Need Advice on Hiring Moving Vans From the North East

[luvhockey]

Looking for recommendations from Villagers who have moved from the northeast to TV. What moving company was fair and honest? Looking to move lots of household boxes - very little furniture - but nonetheless a good amount of stuff. Estimates all over the place and online reviews seem biased (maybe paid for?). So, help us out if you can. Thanks

[davem4616]

we interviewed four long distance movers before we moved...doesn't matter who, the prices were all over the board

rule of thumb is ya don't take the lowest or the highest.

it's a crap shoot....but ya wanna be there when they are packing up

most often your stuff will be combined with another load and be put in storage down here until you arrive and they can
schedule your delivery

we had some minor damage...it happens, thankfully it wasn't with anything important

good luck....as Uhaul says...it's an adventure in moving

[Stu from NYC]

We used Allied in February they were basically fair. Gave us as many boxes for free as we wanted as well as 7 wardrobe cartons (used but very clean)

Only problem is driver highers loaders to load and unload.

Va loaders were great very careful and we think no damage.

The loaders here not so good.

They broke a glass table and put it together just enough so we could not notice they broke it.

Some glass pitchers also broke.

Overall decided it would not make the insurance deductible so didnt file.

the trucker showed up on time both days.

[pklein9747]

We moved from NJ to The Villages and used White Glove Moving out of Bayonne NJ. Very, very pleased with their professionalism, attention to detail. Price was reasonable. We, too, mostly moved boxes and just one room of furniture. Nothing was broken in our move. Our daughter has used them to move locally in NJ twice in as many years and, again, they did a wonderful job.

[Chitown]

Don’t use Atlas Van Lines. They are one of the big moving companies. I interviewed Atlas, United Van Lines, and Mayflower. I ended up choosing Atlas. Their price and customer service were ok but they broke several pieces of furniture and my 60 inch tv was broke. And you know all those plastic containers and boxes you have? Well in order to maximize the storage in the truck they pack those 6 or 7 high which crushes the bottom two. They all talked a good game.

[Altavia]

The Villages offers relocation services that include a discount on moving services. The move is managed locally to help be responsive to any issues.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

We moved all in a uhaul trailer, towed by us, no furniture 3/4 full . . . only damage was a computer monitor didn't make it on the way home, $129. Other people from the northeast used PODS, though don't know much about the service. Used the recommendations of the helpful posters on this board to change lifestyles and reinforce "You can't take it with you" mantra.

sportsguy

[Stu from NYC]

You can interview until your blue in the face but one thing to consider.

The job is given to a driver and a couple of loaders.

You the customer have no say in who those guys are.

Depending upon the driver who bids and gets the job and the loaders he arranges will determine how happy or unhappy you will be at the end.

[rjm1cc]

You might look at using pods since most everything is in boxes.

[Lottoguy]

Get rid of all your stuff up there. Save on the moving costs and just buy new when you get there. At the very least just hire one of those PODS and fill it up. They will drop if off in your driveway here in The Villages.

[bumpygreens]

We got our best and most accurate quote from Allied. They packed the boxes, crated several large, breakable items, picked up on time, and delivered on time. The driver was great. He hired labor at both ends and closely supervised them. Nothing was lost or broken. I'd highly recommend them.

The PODS recommendation is a good one if you don't mind doing a lot of the work yourself. Just make sure you do a good job packing, and load the container tightly so your boxes don't shift or fall.

[kathyspear]

You might look at using pods since most everything is in boxes.

We have moved a zillion times (from CA to the East Coast, from PA to FL, and many local moves in between). I have never had a single thing broken or damaged until I used pods to move from PA to FL.

I am fanatical about packing all my stuff into boxes. We used professional movers to fill them up north and unpack them down here. The thing about pods, though, is after they are filled they are raised and lowered by a crane a number of times and stuff gets tossed about.

In our case the pods were stored at their warehouse for a couple weeks, which required lifting them up and down with the crane multiple times. At the final location they are again lifted and lowered with a crane. As a result of all that raising and lowering of the pods things were broken (and our pods were filled to the max so there was little space for stuff to be jostled around.)

Even if we hadn't stored them for a while the pods would have been raised and lowered several times before they ended up in our driveway. Compare this to items that are moved by moving van, in which things are walked onto the truck and then stay at that level throughout the move. Personally, I would never use pods again except to move relatively non-breakable stuff like couches, chairs, and mattresses.

Just our experience. Good luck with your move.

kathy

PS -- FWIW, I strongly advise you to think twice (or more) about every single thing you plan to move down here. Most of us bring way too much stuff and regret it.

[Stu from NYC]

We have moved a zillion times (from CA to the East Coast, from PA to FL, and many local moves in between). I have never had a single thing broken or damaged until I used pods to move from PA to FL.

I am fanatical about packing all my stuff into boxes. We used professional movers to fill them up north and unpack them down here. The thing about pods, though, is after they are filled they are raised and lowered by a crane a number of times and stuff gets tossed about.

In our case the pods were stored at their warehouse for a couple weeks, which required lifting them up and down with the crane multiple times. At the final location they are again lifted and lowered with a crane. As a result of all that raising and lowering of the pods things were broken (and our pods were filled to the max so there was little space for stuff to be jostled around.)

Even if we hadn't stored them for a while the pods would have been raised and lowered several times before they ended up in our driveway. Compare this to items that are moved by moving van, in which things are walked onto the truck and then stay at that level throughout the move. Personally, I would never use pods again except to move relatively non-breakable stuff like couches, chairs, and mattresses.

Just our experience. Good luck with your move.

kathy

PS -- FWIW, I strongly advise you to think twice (or more) about every single thing you plan to move down here. Most of us bring way too much stuff and regret it.

In the history of the villages nobody moving here ever decided they took too little :bigbow:

[Steveccnj]

We used a service called U-Pack which is just like it sounds. They drop off a large trailer at your house and you get about 1 week to pack it as carefully as you want, either by yourself or your own chosen loaders. When you are all done, they come and measure how much of the truck you used and that's all you pay for - not the whole truck. It's by linear foot, not weight. They drive and deliver the truck to your new location. You can take as much as 3 days to unload - again either by yourself or your chosen crew - and they take it away. They have loader/unloaders available at either end or there are many services that allow you to rent your own crew by the hour. We had nearly a full truck and it only took our rented unloaders about 3 hours to empty the whole load here in the Villages. Very flexible, you control the packing and loading - high and tight will save you quite a bit - and nowhere near as expensive as a full service moving company. U-Pack also has "pods" if you're sure you don't need a full sized truck.

This also avoids the risk of the moving company withholding their final cost estimate until after the truck is loaded. That goes by weight and if there's an overweight surprise you are negotiating with some one who has your whole life packed in their truck already.

[Jimmay]

I was in the moving business for 50 years b4 retiring. There is a lot to say regarding your question. Message me if you’d like some professional answers

[joseppe]

Looking for recommendations from Villagers who have moved from the northeast to TV. What moving company was fair and honest? Looking to move lots of household boxes - very little furniture - but nonetheless a good amount of stuff. Estimates all over the place and online reviews seem biased (maybe paid for?). So, help us out if you can. Thanks

Accept that its going to cost more than it should and many of your items will be damaged or broken and some may even be missing. Then pick any one of the companies and get on with it.

[escudel@bellsouth.net]

Gentle Giant. Used them 3 times. A little more expensive but worth it in the long run.

[caljeff]

General comment:
When we moved from California to TV in '17 we employed North American Van Lines. Our items arrived in reasonably good shape. Our driver utilized local helpers to load and unload our belongings which was not a problem. Our issues occurred in pricing. We had our items packed "professionally" in CA. They apparently under estimated what it would take and increased the price over original estimate. This amounted to a $5k increase. In reviewing the contract (rules of cartage) it is stated that the mover is not responsible for underestimates the property owner is. After all (the contract states) it is an estimate. The bottom line is to aware that the property owner bares the complete financial responsibility of the move. If the mover buys into the move ("low balls" the estimate) it is the property owner who picks up the entire difference. On shorter moves that nuance doesn't present any issues but on larger/bigger moves that is something to consider. What I have described was the environment in 2017. It may have changed since.

[cj1040]

if you only have boxes and not much furniture or oddly shaped things PODS or PACK RAT cubes are the least expensive option. You order it to be delivered when you want it , pack it up tightly using rope or ratchet straps to secure it and lock it up and arrange for them to pick it up. They will deliver it to you when you want it. You can hire local crews to help load and unload if you need to. No one will have access to the locked unit but you. This is less than half the cost of movers. We are combining a small cube with movers who will handle larger and heavier pieces of furniture etc but they charge by weight so we plan to stuff the cube with heavier boxes and things I want to pack securely myself.

[Girlcopper]

General comment:
When we moved from California to TV in '17 we employed North American Van Lines. Our items arrived in reasonably good shape. Our driver utilized local helpers to load and unload our belongings which was not a problem. Our issues occurred in pricing. We had our items packed "professionally" in CA. They apparently under estimated what it would take and increased the price over original estimate. This amounted to a $5k increase. In reviewing the contract (rules of cartage) it is stated that the mover is not responsible for underestimates the property owner is. After all (the contract states) it is an estimate. The bottom line is to aware that the property owner bares the complete financial responsibility of the move. If the mover buys into the move ("low balls" the estimate) it is the property owner who picks up the entire difference. On shorter moves that nuance doesn't present any issues but on larger/bigger moves that is something to consider. What I have described was the environment in 2017. It may have changed since.
Im sure you know you were ripped off with the long standing scam. Load the truck and afterwards the price increases. If the company is that far off on an estimate, then theres a problem with them.

[Nannygpm22]

Our move was in late 2016. We moved 67 boxes, a few end tables, utility stools and a desk chair. Some boxes were large for well packed (we thought) lamps and favorite framed wall art. We transported in the back of our SUV an air mattress, bedding, a Keurig and a new, boxed TV as well as our travelling needs.

Since we packed our own goods, we had to buy suitable packing boxes and packing materials. This was easily a few hundred dollars and many trips to Lowe's or U-Haul. We hired Arpin Moving of Nashua, NH to do the move. We paid about $7000. Goods were picked up on 12/7 and delivered here 12/20.

I hope this helps! Welcome to TV!

[markfrat]

Try Wheaton Movers They were great when we moved from Indiana to The Villages. Very fair pricing.

[shirleyjerez]

Looking for recommendations from Villagers who have moved from the northeast to TV. What moving company was fair and honest? Looking to move lots of household boxes - very little furniture - but nonetheless a good amount of stuff. Estimates all over the place and online reviews seem biased (maybe paid for?). So, help us out if you can. Thanks

2 men & a truck they are from north east

[shirleyjerez]

A pod I forgot about that. The best

[keasthon]

Be careful! Do not use Colonial Moving and Storage. We did and it was a total nightmare for 2 weeks!

[JoelJohnson]

We used ABF. They drop off a trailer, you load it (we hired someone to load it) and you lock up your section you use. They drive it down and you unload it (we hired The Village Movers). The only problem we had was the trailer was not waterproof and a rug got wet (we just threw it out). You only pay the number of feet you use.

[Leisurelady25]

Just my advice - don’t move boxes of “stuff”

[JayK!]

Where in NE? I have company from SW Pennsylvania. Moved us twice.

[Mary Windsor]

My husband and I hired a UHaul vehicle and drove down from Northern Virginia to TV. It was an easy journey and we stopped overnight at a reputable hotel.
The bulk of our furniture was coming transatlantic from UK.
Good luck with your move!

[Mary Windsor]

My husband and I hired a UHaul vehicle and drove down from Northern Virginia to TV. It was an easy journey and we stopped overnight at a reputable hotel.
The bulk of our furniture was coming transatlantic from UK.
Good luck with your move!

[pdearmond]

Be very careful who you hire. Daughter moved here 2 months ago...looked at reviews on internet and chose one that had several great ones. Turns out these companies contact anyone with a bad review and pay them to change to a 5 star...they are all brokers and just hire any company that will take the move...her move was a disaster!

[jxm473]

Looking for recommendations from Villagers who have moved from the northeast to TV. What moving company was fair and honest? Looking to move lots of household boxes - very little furniture - but nonetheless a good amount of stuff. Estimates all over the place and online reviews seem biased (maybe paid for?). So, help us out if you can. Thanks

I used Colonial Van Lines, but I had problems every step of the way.
If I had to do it over I would get a pod and fill it myself/friends.

I do see that United Van Lines and Mayflower get good ratings.

[virtue51]

I used The Villages Relocation Services -- it does not cost any money to use the service. They arranged for me to interview three moving companies -- I selected one of the companies and there was no damage to any items. I had them pack the dishes and other breakable items. I did move furniture and more than 100 boxes. The moving crew was from Florida. The crew worked non-stop and everything arrived without any damage. Good luck with your move.

[crydzanich]

We moved from NE PA and used Bekins. No problems. Very little furniture, mostly boxes. When I moved from TV to VA, I used a company called Jiffy Pod. No issues at all.

[Alicat5977]

Get rid of all your stuff up there. Save on the moving costs and just buy new when you get there. At the very least just hire one of those PODS and fill it up. They will drop if off in your driveway here in The Villages.
Totally agree, after our research we found it cheaper to sell everything up North and buy new here. Moved what we brought here ourselves.

[PugMom]

keep far away from Father & Son's Moving. they took 4ever to get here, & when they did, we were missing a good number of items still unaccounted for to this day

[brfree1411@aol.com]

Be careful! Bait & switch estimates are rampant!
I hired movers in Memphis that are based in Ft Lauderdale but go all over the county.
Try to get someone to come look at your stuff. To tell you what they will pack like mirrors & paintings.
Don’t hire Agility Van Lines.
That is who is moving us to the villages.
They gave me a $7500 estimate then came out to $12500

[PugMom]

OMG! that's insane. & you have little recourse, don't you? they have your things, & you want them, so they prob figure you would pay any price. our stuff was 4 MONTHS late; we had to go out & buy a lot of new things, sleeping on an airbed wasn't possible for me.

[talleyjm]

Looking for recommendations from Villagers who have moved from the northeast to TV. What moving company was fair and honest? Looking to move lots of household boxes - very little furniture - but nonetheless a good amount of stuff. Estimates all over the place and online reviews seem biased (maybe paid for?). So, help us out if you can. Thanks

Best advice I can give you - Cut what you have decided to ship in half❗️ Florida is a totally different climate and your big, dark heavy furniture and other stuff that fit so well up north won’t look right in Florida. You will want “Florida style” furniture and clothes. We used a pod to move and spent less than $2,000 and still brought too much stuff. Good luck. 🥰

[Stu from NYC]

OMG! that's insane. & you have little recourse, don't you? they have your things, & you want them, so they prob figure you would pay any price. our stuff was 4 MONTHS late; we had to go out & buy a lot of new things, sleeping on an airbed wasn't possible for me.

Wow did you have any recourse to them?

[Dond1959]

Please google any moving company you plan to use. There will be thousands of horror stories. There are all kinds of bait and switch and extra charges. Once you hire the company they subcontract out everything and they are looking to do it as cheaply as possible to maximize their profit. When we moved here in 2019 the horror stories of the industry convinced us to not use them.

The best and cheapest way is to throw out / give away as much as possible. Then rent a truck yourself for the remainder. Hire someone to load the truck and hire Village Movers down here to unload. Very reasonable prices. If you don’t want to drive a truck the next cheapest option is a pod type deal. Again, hire to load and unload and dump as much as possible.

[Stu from NYC]

Amazing how so many movers get away with stealing from their customers.

[massachusettskid]

We moved from Massachusetts to the villages in March.

We got 4 quotes and Wheaton Vanlines was the best.

They came to our home and boxed up items which we did not box and they used moving blankets for the furniture. The packers were employees of Wheaton and they were great.

Upon arrival they unloaded and everything was in great shape. We did not have to file any claim for damage. I would recommend them anytime.

[OU812]

Jimmay,

I also am moving from the DC area down to TV and could use some of your insight on the moving industry.
My plan is to hire a moving company to load all my furniture and boxes and then store it here (DC) or maybe there, haven't decided that yet. We will rent for a month or two down at TV and will look to buy soon. Once we find a house to purchase we will need to contact the moving company and make arraignments to have it all shipped down to TV. Any thoughts, tips or advise?

Thank you, John ( User name OU812 )

[mrbgull]

:bigbow::bigbow:Highly recommend ABF. They use pods, yet they are placed inside a regular freight trailer, enclosed,not exposed to the elements,suchas PODS. Excellent results and experience WE even arranged a load and unload service through them .

[Stu from NYC]

Jimmay,

I also am moving from the DC area down to TV and could use some of your insight on the moving industry.
My plan is to hire a moving company to load all my furniture and boxes and then store it here (DC) or maybe there, haven't decided that yet. We will rent for a month or two down at TV and will look to buy soon. Once we find a house to purchase we will need to contact the moving company and make arraignments to have it all shipped down to TV. Any thoughts, tips or advise?

Thank you, John ( User name OU812 )

I would not do what you are doing. Can you stay at your current location longer say 6 months.

Rent for a couple of months and see where you want to be and if you like this place at all.

Once you buy a resale might take a few months to close. If you want a new build another 3-4 months after you decide.

I have had stuff in storage in the past and
1. It is expensive
2. Somehow stuff gets broken.

[Birdbathbabe]

Important to check that they are not just brokers. Look under Better business bureau to see how many trucks they have, complaints lodged etc. I moved from the Jersey Shore this month. You should have an exact list of sizes and number of boxes etc. They can give an estimate without coming to look at stuff. They factor in weight of items also.Don't be bullied into tipping each guy. Read reviews of customers and yes, they are probably paid or who knows who write them. Get multiple estimates in writting. I was very nervous about the whole thing and did not have anything I felt was important, put on the truck. My car was packed! I had 1 BR worth of stuff and paid just under $3k all together.
Know that my stuff was suppose to be delivered in 4-5 days but it was 7. If you only need boxes transported, look into options. These guys want to wrap, box and disassemble. That's where the price can go up. Use that to barter with. Know they are extremely busy.