Moving from Boston to NYC - Advice needed to narrow down mover

[ashishcn]

Hi,

I am moving from Boston to NYC at the end of August. Using the recommendations and the great information from this forum, I have met with or spoken to the following movers. I need the collective wisdom of the folks on this forum to help me choose the right mover.

1. All-Star Moving (NYC, Brooklyn)
I spoke to Tom who was very polite and helpful. He gave me an estimate of $1975 based on what I told him was moving. Since they are not local, he said that they will not be able to do an in-house estimate and this was the best he could do i.e. over the phone estimate. They would pick up on 8/30 and deliver on 8/31. The estimate is not a GNTE and he said that final charges would depend on the weight of the shipment.

2. Big Foot Moving
Jim Cronin from Big Foot came over and did a walk around. He was very patient, helpful and polite. Answered all my questions and mentioned that they their estimate would be higher than others since their trucks come back empty from NYC. Their estimate was $2850. This included appr. Transportation - $1800, Fuel Surcharge - $350, P&C - $70, Orig/Dest Fee - $610. Estimated weight of shipment - 2200lbs

3. Humboldt Moving
Dave McDonald came out to do the estimate. He was great, very patient and very helpful. Of the folks that came out, he was the one that asked me to do my homework and recommended that I speak to Gentle Giant and Rainbow, who he considered competition. His estimate was also the most reasonable at appr. $2100. Break down is appr. as follows: Transportation - $1490, Orig. Shuttle - $275, Valuation Insurance - $200, Packing TV - $140. The only thing that bothered me was that they were going to charge me the $140 for packing my TV even though I had my own wooden crate. Estimate of weight - 2500 lbs

4. Rainbow
James McEnaney did the estimate. Pleasant just like the others. Gave me an estimate of $2700. Broken down as Transportation - $1900, Valuation insurance - $200, Extra Labor - $600 (which he mentioned was necessary since the big trailer would not be allowed into Manhattan so they would have to move my stuff from a big truck to a small truck in order for delivery and the extra $600 was the charge for that). Estimate of weight - 2400lbs

So that's it. None of the movers would give me a GNTE quote. The weight was in about the same range but the estimates vary a fair amount. Is the lack of a GNTE something I should worry about? Dave from Humboldt told me that GNTE is something they provide for larger shipments i.e. over 3000 lbs and mine was too small for one.

Currently, I am leaning towards Humboldt both because of the rave reviews and strong recommendation from this forum and also because of the good experience that I had with them so far. Not that the others were much different.

I haven't met with Gentle Giant since the Superlist indicated that the experiences folks had were primarily for local moves.

Can the experts please provide me with advice or tell me anything that I have missed that I should be asking the movers about or for?

Thanks a lot for your help!

Thanks!
Ash

[Diane]

Hi - although all of your possibilities look good, I too would lean toward Humboldt because of their quality and the reasonable quote. I wonder why they won't have to use a shuttle in Manhattan - did they say? In other words, are they using a smaller truck than Rainbow would?

Did the others besides All Star say how long it would take for them to transport your things? That's my only lingering concern. All Star would be very fast. Would yours be the only shipment on the All Star truck?

I doubt whether your final price will be much different from the Humboldt estimate. Anyway, if none of the companies will give you a GNTE it's out of your control. I'm kind of surprised that All Star won't, because usually they at least give people a Binding estimate so the price can't go higher.

[rydog444]

when they did the walkthrough of your place, did you have alot of things that aren't going? That is often a reason not to give a GNTE estimate, because if you changed your mind and decided to include all of your living room furniture or something like that, then instead of just knowing that it'll cost you more based on weight, there would need to be an entirely new estimate given to you.

[ashishcn]

Hi Diane and rydog,

Thanks for the quick responses. All-Star Moving said that they would pick on one day and deliver the next. They said it was very likely that I would be the only one on their truck. I just sent an email to Dave McDonald (Humboldt) checking on the shuttle issue. He told me he is very prompt so I will post a response as soon as he writes back.

All the movers did the walk through at my place between last Wednesday and today. About the GNTE, you're right that a lot of things (i.e. most of my furniture isn't going). I understand that it will cost more based on weight. However, is the lack of a GNTE something I should worry about or given that most/all of the movers I have got quotes from are very reputable and recommended by this forum, not worry about the GNTE.

Thanks!

[rydog444]

I wouldn't worry about it with the respectable companies that you're considering. It's pretty easy for someone like me to see why you weren't given a GNTE estimate, I put one guess out there, and hit the nail on the head. That is the reason, and if you stick to the items that you told them were going, you won't have any problems. On the other hand, if you change your mind on some things, it isn't a big deal either, you just have to be prepared to pay for a higher weight. You could always call the consultant who came to your house and ask what it would cost if you added 500 lbs etc. They'll hook you up with a price difference.

[ashishcn]

Got a response from Dave McDonald (Humboldt) on the truck size question. He mentioned that they would move me in a small truck and most likely (90% of the time), the same driver would load and deliver. Not sure if there is anyway for me to require that the driver be the same other than requesting Dave M. but if any of you have a suggestion please do let me know.

[Diane]

The driver being the same is not as important as the truck being the same. Moving shipments from one truck (or trailer) to another, or into and out of a warehouse, increases the possibility of damage. Changing the driver usually doesn't.

I am still wondering about transit time for Humboldt as opposed to All Star's next-day delivery.

[smatwilly]

James McEnaney (sp?) is one of the brothers at Rainbow--good guy-they are a good agency---at least we have always had great service when they hauled our shipments---family owned--good rep.

[ashishcn]

I would agree with you about James. He gave a good impression and spent quite some time during the estimate.

[ashishcn]

Humboldt would deliver on a weekday since the weekend of my move is Labor Day and they would pick on the Thursday (since it's cheaper than Friday) and deliver on the next working day which is Tuesday.

I will check with All-Star Delivery about their next day delivery and whether there will be any extra charges because of the long weekend. I will be very surprised if they charge me the same as a regular working day since I bet that they will need to pay their guys extra to work that weekend.

[ashishcn]

Can someone please confirm whether this is the right Humboldt?

www.humboldt.com (Agent of United)

The superlist does not have a link to the website or a phone number for them and there is the mention of a Humboldt that has bad reviews. It would be a good idea to add this in.

Thanks1

[ashishcn]

Quick update. I went with Humboldt. Jacqui Yarrell is my move co-ordinator (based on the rave reviews on this site).

So far I'm not too impressed. It's hard to get a hold of her and she is not always good about calling back or following up on things. Two instances when this happened. She was supposed to call me and let me know when the driver will come to load up the truck tomorrow but I never heard from here till I called her to find out. When I asked her about why she never called like she was supposed to she just ignored me. The other instance has to do with crating my plasma. They charged me $140 for this and she told me that on the day of moving a third party will show up to take care of it. When I asked her about this today, she said she is not sure when the third party guys will come and that she will send a guy with the driver who will take care of it. Needless to say I am not impressed. The driver that will be picking up my stuff tomorrow will be different from the one dropping off.

I am still holding my judgement on the company since the guys come to load up tomorrow. I am hoping that the move itself will go off more smoothly then my interaction with the co-ordinator so far.

I sincerely wish (for my sake) that I can continue to give them the rave reviews that they have been receiving so far for their services.

Comments welcome.

[Diane]

Regarding why Jacqui didn't call you, I've been told that this is the busiest week of the year for moving in Boston (presumably because of all the colleges located there). She was probably trying to juggle a million things while talking with you. Anyway, customers have complained over and over here about moving companies not calling to inform them of scheduling. Basically the customers almost always have to call the moving companies. The estimators are trying to make a sale and they are likely to be more responsive than the rest of the employees. I think it will go OK for you, but do keep us posted.