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Comment by RS-232 | Hacker News Reader

Another anecdote for never using flat rate/subcontracted movers if you can avoid it.

My employer clearly picked the lowest bidder (naming and shaming Atlantic Relocation Systems) for a long distance move across 3 timezones (~2000 miles).

Upon arrival, all of our wooden furniture was destroyed. Every drawer falling off the tracks. Expensive tools missing from my tool bag, such as my Ideal SureTest circuit analyzer. Strange stains on our sofa, reminiscent of animal urine.

The $5000 dollars that we received in damages was a pittance and small multiple of the cost of repairs. Our still broken furniture is a bitter reminder to never trust these kinds of movers.

At least we got our stuff… some lost everything. It would be better to just downsize and circumvent the need for movers completely. We would all be better off with less shit.

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While we're naming and shaming: VIP Mayflower in Los Angeles.

I moved from the west coast to the east. VIP sent my stuff to Idaho, where it sat outside unprotected for two weeks while the driver did another load that was of a higher priority than mine.

When I finally got my stuff, nearly two weeks after the delivery window, none of my tables had legs. They had been removed and somehow lost in shipping.

I got enough money from the extra moving insurance and from the payout for the delivery being so late that, in effect, the move was free. But it wasn't anywhere near enough to cover fixing and replacing what was damaged.

After hearing so many horror stories of stuff not being delivered on time, being damaged, or even held hostage for extra payment, when I did a cross country move, I just hired local movers to load and unload the truck and I drove it myself. It took a few days, but I had full control of the process and I was never handing over all of my stuff to some random company.

I did the opposite. I had a POD set down in my driveway and we loaded it up at our leisure. We packed and secured everything ourselves, then had it moved to the new house and unloaded it at our leisure. Since we packed it ourselves, nothing was damaged or broken at the other end. I'll never move any other way again. It was so nice not having the stress of renting, driving and returning a truck on time. The rental costs of a pod is pretty cheap, so you can load it up a week in advance... and having it moved was also surprisingly cheap.

On the flip side, I once paid the lowest bid flat-rate mover and they went so far above and beyond that I felt awful about how low their bid was and gave them double after the job was completed.

Live in the world the way you wish it to be. I often pay more or give extra, and it always seems to improve things than be "expensive" in time or money.

Keep all the small, important, sentimental stuff and expensive, hard to acquire tooling. Sell all the furniture. It's essentially commodity, takes up the most space, and easy to get anew. Factor the cost of sale and rebuying into the price of moving. That was my strategy when I moved into a tiny home.

If you find a national furniture store you may even be able to pick out your furniture here and have it delivered there. Particularly if you have kids or elderly, you’ve given them time to adapt to the idea of new furniture.

>Sell all the furniture. It's essentially commodity, takes up the most space, and easy to get anew. Factor the cost of sale and rebuying into the price of moving.

I read this advice last time I moved, so I tried to price it out for myself. This may be true for “bachelor pad” situations. But my bedroom furniture alone cost more than the cost of moving and now comparable items would be double the price of what I bought it at. Let alone all my other furniture. Sure I could recoup some price by selling it, but not enough to cover the difference. It’s cheaper by thousands to higher decently quality movers. (A lot of it also I has sentimental value, though I realize how silly it may be, and I would not factor that in unless the costs are similar).

But I don’t move that often, so that factors in here.

Good luck even selling your furniture. Nobody wants it unless you pretty much give it away.

Depends what it is. IKEA stuff goes quick if priced right. Everything else is harder

less shit, I believe, is always the solution!

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