movin' on up!

July 5, 2006 11:10 AM

Moving in Boston on the cheap?

I'm moving in a week and a half, and unfortunately, planning got botched and the people who were going to help me move will be out of town.

My initial cost expectation was $40 for the truck and pizza and beer for my helpers. Now that's shot.

I've received quotes from several movers (ala this thread from a year ago, and most seem to be in the $375-$450 range (which is much more than I can spend on such short notice)


I've noticed that U-Haul has a "people to help you move" section. The rates seem relatively reasonable. I've also seen some on Craigslist.

Does anyone have any experience using these? Would you trust them to move your things?

posted by zerokey to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

Bummer.

The only help I can offer is that those prices are in line with what I paid last summer, about $400 with Michael's Movers (who I would recommend if you could afford them).
posted by justkevin at 11:29 AM on July 5, 2006

How much stuff are you looking to move? Do you have access to the place now (or will you continue to have access to your old place after you move out)?

If you have a car (or enough firends with cars who feel guilty about not helping you on Move In Day), taking smaller trips to move the little stuff (boxes of books, clothes, dishes, etc) yourself while leaving the Big Stuff for movers is a way to help reduce the cost of the move.

We managed to knock a chunk of our move off by doing that then hiring Nick's Movers (as recommended in the previous thread).
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:58 AM on July 5, 2006

Short answer: Gentle Giant.

Long answer: My wife and I had a horrible experience with a moving company that advertises heavily on Craigslist called Special Forces Moving. Do not deal with these jokers.

We had set up an appointment for them to move us from Cambridge to Newton, and they were going to arrive at our apartment at 9 am for the move. We got all packed up, woke up early on the day of the move, packed our last-minute toiletries away, and were literally sitting on our cardboard boxes, waiting for the movers to show up, when I got a call on my cell phone. It was Special Forces Moving, telling me that their truck had broken down the night before, and that they would be unable to complete our move, as promised.

As you can imagine, I was livid. I guess it was my fault for entrusting my move to some dude who's only claim to reliability was a posting on Craigslist, but I have had great experience with Craigslist movers before.

Up shit creek, I was forced to call Gentle Giant, ask them if they could send a team of movers over THAT DAY, and they handled my unique situation with amazing professionalism, courtesy, and not to mention that they were super nice guys that my wife and I enjoyed spending the day with.

Moral of the story: you get what you pay for. Don't trust sketchy Craigslist movers. If you want a real A+ experience, it's worth the dough to use a reliable, reputable company.
posted by kevinmeyers at 1:08 PM on July 5, 2006

I started that moving thread last year, it would help to know how much stuff. There's really no way to do this on the cheap if you care about your stuff and don't have access to muscle.

One thing I did a few years ago (not in Boston so ymmv) was call the local departmemt of employment training or just show up there. I found a couple of folks who were willing to provide the muscle for 50 bucks each plus lunch. It worked out well but my sense is that it's the luck of the draw. I'd personally try U-haul first.

Also try calling local job placement departments at local colleges and seeif there are opportunities there . . .
posted by jeremias at 4:45 PM on July 5, 2006

I recently used this site to get bids on a job. I picked someone who gave me an awesome price. I like the site, both for getting bids, and for the detailed ratings you'll find there, including for some of the Craigslist movers. (I can't recommend the particular mover I used, because he was unreliable about timeliness -- but I knew that it in advance from his ratings, and it was fine for my specifc job.)
posted by daisyace at 5:34 PM on July 5, 2006

Gentle Giant is awesome, but they are not cheap.
posted by nev at 6:44 PM on July 5, 2006