Tag: packing

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General

Are Movers Responsible for Damage

Are NJ Movers Responsible for Damage

In an ideal world, nothing would ever get damaged during a move. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case and while professional movers work their hardest to ensure the safety and security of your items, sometimes accidents happen. To avoid potential headaches for your move, it’s important to know when movers are liable and what steps you can take in case your items are damaged or missing.

The Truth About Moving and Damages

When you hire NJ movers, you spend a decent amount of money not just for convenience but for protection. In theory, hiring movers should be the safest way to transport your belongings. After all, movers have training and experience on the best way to pack the truck and drive without damaging your things. So when something does get damaged, it’s usually due to improper packing, cluttered moving space, or even simple accidents. The reason for the damage will ultimately decide whether the moving company is liable or not.

When Are Movers Responsible for Damage?

Your choices and actions can play a significant part in whether the moving company is held liable for damages or not. Some factors include:

  • Packing hazardous materials – if you pack these items without letting the movers know and they damage something, the movers may not be held liable.
  • Self-packing – when you pack your own boxes, movers might not be responsible for any damage to the contents. With that said, if you can prove that you packed the box appropriately and the damage comes from neglect and poor handling from the movers you can open a claim.
  • Coverage selection – your belongings are automatically covered by released value protection coverage, but that means movers are only liable for no more than $0.60 per pound per item. You can purchase full value protection and if something gets lost, damaged, or destroyed the movers can choose to repair, replace, or compensate for the current market value
  • High value items – even if you purchase the full value protection, movers cannot be held liable if you don’t declare all the high value items. These tend to be items that are worth over $100 per pound so think an expensive SLR camera or your TV. Luckily, you just need to declare these items in the inventory.
  • Signing delivery receipt – be careful when signing these as some might have provisions that release movers from their responsibility once the document has been signed. Always inspect your belongings before signing anything.
  • Delay in reporting – if you notice that an item is damaged or a box is missing, report it as soon as possible. While most valuations allow customers to report within 30-60 days, the longer you wait, the harder it will be to claim compensation
  • Weather conditions – some valuations and even third party insurance companies have a special addendum if you move during extreme weather conditions where some damages might be considered unavoidable. Make sure to read over all the information beforehand.
  • Pre-existing damage – If there are already some chips or dents on some items, additional damages might not be covered.

So when you put everything together, in order for movers to be responsible for damages you should properly pack everything, declare the value of your shipment, notify the movers of any high-value items, and inspect your belongings after the move before signing anything! While this might seem like a lot of extra work, it’s worth the peace of mind. 

Hire Reputable NJ Moving Company

Your best bet for getting compensated for damaged or missing belongings is to use a trustworthy moving company. They might be more expensive, but hiring unlicensed movers can lead to significant risks like unsafe moving trucks, potential for theft, extortion, and more chances for your stuff to get damaged. Stick with the pros, like NJ Great Movers, and you can rest easy knowing we’ll provide you with the best service possible.

Categories
How To

How to Find Cheap and Reliable NJ Movers

How to Find Cheap and Reliable NJ Movers

Looking for movers is already a challenge. Finding affordable ones that are reliable and trustworthy is even harder. Every year around 40 percent of moving customers are scammed by moving companies. A common scam is providing a quote that is significantly cheaper than other moving companies and then tacking on extra charges after the move has happened, which means that many of the ‘cheap’ companies you find might not be trustworthy.

With that said, it’s not impossible to find affordable NJ movers; it might take a bit more time and research to find one that is affordable and reliable. If you follow the steps below, you should be able to find an NJ moving company that is within your budget.

Start Your Move Early

The sooner you start looking for a nearby NJ mover, the better. You want to have plenty of time to do your research by looking up reviews and reaching out to multiple companies. When you talk to the various movers, always request moving cost estimates. Make sure you have a good idea of the services you want especially if you might need help with packing, unpacking, or storage solutions. Don’t forget to ask if they provide any offers. Some places provide discounts for senior citizens, military, and even early bookings. Start your research months before the moving date if possible.

Get Recommendations

Before you dive into customer reviews, ask people you know for their suggestions. As much as people rely on online feedback, the truth is you have no idea who these people are or if the reviews themselves are real or not. That’s why it’s always better to get information from people you know who have zero hidden motives. Your friends, neighbors, and coworkers are people you can trust to give you relevant and useful information.

If no one you know has moved recently, then your next best bet is to go line to check out social media groups as well as online reviews. While Yelp and Google might be the more popular and accessible options, you should also check the Better Business Bureau for any complaints filed against the company. 

You should also write down the Department of Transportation number of all the movers you’re interested in and look them up on the DOT website. While you won’t get reviews, you will be able to see any complaints and licensing issues. Remember, all professional moving companies need to register with the DOT to legally perform as movers!

Compare Services and Location

Not all moving companies offer the same services. Some provide full-service packing and unpacking while others might just handle transportation. Even if you just need help with the transportation aspect, many companies differ in what they offer for free. Some might just load and unload your stuff while others will provide additional items for free like wardrobe box rentals, disassembly and reassembly, and so on. So when comparing quotes, make sure you know what services are included and which ones might lead to more costs. 

If you’re moving locally, make sure to find a moving company that is close to your old and new home. Not only do local businesses offer more competitive rates, but the shorter the distance between your two locations, the better. After all, most local moves are charged on an hourly basis, which includes travel to and from their corporate location. So the further away they are from either location, the more expensive your bill will be.

Negotiate Prices

Ideally, you’ll have received quotes from 3-5 different moving companies and know exactly what services are included in your move. From there, compare what you get with the estimate. If you prefer the cheapest one, that’s great! However, you might decide not to go with the most affordable option for a variety of reasons. In that case, leverage the estimate to your advantage. See if the moving company you like will match the price or at least get a little closer. If they don’t want to lower the price, see if they might be willing to add some services that will get you closer to a match like partial packing or even providing some packing materials.

Another option to reduce the price is to look for discounts. Many moving companies offer promotions, seasonal deals, and reduced prices for groups like students, seniors, military personnel, and even first-time customers. Always ask the movers if they have any current discounts happening. Some might end up providing a discount to you especially if you’re moving between September through April.

Do as Much as Yourself

It might be tempting to get professional movers to pack and unpack for you, but if you want to keep your moving budget low, you should go the DIY route for as much as possible. Packing and unpacking can greatly reduce the overall cost of your move, though it will take more of your time. While you’re packing, take the time to disassemble the furniture yourself. While many moving companies do offer this service as part of their basic moving package, it still adds on time to the move. Plus, many companies won’t disassemble more complex furniture like Murphy beds.

Speaking of packing, you can also save money by getting your supplies. While many moving companies do offer a range of moving supplies for purchase, there tends to be a markup when compared to getting it on your own. Instead, find ways to procure the supplies for free or, at least, cheap. Chances are you can easily find boxes, tape, and even bubble wrap from your friends and even local businesses. If all else fails, ask the mailroom at work if they have some extra supplies that you could take. 

Find Affordable NJ Movers Today

Moving doesn’t have to be expensive, but if you don’t have a plan you could end up spending hundreds of dollars more than necessary. To start your moving journey, make sure to give NJ Great Movers a call for a detailed estimate. We’ll help walk you through the moving process to create a customized plan that matches your needs and budget. 

 

Categories
Move Planning

A Handy Guide to Tipping Movers

A Handy Guide to Tipping Movers

After weeks or months of planning, packing, and decluttering, moving day has finally arrived. You’ve got all your boxes organized and you have a team of helpful professional movers to help with your relocation. If they’ve made your life easier, you might be wondering if it’s okay to tip the movers and how much you should provide. After all, they moved everything for you from your furniture to your fragile items. So what’s the tipping etiquette and how do you make sure the moving crew knows you are satisfied?

Should You Tip?

So long as the movers did their job, you should provide a tip. It’s a great way to show your satisfaction with the job and appreciation for the efforts of the crew. How much you tip depends on you. In general though, you should tip around $4-$5 per person per hour. So if there are two crew members who work a total of 5 hours, you should tip each person around $20-$25 or around 10% of the total split between each person.

Of course, you can tip more if you felt they provided excellent service. Conversely, if the movers were rude or damaged a lot of your items, you can lower or forgo the tip entirely. You should plan to provide some kind of tip so make sure to work that into your moving budget. Set aside more than you think for the tip. If you don’t end up using it all, you can put the rest towards fun home stuff.

Calculating Your Tip

Quality movers provide ongoing training to their employees as well as custom services to their customers to stand apart from their competitors. That should hopefully translate to a good minimum level of service. Still, there are a few factors you should consider when deciding tip amount:

  • Professionalism – did the crew arrive on time? If they did not, did they contact you beforehand to let you know? Were they friendly to you and your neighbors?
  • Weather conditions – are your movers dealing with super hot temperatures? Or are they dealing with heavy snow, ice, rain, etc? You might want to tip more if they’re working in challenging conditions
  • Number of hours – An average move for a 3-bedroom house could take between 7-10 hours. Did your move take much longer than expected or did they finish early/on-time?
  • Oversized items – if you’re moving a lot of heavy and large items such as pianos, antique cabinets, pool tables, boxes of books, etc.
  • Tricky navigation – does your house or apartment have narrow hallways? Or perhaps the movers have to navigate up and down several flights of stairs?
  • Damage – always check your items before and after a move for any damages to the items. You should also check your old and new home to make sure nothing got scuffed.
  • Extra services – some moving companies offer free services with your basic moving service so long as you ask. This could include dismounting your TV, uninstalling your air conditioner, disassembling and reassembling basic furniture, and some packing of items like TVs, glass countertops, etc.

From there, you can increase or decrease your tip amount based on their job performance, amount of time they took, professionalism, and so on. Make sure you’re fair in your assessment. If they took longer than they expected but it was because you weren’t organized, then that shouldn’t be seen as an issue with the moving team.

Tipping Etiquette

While tipping your movers isn’t complicated, you’ll still need to do a bit of preparation beforehand. In general, most movers prefer their tip in cash so make sure to withdraw some money the day before your move. Keep this amount in a separate envelope labeled moving tip and put it in an easily accessible location like your purse, backpack, or wallet. Some movers do accept credit card tips so if you forget to take out cash, you can include the tip on the total. Just make sure to confirm with the moving company first and let them know that you want the tip divided equally.

For local moves you should tip after the crew has unloaded everything from their truck and you have made sure nothing is damaged or missing. Divide the tip evenly between all the crew members. Do NOT give it to the foreman to distribute as the total might just end up in their pocket. By giving each crew member their tip, you can ensure everyone is getting their share. If the movers try to haggle with you over the tip, call the moving company immediately to mediate the situation.

Cross-country moves are a bit trickier as you might be dealing with different people that are driving your belongings to your new home. If this is the case, it might make sense to tip your movers a set amount for each team beforehand instead of tipping just the final crew. If you’re unsure who is handling your items, ask the moving company and see how you can distribute your tips accordingly.

And while tipping is customary, it is okay to withhold a tip if the service was not up to par. Remember, a tip is meant to be a reward for a job well done and is NOT guaranteed. If the movers are unprofessional and generally did a poor job, you don’t need to tip. You should explain why you are not tipping and you should also call the moving company to explain the situation and mediate if necessary.

Other Considerations

The people you hire are moving professionals, but that doesn’t mean they’re superhuman! If anything, they appreciate it when customers show a bit of kindness towards them during the move. It doesn’t have to be a big gesture, but things like providing cold bottled water during the summer or hot beverages in the winter can go a long way. You could even have some snacks on hand to give the movers a boost of energy. Don’t offer any alcoholic beverages as most companies do not allow workers to drink on the job.

Even if you don’t have the money to provide these extras, one of the best things you can do is leave a positive review and recommend the company to friends and family. It’s a quick and free way to show your appreciation.

Categories
Moving Tips

How to Pack and Move Bulky Items Safely and Easily

Expert Tips on Packing and Moving Bulky Items Safely and Easily

When it comes to moving, the items that most people dread are the large, bulky items. Not only are they heavy, they’re also hard to maneuver and, in cases like pianos and/or antiques, need to be handled with care. If you’ve ever tried to move these bulky items yourself, you know the challenges that come with it as well as the potential dangers like injuring yourself. While it’s in your best interest to hire professional movers to do the actual heavy lifting, there are a few things you should do beforehand to make the job a bit easier.

Make a Fully Proven Plan for Your Move

When it comes to moving anything, it’s always good to have a plan. Yes, even if you’re hiring professional movers to do it for you. Write down a list of all your heavy and large items that you need to move as well as where you want to put them in your new house. You don’t want to have the movers just put a heavy piece of furniture in the wrong room as you’ll need to move it again at a later date without their help.

Write up your plan a few weeks before your move. Get the floor plans for your new home and make sure they are accurate and to scale.Then, measure your bulky items you want to bring with you and create scaled down cut outs for each item. Make sure these paper models include all the fun protrusions and weird edges or corners of the real one. After you have the paper cutouts, place them on the floor plan and figure out the best location for each item. If something doesn’t fit, don’t bother moving it with you. You might be surprised with how much you end up leaving behind! Luckily, the less you bring with you, the cheaper your move will be.

Once you know what items you’ll take with you, make some copies of the floor plan, complete with the bulky items in their appropriate place. Keep it on hand during the move so you can direct the movers. And don’t throw out the original! Keep it in a safe place. You never know when you might want to redecorate and you’ll already have a floor plan ready!

Disassemble What You Can for Easier Moving

While many reliable New Jersey movers will do basic disassembly for you, it’s a better option for you to do it yourself. Check all of your bulky items to see if they have any removable parts. This includes the legs from your table and chairs, shelves from a bookcase, wheels from your bed frame, and so on.

Before you disassemble, make sure you have the appropriate tools on hand. In most cases, it should only be a screwdriver and/or allen wrench. If you don’t, see if you can borrow some from a neighbor or friend. While disassembling yourself might be more time-consuming, it also means you get to save money since the movers won’t be spending time doing it themselves. Plus, you can organize the dismantled parts how you want. Your best bet, though, is to tape any legs or shelves together and put all of the screws, nuts, bolts, etc. into a baggie and tape it all to the main body of the item. Trust us, you don’t want to dig through all of your boxes or bags looking for the legs to your table!

For more complicated pieces of furniture or appliances, you might want to call a specialist. Even reputable NJ movers don’t disassemble things like murphy beds or antiques. And if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can do more harm than good. It might cost you some extra money, but it will be worth it in the long run as you won’t have to worry about damaged items or walls.

Maintain the Highest Safety Standards While Packing

Most large items aren’t going to fit in any kind of box, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to pack it at all. After all, you want to make sure your items get to your new house unscathed. If you hire movers, most will provide some level of protection for your furniture such as padded blankets. While that might be enough for some things, for more delicate items you will want to go a step further.

Glass

Like your cups and bowls, you want to treat any large pieces of glass with care when moving. For flat items, place two pieces of tape in an ‘x’ shape. This will reduce shattering as it helps keep the glass intact. If possible, wrap any glass pieces in bubble wrap and inform the moving crew of the fragile items. This includes things like large mirrors and picture frames with glass!

Artwork

If you have large pieces of artwork, you might want to consider getting specialty art boxes for it. Pack each piece separately and make sure to wrap each one with bubble wrap and fill the inside of the box with butcher paper to prevent jostling.

Mattress

If your old mattress is still in good shape, there’s no reason to toss it out. If you have a foam mattress, you can compress it to an even smaller size by putting it into a plastic vacuum bag and vacuum-sealing it. For standard mattresses, get a new mattress cover before you move to protect the mattress itself from the elements, rips, and bed bugs.

Furniture

Yes, NJ movers will have mattress pads they can use to wrap around your furniture, but you might want to wrap delicate furniture yourself. That means you’ll need to get your own furniture pads, moving blankets, and foam padding. You might want to go a step further and wrap certain items with bubble wrap for extra protection. Just make sure any plastic doesn’t come in direct contact with the wood or fabric!

Piano

Despite their heavy size, pianos are quite delicate and require extra attention when it comes to proper moving. Cover the piano keys and pedals in bubble wrap and then wrap close the lid to the keys. The movers will wrap the legs and sides of the piano with moving blankets.

Hire Expert Movers for a Smooth Transition

Your best bet when moving these bulky items is to hire qualified movers. Not only will they have all the appropriate moving and packing materials, they also have the skills and knowledge to move bulky items with ease. When finding the right mover for you, make sure to mention the large items you plan on moving. Not all companies have experience with moving things like pianos, jacuzzis, pool tables, etc. so they might refer you to someone else, which could end up costing you a lot more.

Even if you’re just moving regular furniture, you should ask what kind of equipment they use and what they provide. Most trusted NJ movers wrap your bulk items free of charge and even put down things like wall and floor protectors. Always ask the movers if they provide this service. If not, you might want to look into another option.

Ready to move? Make sure to give us a call! We have years of experience moving pretty much everything you can imagine. Not only that, but we’re experts when it comes to navigating tight corridors and doorways. We’ll give you a free quote and answer any questions you might have so don’t wait! Contact us now!