or breaking any limbs 
So when you sell your Ugly Baby, will you be selling it furnished, complete with all the cutlery in the drawers and condiments in the fridge??
Kelly
Send ‘em over – how’s Labour Day weekend, 2011?