Northern NJ mover recommendations/avoids?

May 1, 2006 2:20 PM

I am moving from Hoboken, NJ to Jersey City, NJ. It is a short move, around 1 mile. However, as I do not want to have to carry all my stuff down from the 4th floor walk up I currently occupy, and up to the 3rd floor apartment that I am moving to, I would like to hire movers. I am looking for recommendations for what movers to use and/or which ones should be avoided, as well any general moving tips that people care to share.
posted by fings to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

Best answer: First, go to Citimove.com and review the movers there. You can post your job (be as thorough as possible), and local movers will bid on it. They are mostly small moving companies that thrive on short-haul jobs.

Or, you can skip all the process and just go with MoveMaster, who it seems is the most successful mover on the site. I found them entirely reliable and honest, and they were careful with my stuff. I'd certainly recommend them and will likely use them again for my next move.

Tip: use your t-shirts, sheets, towels, and other casual fabric items as packing material. Wrap your framed pictures in towels and secure with packing tape. I think it's absurd that people buy tissue paper to protect items and then pack an entire box full of sheets and towels.
posted by hsoltz at 2:55 PM on May 1, 2006

I used Marrins for a move in NYC, and recommend them (if they do New Jersey). I do not recommend Noah's Ark.

Remember: it's never too early to start packing.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:05 PM on May 1, 2006

I hate moving. Even a 1 mile move is not really any less work. When I'm moving, I get them to unpack the bedroom furniture first. Then I carry (usually along with pets and laptops) pillows, sheets, blankets etc. myself. I also carry toiletries and bath stuff, as well as stuff to clean the bathtub. Once the movers have set up the bedroom, they move on to the rest of the house. While they do that, I get out my sheets and blankets and make the bed! So it's ready for me! Then I clean the bathroom. When the movers are done, I tip them if they haven't broken anything. I order pizza then have a bath. By the time I'm out of the bath, the pizza has arrived. After the pizza I can fall straight into bed without a care in the world. The rest of the boxes can wait until morning to be unpacked. It's the only way to get through it.
posted by typewriter at 5:01 PM on May 1, 2006

Be sure to get a firm price quote, in writing. Certain movers are known to do things like tell you a reasonable price, load your stuff, then "recalculate" a higher price and refuse to unload your belongings in your new location until you've paid.

Even though you're not renting a truck from U-Haul, a U-Haul store may be a good place to get boxes, tape, and other packing supplies. Although for things like books, CDs, and papers, I've found that file boxes, which you can get at Staples or the equivalent, are the best. They make up without tape, have built-in handles, and you can stack them really high without crushing.

As far as packing, in addition to labelling each box based on what it contains, get a bunch of large-ish mailing labels and write the names of each of your rooms on a bunch of them in large red letters: "KITCHEN," "BASEMENT," "BEDROOM." Then for each box you pack, stick a couple of the labels on it according to which room you want the movers to put it in. This will ensure that things end up in the right place.
posted by staggernation at 8:12 AM on May 2, 2006

I had a good experience with Ben-Hur. Make sure that, whomever you pick, you schedule the earliest slot in the day. You can hire tired movers or fresh movers; either way, you're paying by the hour.
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:00 AM on May 2, 2006

I once went to a local hostel and hired two guys to help me move. It was cheaper than hiring a moving company and they were happy to have the opportunity to make some money.
posted by Hermes32 at 8:58 AM on May 3, 2006

Response by poster: MoveMaster was excellent. They showed up promptly, and moved all my stuff with both speed and care. Thanks for the recommendation!
posted by fings at 2:11 PM on May 31, 2006