**Successful Move: Manchester NH to Richmond VA with Joyce

[kmcherry]

Hi everyone,

I recently was offered and accepted a position in Richmond, which required moving myself, my wife, and all of my books (I'm a professor) from Manchester, NH. Given the timeline of the first-time homebuyers' credit, we were in a rush to make the move, and we were a bit pressed for time--especially when the closing was all botched up (including documents lost by both Fed Ex and the USPS--next time it's UPS for me!).

We began by trying to find some local movers. One local company never returned phone calls or faxes or e-mails, so they fell off the list. Another said they were unable to be certain the move would happen on our timeframe. So, based on his reputation here and a friend of my uncle's who had a good experience, I contacted Bill Adams of Joyce. Bill drove the three hours up to Manchester to give us an estimate--except, due to an accident in Massachusetts, it took closer to six. In any case, Bill was as good as advertised, if not better. His estimate of our weight was within a hundred pounds.

We then set about packing our stuff. Lesson #1: Use bigger boxes than you think. The move would have gone faster if we had done a better job packing things. Lesson #2: Keep the boxes for each room together. Again, that would have made unpacking much easier. Lesson #3: Start earlier.

Rick and his crew arrived right on time--early even, as we hadn't quite finished sealing the last boxes--on our load date. They loaded us up and even with the disassembling of some of the larger furniture, they were done in less than five hours. I took them out for wings, which I hope were good.

At Bill's advice, we had used a shuttle, so we had an extra day before our stuff arrived in Richmond. The house was a bit of a mess when we arrived, but we didn't get much cleaning done as Harold and his crew showed up well before 8 AM. They had us unloaded in less than three hours. I didn't even have time to get any food for them, so my apologies.

The only issue that arose is that some of the bookshelves that had been taken apart and wrapped up separately from their bookcases vanished somewhere between Manchester and Richmond. (I suspect they were wrapped up in a blanket somewhere and will eventually turn up.) In any case, we're involved in the claims process now, but I suspect it will go smoothly. Bill's continued to be helpful in making sure that goes quickly and painlessly.

The bottom line: I stress about everything, and I REALLY stressed about this move. But it went really, really well, and while I hope never to move again, I would definitely call Joyce if I have to do so.