finding the cheapest moving service for MA-MD very small load?

August 21, 2005 4:17 PM

I want to ship less than a room's worth of furniture from a home in MA to an apartment in MD. Google turns up a bewildering array of services and the few quotes I've found (phone and email) seem high. Has anyone done something similar? How much did you ship, how far, and how much did you pay? Who did you use?

I'm seriously stumped. It's frustrating because I have a time limit on getting this stuff and I don't know where to start. The objects in question are: a high-backed leather chair, a ~3' diam. standard height marble-top table with wood base, a fancy office chair, a glass-topped rectangular table of modest dimensions (maybe 1.5' deep, 3.5' wide and 3' high), and possibly a large unframed glass mirror. There may be a few additional small pieces but those listed are definate. I'm not the one paying for this but if I can't find a good price it isn't going to happen. It looks like I'm constrained to moving companies since I'll need the objects loaded and unloaded as well as delivered, and I've never dealt with one before. Share your experiences/recomendations/advice please!

posted by Grod to Travel & Transportation (6 answers total)

See previous threads here and here.
posted by googly at 5:10 PM on August 21, 2005

I don't know anything about really about moving. But I do remember what I think was a MeFi link about moving scams. This could be what I was thinking of. I just remember they seemed to target and take advantage of people in your situation. Quoting one price, but then refusing to unload the truck unless you pay thousands more. I remember thinking, that when and if I ever moved, to be very careful and checking it out thoroughly.
posted by Mroz at 5:14 PM on August 21, 2005

In particular, see my comment here. I was in a situation similar to yours, and this worked quite well for me.
posted by googly at 5:26 PM on August 21, 2005

Whatever you do, don't use UPS.

Moving my wife from Alabama to Canada, and 9 large boxes of stuff were shipped through them. 8 boxes arrived as expected, the 9th went from Alabama to Toronto to Chicago to Huntsville to Toronto to Chicago to Seattle and finally to Vancouver, where we picked it up from the UPS depot.

It was roughly spherical at the end of it, and obviously subjected to some extreme forces. A tiny glass angel wrapped in cotton and inside a strong little box was shattered, although the small box was undamaged. Many items in the box fared just as badly.

In the end, we complained and UPS's response was "We don't insure personal items", although they were happy to take $75USD from us for 'insurance' at shipping time.
posted by Kickstart70 at 9:27 PM on August 21, 2005

I moved everything I own from MD to OR and back again last year. (Don't ask... it was an adventure, and that's all I'll say.)

I used City to City, a division of Door to Door. PODS. You pack 'em, they move 'em. It wasn't especially cheap, but I was going cross-country.

I was extremely pleased with their professionalism. What they quoted was what I paid. Since I packed everything, I was confident that I had prepared my shipment well. Not one single thing broke. I was very pleased with the results.
posted by Corky at 3:48 AM on August 22, 2005

Call any reputable local mover in the starting location and ask them about groupage rates. If you don't have anyone to suggest a mover in the area, try one that is affiliated to a national company (such as Allied or others). Groupage means they will come, pack your stuff, take it away, and then bring it to you when they have enough stuff to fill a whole truck going to the same area. They'll tell you how long this will take. If you are willing to be a bit patient this is likely to be fairly economical.
Good movers will give you a contract in advance guaranteeing a fixed rate. And they'll explain the insurance options to you, including a fairly inexpensive full cover option (for loss, damage, anything that might happen).
posted by cushie at 10:22 AM on August 22, 2005