Tag: NJ movers tips

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How To

How to Spot Real vs. Fake NJ Moving Reviews

How to Spot Real vs. Fake NJ Moving Reviews

When planning a move, you’ll probably do some research on the professional moving companies before you hire them. After all, you don’t want to get stuck with unlicensed or uninsured movers. Or, worse, a scam. For many people, reading online reviews can help them decide whether to choose one company over another. Even a few bad reviews can turn people away from an otherwise great company. The problem is that while online reviews are useful, they should always be taken with a grain of salt. After all, you can’t verify the legitimacy of said review. A NJ moving company with nothing but glowing reviews might not always be the best one for you and, in some cases, these reviews might not even be real!

That doesn’t mean reading reviews is a waste of time. Instead, you need to critically evaluate the comments in order to distinguish real reviews from the fake ones. Once you understand what to look for and how to evaluate these comments properly, you can apply this knowledge to other areas like when you’re researching a large purchase like a car, computer, or home!

Why Online Reviews

Before we get into how to evaluate customer comments, it’s important to understand the power and influence of online reviews. Since its introduction, they have been a way for people to figure out whether the service or product they are considering is right for them and if there are any deal breaker issues. In the past, reviews were relegated to the domain of subject matter experts, but the popularization of online shopping has allowed everyone to share their experience. And since these comments are from normal people, many trust them more than reviews from experts who might have received some kickbacks or payment leading to them being less trustworthy. In a way, it’s a different form of word-of-mouth recommendation.

It’s no surprise then that around 84 percent of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations and that an overall positive online review makes folks trust a business more. Naturally, with something as important as moving, people will always veer towards companies that have positive comments since they want to make sure the people they hire are professional and won’t break their belongings! 

Why Businesses Create Fake Reviews

Considering how much of an impact reviews can make on customer decisions, it’s no surprise that some companies will drum up fake reviews. There are usually two reasons companies craft these comments:

  1. To boost their ratings so they can look more reliable and attract customers
  2. To leave negative reviews on their competitor’s page to damage their reputation

While some movers will create a fake account and post reviews that way, others will hire people to leave reviews for them so it looks more natural. Ultimately, the impact of fake reviews has a huge impact on both the customers and businesses. For the customer, fake reviews can lead to confusion and poor choices. They might think they are hiring reputable NJ movers, but instead they end up hiring either a bad company or get scammed.

For actual moving companies, especially those targeted with negative comments, the consequences can lead to loss of revenue and damage to reputation. Depending on the platform, they might be able to remove these fake reviews, but in many cases it can take days or even weeks to get it removed. In the meantime, hundreds of customers will avoid them because of these fake negative reviews. This can have an especially big impact on smaller local movers. 

But what about the companies that get fake positive reviews? They might see an uptick in customers in the short-term, but customers will quickly find out the truth once they hire them. Depending on how bad the movers were, they could face legal repercussions.

How to Spot Fake Reviews

With so much competition in the NJ moving scene, many companies will utilize fake reviews to hopefully catch your attention. So how can you spot fake reviews? It can be difficult, but once you develop an eye for it, you should be able to root them out on almost every site.

  • Overly positive language – if a review sounds like an ad for the company, chances are it was written by the movers or someone they hired. Look for phrases like perfect experience or flawless service as these often lack authenticity.
  • Generic – while not everyone wants to write paragraphs about their moving experience, many will at least explain some parts of their move like where they moved to, if the movers went up flights of stairs, etc. If the review has zero details, you might want to take it with a grain of salt.
  • Timing of reviews – Yes, lots of people move on the 1st of the month, especially if you live in a place with a lot of renters. But not everyone writes reviews at the same time. If you notice multiple reviews posted on the same day that read similarly, chances are they are fake.
  • Low pricing – if a reviewer specifically mentions an exceptionally low price, beware. Most professional movers are priced similarly with maybe a $10-30 difference. If something is $50 or more cheaper, it’s probably a scam or there are a lot of hidden fees.
  • Comparisons – reviews claiming that one company is a lot cheaper or better than another without any clear reasons are suspicious. 

Analyzing Reviews

Not all reviews are super obvious. Sometimes you’ll need to take a little more time to determine whether it is real or not. The biggest indicator of a genuine review is that they often provide a story or personal experience. Many times they will name the movers or an aspect of the move that stood out to them. These are very rare in fake reviews! Another good tell is if the reviews portray the company in a consistent manner. Don’t mistake consistency of service with consistency of the actual words in the review. If you see a lot of comments that use the same phrase or wording, they’re probably fake!

Finally, if you’re unsure about a review, many sites allow you to click on the name to see their posting habits. A new profile with minimal activity or only activity on specific services or products could potentially be a red flag. If they user has made several posts, check them out and look for things like overuse of marketing jargon words, the same exact words used across multiple reviews, and strange posting patterns.

How to Find Reliable Reviews

It’s hard finding quality online reviews, but there are a few places to look. Google Reviews allows users to provide an array of customer feedback on a variety of services. On the other hand, Yelp allows users to provide detailed reviews and to filter these by location and service quality. Both sites utilize algorithms to detect and remove fraudulent reviews, although they can’t always catch all of them.

There is also the Better Business Bureau, which lists accredited moving companies in addition to complaints, resolutions, and a general overview of the company’s performance over time. All companies listed on the site have to go through a strict process in order to be listed.

Finally, professional movers must all register with the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), which requires them to provide proof of insurance, incorporation, etc. Once they receive all of this, the movers will receive a USDOT number which customers can look up to ensure all of the information is up-to-date and if there are any complaints.

Hire Reliable NJ Movers

Finding a good moving company takes time, which is why you should start looking for one at least a month before your move date. You want to take your time doing your research so you don’t accidentally fall for scam. If you’re in the market for a NJ moving company, give NJ Great Movers a call. We are licensed and insured and have been in business long enough to rack up hundreds of positive reviews. Reach out to us and we’ll work with you to make your next move seamless.

Categories
Moving Tips

The Most Useful Guide for NJ Movers

The Essential Tipping Guide for NJ Movers

Moving day is here and you’re all packed up and ready to go. Hopefully, the moving crew has done their job and made the moving process as smooth as possible. While you’ve likely spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars on your move, you might be wondering whether you should tip your movers, especially if they did a good job. The fact is, moving companies don’t factor or take gratuities into account in their overall estimate. And while it’s not required, tipping is common in the moving industry and your NJ movers will certainly appreciate the gesture.

Figuring out what’s fair depends on a variety of factors including:

  • Difficulty of move
  • Quality of service
  • Size of move
  • Number of movers

When hiring professional movers, you should set aside some money for tipping that fits comfortably in your overall moving budget. This tipping guide can help you create a ballpark estimate of how much you should tip.

General Tipping Guide: What You Need to Know

You’re probably familiar with tipping at restaurants. There, you tip a portion of the total and increase the tip amount based on the service. If you try to carry over that concept to moving, it will cost hundreds of dollars. An excellent place to start is to tip movers at $4-5 per person for every hour they work. Here’s an easy breakdown of how to tip movers:

  • Half-day move (generally 4 hours) – $20/person
  • Full day (8 hours) – $40/person
  • 12 hours or more – $50-60/person

While this is a baseline, you should also factor in the complexity of the move into the price. For example, if your movers are also packing all your things and moving bulky furniture like a pool table or piano, you might want to increase the rate.

Tipping on Moving Day: Should You Tip?

Most movers NJ residents trust should provide a decent baseline level of service. Most companies offer consistent training to ensure all crew members know best practices when it comes to moving things as efficiently as possible. Some factors to consider regarding the success of your move include:

  • Punctuality – did the movers show up on time and communicate their arrival beforehand?
  • Efficient – was your move completed on time or even faster than expected?
  • Helpful – did the movers answer your questions? Did they help with packing, uninstalling, and basic disassembly of furniture?
  • Friendly – while you don’t want your movers to be chatterboxes, you do want them to be friendly and respectful of you, your family, and your neighbors
  • Excellent work ethic – they didn’t dawdle when they go on-site and performed work without any complaints including navigating tight halls and stairs
  • Careful – Did all of your items arrive in the same condition as they left your old home? Did they damage anything including the walls or floors of your new or old place?

Of course, there might be times when you will need to adjust the tip downwards. Some things to look out for include:

  • Poor attitude and tardiness
  • Rude and loud during the move, shouting profanities around children and neighbors
  • Lack of regard for your instructions, especially with fragile items
  • Damaged belongings
  • Threatening or demanding a certain amount of cash as a tip

Since tips are meant to show movers appreciation for their hard work, you can withhold a tip if the crew you had were particularly egregious. In these cases, you should also call the company directly and make a report. In many cases, you might be refunded a portion of your moving fee as an apology.

When and How to Tip Movers

As with any other service provider, you should only tip after the job is done. That way you can pay attention to their attitude, how they treat your belongings, and their professionalism throughout the entire process. The exception to this is for long-distance moves as these are often handled by multiple crews. You should provide a tip to the crew loading your items and to the crew unloading them at the destination.

With that said, you can let the workers know beforehand that you intend to tip them for their hard work. That might motivate them to get the job done faster! When figuring out how much you owe, don’t forget to count non-monetary contributions that you provide during the move such as lunch, water bottles, coffee, etc. Something like a water bottle shouldn’t decrease the tip amount dramatically, but a lunch might replace a tip in its entirety.

Once the relocation is complete, put the cash tip for each mover in a separate envelope and hand them out individually instead of giving out the total amount to the foreman. It will limit confusion and prevent potential dishonesty where some movers take a higher cut than others. Also, by handing out the tip individually, you are showing that you are recognizing everyone’s effort. And while it’s customary to give each mover the same amount, you can give a higher one to someone who went above and beyond.

Other Common Ways to Show Your Appreciation

Yes, cash is king, but there are plenty of other ways you can thank your movers. While not necessary, these can go a long way and help future moves go smoothly if you choose to use the same company. Some ideas include:

  • Leaving a good online review using their names
  • Provide refreshing cold or hot drinks (depending on the time of year). Just make sure these are non-alcoholic drinks!
  • Offer small snacks or food to help keep their energy levels up!
  • Write a thank you letter after they have completed the relocation and include it with their cash tip
  • Offer a meal. This might not work for very busy movers, but you can always offer a quick meal of pizza, sandwich, etc. that they can take to go. Also, make sure to check if they have any dietary restrictions before putting in the order!
  • If you have items like furniture or decor you no longer need, offer it to the movers in case they want it. Many will gladly take it off your hands either to keep in their own home or sell

How to Improve Moving Efficiency

While you’ve hired the NJ movers to load and unload your items, you can make the job go a lot faster by making sure you’ve fully packed everything. Some movers will recommend you leave large and/or expensive items like glass tabletops, TVs, etc. to them as they know how to wrap them up properly.

While they will disassemble and dismount your AC units and furniture, it’s always a good idea to do it yourself. That way, you know exactly where all the screws, brackets, and nails are. Also, make sure to empty all your drawers and shelves. It will reduce the weight of these items and the movers don’t have to worry about your belongings flying out of the shelves during the drive to your new home.

Another step you can take to make your and your mover’s life easy is to label each box appropriately. A well-labeled box includes the room name and a basic inventory of what’s in the box. You should make sure any boxes containing fragile items are labeled accordingly. That way the movers will know to handle them with care.

Moving is a tough job and any action you can take to make it easier helps your assigned crew out alot. Once the NJ movers have completed their job, show your appreciation by giving them a well-deserved tip and great review!