Moving BOS -> Chicago. Need advice for dealing with the movers

[volcs0]

Our big move is approaching.... we are moving from Boston back home to Chicago. Fortunately, my new employer is paying for the move, so we're hoping for one of those "full pack" moves. After 3 DIY moves, this will be a welcome change.

The movers quoted us something called "full pack." In other words, they come in and pack everything. In fact, they said that if we pack and seal boxes, they either have to open them or they won't "be responsible for what's inside." I've gotten quotes from Atlas and a local Chicago company called Golan. The Atlas quote was about $8500.

Since we've never done this before, I'm pretty ignorant as to how to make the best use of the movers. Do we literally not pack anything? Do we put our clothes into boxes? What about all the books lining the bookshelves? All the electronics, computers, etc.? We have a house full-o-crap - granted it is less now that we've been showing our house for sale, but still, there is a ton of stuff.

So, what do people do? My inclination is to do a lot of packing ourselves and just leave the boxes untaped for them to inspect.

Any other advice?

Thanks.

[PeterB]

1) Make an inventory of everything yourself. Do not assume the movers will do a proper job of it, and make sure to check on the Chicago end to be certain that they've dropped off absolutely everything.

2) Bundle things into packable units. That is, make things into units that the packers will be able to easily handle and place into boxes, not sitting around loose.

3) House full of crap... do what I did when I moved from Boston, make best use of:

A) your natural instinct to throw crap away rather than keep it -- use this as an opportunity to houseclean and organize/sort at the same time you're moving

B ) the fact that though Cambridge/Boston has limits on the amount of crap you can toss in the trash per week, there are NO limits on the amount you can recycle per week. That means if you have a lot of paper and paper-type stuff that you want to toss, you can recycle nearly all of it. That's what I did...

C) your neighbors and the fact that they will stupidly want your crap -- put up an ad on Craigslist with your address and offer up everything on your lawn ... you will be amazed at the way they will appear out of nowhere like cockroaches to take your stuff

HTH

[RgrF]

Beg your employer to change his/her mind.

[volcs0]

[quote RgrF]Beg your employer to change his/her mind.
I'm not sure I understand. My employer here or in Chicago? Change their mind about what? What does this have to do about "advice for dealing with the movers?"

[ADent]

Take a video or pics of everything you can. I spent about 20 min with a buddies video camera.

On my move either the packers or the loading movers took several things including my tool box. I had a video of my tool box (opened up and big stuff taken out) - that was worth a $500 check for just the crappy tools in it. Also missing was a Dustbuster and a box. Of course none of these were on the loading inventory list.

[comaplate]

Be prepared to throw out a MASSIVE amount of packing paper when you move into your new house.