Finding a mover on Long Island/using PODS

qjakal · Joined: 05 Sep 2007 Posts: 11 Location: Forest

Hi All,

I live in Suffolk County on Long Island and my family will be moving to Forest, VA sometime at the end of Sept or beginning of Oct. We have a 4 BR home so there is quite a bit to move.

I've been doing a lot of reading on this forum and I want to start off by saying thank you for being here and I'm so glad I found this.

In my reading I've found a lot of people recommend using a mover that charges by the pound for long distance moves yet there are a lot of recommendations for movers who charge by the hour. My first question is which way is really better?

One of the movers I'm considering is Maher Van Lines as they have a lot of good recommendations and charge by the pound. My second question is if there is anyone else around here that charges by the pound that anyone might recommend?

I'm also getting an estimate from All Star as they also have great reviews on this site. But they charge by the hour and Forest, VA is about a 9-10 hour drive and they are at least 2 hours away from where I live. I also called Shea Moving but Julie Shea told me she really didn't think they would be the best choice for our move. Now that's honesty!!

I have a couple of issues when planning this move. First I will need most of my belongings stored for between 30-45 days. Second, I need to bring some of of my furniture & belongings with me to use in a semi-furnished rental until my new house is ready. This will include our beds.

So my main question is can anyone recommend any other good movers I should consider for this move??

Thanks so much!

Rick · Joined: 04 Aug 2005 Posts: 3270

Here is a recent loop about a very good LI based Atlas agent. It's followed by a link to some other companies that Diane has collected info on who would service Suffolk county. Forest is beautiful little town. I envy you.

http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14526&highlight=avatar
http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=61637#61637

farrah7031 · Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Posts: 4619 Location: Tallahassee, FL

For a long distance move (out of state) you will be charged by weight, not by the hour.

qjakal · Joined: 05 Sep 2007 Posts: 11 Location: Forest

Hey Rick,
Thanks for the threads. I've called Avatar and they're coming to give me an estimate next week. And, yes, we think we're going to like Forest.

Farrah,
Seaman's and All Star both told me they always charge by the hour, even for out of state moves, and they both have good recommendations on this site.

So why is that??

farrah7031 · Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Posts: 4619 Location: Tallahassee, FL

Oh, I forgot you're in NY. For some reason, some independent companies located in NY have chosen to charge per hour for interstate deliveries. As long as they have filed their hourly tariff with the NY DOT, everything is ok (Which they have).

Diane · Joined: 06 Oct 2003 Posts: 15834 Location: Los Angeles

Regarding Seamens - it may have a few favorable remarks on this website, but I personally would not use it for an interstate move. From the Superlist linked to below my name:

OnTheMove4us · Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

Hi qjakal,

Trying to find a mover from Suffolk County LI to Maryland, Southern Prince Georges County, and a six hour drive, I started by using Service Magic.com.

NOTE: I have used Service Magic in the past for other home repair projects and had no complaints about the companies I used.

But when it came to the movers, the picture became clear. I did my research using the BBB and D.O.T. (NYS Department of Transportation) web sites and found that the movers that responded including others I just saw who moved from Long Island had numerous complaints with maybe one or two resolved. From missing household items to insurance revocation (numerous and reissues) to adding additional fees for moving including holding onto your personal property. One company, Quality Van Lines even sent emails, left messages, even after I spoke to them stating I had chosen another company.

What have I decided? To move ourselves and “PUT EVERYTHING IN BOXES THAT CAN BE PUT IN BOXES. . . We choose PODS; if you don’t mind moving yourself, the only drawback is they need a three day window for moving your stuff. Example; say you need your household items at your new location on the 28th. They will pick up the POD on the 24th and take it to the Calverton drop off center. Then on the 27th the POD will be transported to Maryland and stored overnight at one of their locations then delivered at your new location on the 28th. You have 30 days to load and unload before additional charges. If you have a driveway it’s great. Our cost for one 16’ POD, $1100. Plus you can store your POD at your new home or their facility until you need it.

We then choose Penske Trucks for moving our personal items we will need for two days before we get to our new location and tow a second vehicle. One 16’ truck and a car trailer $550 for three days. Our POD arrived yesterday and we loaded half of our boxes and still have ¾ space left in the POD. Now we are on our own time taking our time and enjoying it. No rush… Hope this helps.

qjakal · Joined: 05 Sep 2007 Posts: 11 Location: Forest

Unfortunately, we have too much stuff to do it all ourselves. We definitely need to use movers.

So far we have gotten estimates from All Star, Maher and Avatar. All Star was extremely expensive. Maher was more reasonable and Avatar has come in at the best price so far. I have Hall-Lane coming on Monday for an estimate.

I'll let you know which one I choose.

OnTheMove4us · Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

Hi qjakal,

Have you decided on a mover yet? We completed packing the 16' POD (3 BR House) yesterday leaving only personal items, desks, couch, china cabinet and dinning table and chairs and clothing need B4 POD delivery. The rest will be put in a Penske rental. It's amazing how much stuff we donated or did not need. Only the two of us using two dollies and a hand truck it ONLY took six days. LOL. (I'm disabled, back injury) So we packed boxes on the lite side. Well now waiting for next week until the closing on our new home in MD, and move will be completed. We asked the current owner if we could place the POD in the driveway B4 closing and it's OK. Some folks will work with you. Good luck on your selection. We'll keep this forum updated on the PODS delivery and the Penske truck.

qjakal · Joined: 05 Sep 2007 Posts: 11 Location: Forest

Well, after getting all the estimates, we are probably going to use Hall-Lane.

They will take the load by itself and deliver it to Virginia any day we want. They will also wrap all of the furniture, not just the upholstered stuff and they agreed to deliver a whole bedroom set to another house just 10 miles away for only about $43 (the extra stop charge) before getting the truck weighed.

My estimator was Alex Daflos and he was very nice. And he claims that their damage rate is extremely low. Now we have to decide on whether we want the full valuation insurance. Still thinking that through.

OnTheMove4us · Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

Well we arrived in Maryland safe and sound. The Penske truck, 16' and car trailer towing my wife's car, we had no problems. Oh it took a while, about 100 miles to get used to driving while towing a vehicle. But once we got out of LI and dealing with the roads in Queens and Brooklyn in NYC, all went well. As my wife said "I drove that thing" LOL. I highly recommend PODS and Penske for household moving.

Now we need help. We need a company in the area that can assist us with unpacking the POD and Truck. The folks that were going to help us had to last minute job requirements. Any help is greatly appreciated.

farrah7031 · Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Posts: 4619 Location: Tallahassee, FL

You can see the reviews here that we have:
http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=57639#57639

Otherwise you can go to www.emove.com and use only a highly rated company listed there.

OnTheMove4us · Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 7

Thanks for the info Farrah7031.

Well we are finally moved in and almost done with unpacking. So, at the last minute after we lost our help for unloading, we used a company recommended by PODS called Pacific West Moving, LLC which services the Maryland/DC/VA area. They provided the moving labor services for unloading. They sent us two very courteous gentlemen, Jon and William who arrived on time and unloaded our 16’ POD and 16’ Penske. They re-assembled our furniture, placed our furnishings and boxes in the desired rooms and unpacked some large boxes for us. They were even willing to arrange furniture. All this for $75 an hour. They completed the job in three hours. We could not have done this ourselves. They even suggested that my wife, who was helping, to just “relax; we’ll take care of everything”. I highly recommend Pacific West Moving, LLC, 866.874.8059. Smile

farrah7031 · Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Posts: 4619 Location: Tallahassee, FL

Thanks for your review. It appears their website is here: http://www.paxwest.com and their local number is 301-466-7226.

It appears they're a local moving company only.

Diane · Joined: 06 Oct 2003 Posts: 15834 Location: Los Angeles

There are some questionable aspects to this company, as indicated by MusicMom in the following thread - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6891 The owner, Brandon Scivolette, has posted here as "paxwest" and also praising Dan Cunningham, a highly controversial figure in the moving labor industry - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=65108#65108 Personally I would be cautious about using this company.
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Diane
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