Recommendations for good local movers in Portland, OR?

April 8, 2011 10:12 AM

Can anyone recommend good local movers in Porland, OR?

My friend is moving within the city of Portland, OR and is looking for recommendations based on personal experience for reliable local movers. She's moving on a tight budget so recommendations for low cost and for movers who were quick and efficient without a bunch of incremental costs/hidden fees would be great.

posted by Kimberly to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

Does she absolutely need movers? My roommate and I moved recently, and we got about 3 of our buddies together and bought them lunch and beer. That plus the U-Haul rental (which in town is super cheap, and they're pretty lax on the whole time frame thing) cost us about $100 total...
posted by Lutoslawski at 10:22 AM on April 8, 2011

Best answer: We used Thunder Movers last fall and I was very happy with them. We opted to pack up all of our stuff ahead of time , although they do offer packing services. They arrived on time, were fast but careful with our stuff (nothing broke or got damaged), and they dismantled and put back together a couple of big pieces of furniture for us. If you tell them ahead of time they can bring stuff like wardrobe boxes or special packing for fragile items & electronics. It took as long as they said it would and the price was completely reasonable. When we move again, I'll definitely use them.
posted by DrGirlfriend at 10:59 AM on April 8, 2011

Response by poster: She does need movers. She hasn't lived in Portland very long and doesn't have a bunch of buddies who are able to help her.
posted by Kimberly at 11:12 AM on April 8, 2011

I worked for a moving company for two years and can tell you up front that you're going to want to tip them half up front and half at the end. If they think you're going to stiff them they're not going to give a shit if they break your stuff. If you have a small one bedroom apt tip them each $10 up front and tell them you'll have another $10 when they're done. They'll move faster and more carefully.
posted by no bueno at 3:40 PM on April 8, 2011

Best answer: I'll second Thunder Movers. I used them and know a friend who used them as well. They work by the hour and moved our 2 bedroom townhome into a 3 bedroom house in about 3 hours, with a lot of furniture.
posted by roquetuen at 12:40 AM on April 9, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks! Thunder Movers sound great and she'll check them out.

You know, no bueno, I've moved 8 times in the past 13 years and I've never done that and never had a problem. It might be because we make sure we have cold water and Gatorade ready tho, and will often buy them lunch so they assume we're not going to stiff them.
posted by Kimberly at 8:33 AM on April 9, 2011