- Ask your friends and family. The people you trust are the best to give you advice. Make sure to ask them about difficulties and surprises, in addition to the basics of name and phone number.
- Shop around. Make sure to get estimates from numerous companies.
- Don’t rely only on a company’s rate to determine cost. Some companies charge extra for truck, travel, gas, or mileage, and some charge for materials such as shrink wrap, pads, and tape. Find out what they would use for your job, and how much it will add to the basic rate.
- Check the Better Business Bureau or Illinois Commerce Commission for outstanding complaints against a company. No company will be perfect, but you may find a company with a history of problems is going to cost you more in the long run, even if they have a low rate.
- Some sites, such as Angie’s List or Yelp, have member reviews of companies. Note positives and negatives of the people who have used them.
- Throw away things you don’t need or want. Extra boxes or furniture that is only going to be thrown away only adds to time and cost.
- Make sure you have enough space for the items you wish to keep. Also, make sure everything is going to fit into your new place. Sometimes an eight foot couch doesn’t fit into a 6 foot doorway.
- Pack. Nothing will slow down a mover more than being unpacked.
- Pack well. Heavy things go into small boxes. Lighter things go into large boxes. Keep like things together. Keep books with books, and out of the boxes of dishes or glasses. Totes and bins are okay for storage, but can be difficult to move if they’re extremely large. Bags are generally not preferred, but are okay for items such as blankets and sheets.
- If you can, disassemble any items that will need to be taken apart. Time you spend disassembling (don’t forget to keep the pieces together and secure), is time we don’t.
The last step
Relax. If you’ve followed these steps, you’ve earned a break, and can leave everything else to us.