The Best Balboa Mover: Five Steps to Finding One

best-balboa-beach-moversAs you’re getting ready to move into a new home or apartment, don’t forget to plan for hiring a great moving company. Hiring any service company can take time and planning, as you want to be sure you’re getting great service and the best bang for your buck.

Sure, you’re juggling a lot of other things when it comes to planning your move. But as you’re dealing with leases and home sales and everything else, take the time to be sure you’re getting great moving service. Here are five steps to help you do just that:

1. Start with recommendations

The best place that you want to start is with asking others about their recent moving experiences. People who have worked with the local moving companies in your area are the best place to get real information about what kind of customer service the companies offer. And when you’re hiring a company primarily for its services, the level of customer service is the most important factor.

 

If you can’t get personal recommendations because you don’t know anyone who has moved recently, look online for information. Moving companies’ websites often include customer reviews. But you can also find information from local Facebook groups and forums. These are great places to toss out a question about the best local moving company in order to get some answers from real people.

2. Gather estimates

When it comes to hiring the best Balboa mover, price isn’t the only thing to consider. But it should be somewhere near the top of your list, for sure. You definitely don’t want to hire a company that’s going to charge way too much or completely blow your moving budget.

So here’s where you start gathering estimates and quotes from the various companies on your list. There are two keys when getting moving company estimates. One is to get only in-person estimates, and the other is to ask for binding estimates.

Moving companies that offer estimates over the phone are giving you ballpark quotes – likely very low ones. These are quotes meant to reel you in, and sometimes they indicate that the company is really running a scam. A reputable moving company will always send someone out in person to check out your home and offer an estimate that’s actually reasonable.

When you get these estimates, though, make sure the language in the estimate says that they’re binding. Some companies will write in a contingency fee, so you may pay a bit more than the original estimate, but your costs will be limited. This is the kind of quote you want. A non-binding quote is likely to be overly low.

3. Choose a mover

Once you’ve gathered quotes from several moving companies in Balboa, it’s time to pick out the best Balboa moving company. Again, the bottom line price shouldn’t be your only consideration, but you’ll want to take it into account. Most of the time, you can toss out quotes that seem impossibly low. They probably are. And you can also toss out quotes that are unreasonably high.

One thing to do when going through quotes is to be sure you’re comparing all the same things for each moving company. For instance, one company’s quote may be higher because they’re offering more services, which you may or may not need. You can always call companies and ask them to remove or add services so that the estimates are for very similar services.

4. Run a check

Once you’ve chosen your moving company, but before you sign the contract, take this step. Take a minute to check online for the company’s licensing and insurance information. You definitely only want to work with a moving company that is properly licensed and insured.

To find this information, get the company’s name or DOT number. If you can’t find this information on the moving company’s website, call and ask. Then, go to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration website. Type in the company’s name or DOT number, and you’ll get a lot of information about that company.

Most importantly, you’ll be able to see if the company’s licensing information is up to date. Then, you can also check that the company is insured. The website will have lots of other information, too, including the number of wrecks a company has reported for the past 24 months. This can all be helpful information in making your final decision.

5. Sign the contract

Once you’ve landed on the best Balboa moving company for your upcoming move, it’s time to sign the contract. But before you do, check to make sure everything is correct.

Even a small typo in the address on the contract could cause serious issues on moving day. So be sure that all of this information is correct to a T. Then, double check the services the company is planning to provide, and the price you’re going to pay. Be sure you’re getting all the services you want without paying for any that you don’t really need.

Also before you sign, ask the moving company if there’s anything else you need to know about the process. For instance, do you need to be available on moving day? Do you need to give the movers keys? How does the process work leading up to and on moving day? Make sure you understand all these details before you sign the contract.
Then, sign the contract, sit back, and relax while the best Balboa mover takes care of your move.