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Take the Worry out of Moving! (The Move - Part 2)Jun 11 '01 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Use these tips for smooth move... well smoothish! (also a follow-up to The Move-Part one) Well, I made it to Dallas and thankfully, so did most of my stuff in one piece! This is supposed to be part 2 of my moving experience, but because of that nasty inconvenience of not being able to post two opinions under the same topic, I am going to combine my review of United Moving with some tips on moving. Got it? Good... here we go! Tip #1 - MAKE THAT LIST For those of you who think they can organize everything in their head... forget it! You will drive yourself and those you love crazy. So my advice is to make a list about 8 weeks in advance of all the things you'll have to accomplish by M-Day. Or you can go to moving.com and they have a generic one you can print out. I loved it because it told me things like by two weeks before move day you should submit a change of address form to the post office. TIP #2 - HARASS YOUR MOVING COMPANY After you've scheduled your pack and load appointments, I suggest calling and re-checking with the moving company the exact times. United was wonderful with my constant calling, whether it was to ask a question, or just make sure that the date and time was till the same. The reason why I suggest this is because I made an appointment with a company about 3 months before the move, and when the day came for the guys to load... they never showed up! TIP #3 - BE NICE TO THE MOVERS This one is a no brainer, if you treat them nicely... chances are they'll treat your stuff nicely. I suggest things like treating them to lunch. Order in some pizza, or run down to the local fast food place and get some burgers. And make sure you have plenty of drinks on hand... especially if it's a hot day! I even had a portable stereo and asked if they'd like me to put some music on. One guys was into classic rock so when I played his request he told me he'd make sure my stuff got the royal treatment! TIP #4 - TAG TEAM If you're the one that got stuck supervising the pack or load of your stuff, make sure you have someone to relieve you... believe me you'll need it. I was the unlucky one who had to stay while my husband ran errands. At first it was okay, but you get very tired of dodging the movers, and listening to them bicker. One of the things that bothered me about the guys who packed our stuff is how they fought with each other. Nothing big, just things like, "can't you go any faster?", or "You should have been done by now." Listening to grown men nag each other can be very tiring. So make sure you and your spouse trade off every hour or so. If you're moving by yourself, try and get a good friend to help you out (promise you'll buy them dinner!). TIP #5 - THE LOAD If you've ever moved before you know all about those colourful stickers with the numbers they put on all your stuff. Pay close attention to how they label things that come apart, like a desk, or your bed. My reason for this is that our desk was taken apart by the driver when they were loading the truck. Only some of the pieces have a number on them, and because the pieces of our desk became mixed with the pieces of our bed (and the driver didn't put them together like he was supposed to - but more on that later), we don't know what goes with what. So a month after we've moved, we're still sleeping on only a mattress, and we don't have a computer desk. TIP #6 - THE UNLOAD My husband came up with a brilliant plan for the unload. Because we had a spare bedroom that we were not really going to be using right away, he had the mover put all the boxes in there. This was great because it meant our living room, bedroom and kitchen area were all uncluttered. I guess this method would not work so well in a big house, but in an apartment it was perfect. Also make sure you have all the terms of the unload. Our driver was supposed to put back together anything he took apart before he loaded it. I knew this, but my loving husband let me sleep in at the hotel because the movers came at 7 am. Unfortunately, my husband was unaware and let the driver go without putting back together our bed or computer desk. And because we don't have the instructions for either one, it looks like we'll have to take a chance and try to piece the bed and desk back together, or just go and buy new ones. TIP #7 - DON'T BE A HERO After a stressful time, you deserve to relax. So why try and kill yourself to unload those boxes right away? Do a couple boxes, then leave and get out of the house and away from the mess. Out of sight... out of mind, right? But don't take too long to unpack... read on for the reason why. TIP #8 - GOT A PROBLEM? So you're in your new place, all your stuff has been delivered, and you're starting the unloading process. As you unpack, you notice scratches on your coffee table, or the shelves of your entertainment centre are missing (both of which happened to us). Don't put off phoning in the complaint because most companies have a time limit for you to send in a claim form. My advice is to get the ball rolling ASAP. For those of you who were interested in my follow up to the United epinion entitled "The Move - Part 1, http://www.epinions.com/content_15543078532/tk_~CB005.1.5 here are my final thoughts on United: Relatively speaking, our move went pretty well, the packers showed up on time (although the loaders were late), we received our stuff the day they said we would, nothing was broken (except the two items I mentioned above), and the move even cost $900 less than the original quote! All in all, I'd move my rating of United Moving to three stars.  |
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