[faithfulfrank]

Now that it looks like our home is sold and we ARE heading down there for good, I thought I'd post my experience about looking into moving options. our Florida home is already nicely furnished, so we are not moving all that much.

I just contacted ABF Relocubes, Pods, and Ratpack.

Relocubes, (ABF) was the least expensive. Their cubes are smaller, (6'x7'x8') and they will bring two of them, and only charge us for one if we only use one. For our 1200 mile move it was $1457 for one or $1961 for 2. The young lady I spoke to was wonderful. Very professional and helpful. I felt she was very trusting and not rushed or a "pressure seller" at all. So far of the three I am very much leaning towards going with ABF Relocubes.

The second call I made was to PODS. This guy was slicker then snakeoil. Fast talker high pressure feeling. For one Pod, (their smaller one, 8'x7'x7') was $3166.05 When I told him I thought that was high he stopped being "nice" and hung up on me. I was not impressed at all.

The third call was to packrat. The man I spoke to there was nice and professional. Their containers are bigger, 16'x8'x7.5'. Their cost was $2530 and included use of blankets, (don't need) and a free lock and 25k of insurance. He was not high pressure and he was professional.

We will not need too much room, so ABF Relocubes for us anyway seems the best choice so far. To me being able to drive just my car down there, being able to pack, load and unload myself, etc is wonderful and much better then a rental truck.

Frank

[flamingo]

We also have relocubes arriving next week. Want to compare experiences when we are all finally in TV?

[laryb]

We used ABF for our move down, as our TV home was already furnished. I totally agree with Frank as to Pods being slick and higher priced. Haven't had any experience with Pack Rats, so can't comment on them. ABF couldn't have been more accommodating. Called a week before they were to be dropped off to ask that, since they would be in the area, if I would like them dropped off a few days early with no charge. Gave us plenty of time to fill them up. Dropped them off precisely when instructed. I can highly recommend them.

[raynan]

We used ABF 9/10 and were completely satisfied. Very good company to work with.
Nancy

[faithfulfrank]

Funny,
Today because I did not agree with the quote from both PODS and Packrat, they both send me e-mails saying they have "better" deals for me today. I did not waste my time calling back, as I was pleased with ABF from the start. Nice that you can track your cubes on the way down and they do everything without subbing them out to outside movers.....

Frank

[collie1228]

Frank, thanks for the info (especially the prices) from 150 miles east of you. For some reason people seem reluctant to quote prices on this board, and I haven't figured out why. But just the same, we hope to be moving down from Syracuse next summer, and this is all info I can use. I've always been bothered by PODS' website, which "seems" to indicate you can get an on-line quote, but once you have entered all of the detailed information on the site, they require a phone number so they can "sell" you. Doesn't work for me. Thanks again for the details.

[faithfulfrank]

The Pods and Ratpack folks told me it did not matter what time of the week or month it was as it pertained to price.

The ABF girl told me for them it does. Taking delivery on a Tuesday or a Wednesday, especially when not the last or first of a month would save me around $50.00 or so. They also gave me a $50.00 discount because I found a coupon code on the internet.

I am getting my Relocubes on 11/22. She told me that because of the Thanksgiving weekend if I did not mind they would let me have it for the whole week and pick them up on 11/29 since many of the employees take of that long weekend anyway. That works out great for us. I'm in no hurry to get my stuff to Florida because my place is already furnished.....so it should get down there by around 12/5. This got me a lower price because I am getting the cubes before the last week, but not leaving until later in the month.....perfect timing for me.

I like how they bring two cubes if I want, but if I only fill one I am not charged at all for the second....but it is there for me if I need it. My plan is to mark off in my garage the size, and see if one will be enough. I think it will be. If not, then I need to decide if spending the extra $500 for the second one will be worth it, dependent on what would go into the 2nd one. We'll see.

So far I'm very happy with the plan.......

Frank

[graciegirl]

Bump. Maybe they were called Relocubes...

Bumping for the information on this thread in regard to new thread on POD delivery in Sanibel.

There are several other threads on PODS too.

[flamingo]

We were happy with them. Nothing broken, did what they said they would.

[faithfulfrank]

Just thought I'd give an update. I did post about this in my thread about being down here for good, but perhaps folks who are interested in the moving subject would like me to post here.

We got down here on a Sunday night after taking a leisurely one way trip from our NY home to our Florida home. We visited kids and relatives along the way. It was great to just take the car and not worry at all about our "stuff".

Just as promised, ABF called us on Monday morning to schedule the drop off time. We were in no hurry, so Wednesday morning was fine with us. The cube got here exactly the time they told us, around 10am. The driver was very kind and professional and placed the cube exactly where we wanted it.

We had 3 days to unload it, but we were all ready to unload and we actually unloaded it within the hour. It was packed. I asked the driver how much he thought it weighed and how it compared to others he delivered. He smiled and replied that he has dropped off hundreds of them, and ours was about the heaviest. He estimated it was closer to 5000 lbs then the maximum allowed weight of 2500 per cube. They did not charge me any additional.

Because we unloaded it so quickly and the driver was still in the area, he took the cube the same day, as soon as we were done. That was nice, as it did not sit empty in our driveway at all.

Bottom line- ABF was great. I would use them again without hesitation. As you can see, it was packed very well and not a thing was damaged at all.



Frank

[784caroline]

Frank ...you said you requested a quote on a "Small" PODs container....... For a interstate shipment (state to state), you cannot use a small POD, you must use the bigger POD.

[marennorge]

...originating out of Massachusetts. Their follow-thru with driver phone calls and emails during each stage of the pick-up and drop-off was phenomenal. They did everything they said they were going to do, at the time agreed, and at the price they quoted.

My only complaint with them is their preferred list of labor suppliers on the Massachusetts end. We needed a couple of guys to load the POD of the heavy stuff. One crew blew us off, but we managed to get another crew on short notice. I think POD needs to better manage these suppliers to a higher quality level. And I say this as a former high-tech purchasing manager.

Oddly enough, we passed our POD on a flat bed truck as we drove South on I-95.

So, yes, I would use them again, but I would hire labor locally myself, as we did here when we arrived at TV.

[faithfulfrank]

When I was checking around I found PODS to be the most expensive and the least friendly. I had a very bad feeling about them. Compare that to ABF.....every person I spoke to with ABF was friendly, helpful and went above and beyond. And even if I used TWO of the Relocubes, (I only used one) it was still almost HALF the price of one POD.

As I said in my first post, the cost of one ABF cube was like $1450, both cubes would have been $1950 total. One 8 x 7 x 7 POD was $3166.05

In addition, I read another thread here on TOTV that some folks had problems with the local Ocala PODS outfit.

Every move is different and I encourage everyone to just do what is best for you.

Frank

[ConeyIsBabe]

I found this topic very informative ~ Thanks