500,000+ people moved out of New York City in 2020, almost 1,000,000 people moved out of California, and more people moved out of New Jersey than any other state, per capita. You could barely find a moving company, they were so busy getting people to their new homes from their old. Working with a reputable moving company may be one of the best decisions you could make, despite how busy these businesses were, and still are. However, when any type of business spikes and there is high demand, you will find those nefarious players out there who may want to take advantage of you and scam you out of your money, belongings, or both. By doing these three things, you’ll be taking prepurchase precautions and make a better hiring decision for yourself and your family.
Research Reviews
Today, it goes without saying that you’ll likely hit a business’s Google ratings before you buy. It’s normal, and people trust reviews like they trust a referral from their best friend. You can review Yelp, but today yelp is likely secondary to Google, but Facebook may not be a bad option for the reviews… You will occasionally find the disgruntled employee acting like a customer, or a bad actor giving a business a poor rating, so please keep that in mind, but the Internet is likely the fastest way to determine if you are going to make a call to that company for your no-obligation quotation.
Ask Friends and Family
Just like researching reviews, friends and family won’t generally steer you wrong. I’m not sure there’s much more to say here, but this is likely a no-brainer.
Ask Better Questions
Get detailed in your Q&A when you are speaking to the Moving company representative and/or ownership.
- How long have they been in business?
- How many moves a day/week do they perform?
- Are the employees long term?
- Will there be a manager coordinating the move when they arrive at my home?
- Can they provide references (see the review paragraph above)?
- Do they have their license numbers handy?
- Are they fully bonded and insured?
There are likely other questions but think a little deeper than beating them up for a better price on your quote. You do want your belongings to get to your destination in one piece…
The Low Quote Warning
If you’re smart, you’ll get a couple of quotes. If one of them is significantly less expensive, this could be a warning sign. They may nickel and dime you to death with mileage, extra labor costs, etc. Or, they may not be fully insured, etc. Remember, there are a lot of costs to running a business… Truck payments, truck insurance, employee insurance, other insurances, rental on their office space, employee costs, tax costs, etc. These things make up the cost basis of the quotation and keep the moving company in business. If the quote is too low, well, they may not be paying these, and you may be out of luck if items are broken, the truck they use is not stable enough, or if there are other issues or accidents.
Hard to Find on the Internet
Transparently, if you are looking for a moving company you’re starting on the Internet these days… And, moving companies today are notorious for advertising on Google, blogging, making videos, etc. They put themselves out there so you can find them. If they’re hard to find, on page 10 or further down than Google, they may be a bit obscure, and you may not want to put much stock in them. A thriving and growing moving company doing business consistently should be easy to find and research online…
If you are expanding, downsizing, looking to declutter your office, etc. feel free to reach out to Hercules Movers, Inc. and ask us about our storage space for your items. We’ll even move them to our facility for you. You can contact us at 732-324-2500 or fill out our form here: https://www.herculesmoversinc.com, and we will provide you with a no-obligation competitive quotation.
