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Like the title says, I'm looking into having a moving company move me out of state due to having family. However, I've read a lot of mixed to bad reviews, so I'm curious if anyone's ever used one and had it go fine.

Many times. Generally good experiences with whatever company the Army contracted for the move. A couple bad packers (kicked one out of the house and off the property,made them wait on the street for their manager to pick them up) but over all nothing too bad.

Having said that, I always pack hobby stuff (built models/painted figures) myself.

Crew that moved us from Stewart AO to Bragg AO was fantastic. Quick, efficient and polite.

Got any names? Or unfortunately just who ever the army picked?

Unfortunately I can't remember the name of the most recent company, and ditched the paperwork after I used it for taxes in 2015.

I have had same experience as CPTJake. Honestly it takes the stress out of the process. Pack important things yourself and let them do the heavy lifting. Make sure stuff you don't want packed is set aside and identified. I have heard of companies literally packing trash cans with trash still in it.

 redleger wrote:
I have had same experience as CPTJake. Honestly it takes the stress out of the process. Pack important things yourself and let them do the heavy lifting. Make sure stuff you don't want packed is set aside and identified. I have heard of companies literally packing trash cans with trash still in it.

This is all excellent information. Go so far as to tag stuff you don't want them taking, or dedicate a room for "I'll handle this gak myself" and move everything else you want them to pack out.

Once they come it, they don't feth around. They grab, wrap, box, and move on. My plates and dishes for my last 2 days in the house were long gone when I wasn't looking. I should have put them in the fridge. Lesson learned.

I have made 3 big moves, using a moving company each time (Thanks current employer!). You need to be there to watch that the handle your gak with care. I only had an issue with one move where they guys were a bit careless. A call to the owner, who promptly called them, ended that gak.

I will PM the company that my employer has a national account with. They, however, just use subcontractors that they have vetted. They were very professional and did a great job.

I've had them ship stuff across the world, from california to guam and back, then california to japan and back. When your shopping for a company, ask them if they inventory your stuff, for all my movies I had a list of all the boxes and serial numbers for all the electronics on the inventory sheet.

my last move I used the PODS company, I packed up my own place, loaded up their container, and they put it on my doorstep when I got to my new place.

of course pack up your expensive stuff yourself and bring it with your if you can. Jewelry, heirlooms, photo albums for us dinosaurs, etc.

Follow up, I'm most likely taking this job. However, I believe my employer will pay for all the moving expenses. With this, we're trying to figure out exactly how this will happen.

Also, has anyone rented a house or apartment out of state? Currently we've found a lot of places we like, we have a written job offer, so I'm wondering how to go about renting a place from out of state.

Someone goes there roots around for a place, and signs the paperwork (this is not meant to sound smarmy). You can do most of your searching from home, and arrange to go see a few you like. You will need ID, and a deposit.

Note: things may have changed. This is the old school method.

 Frazzled wrote:
Someone goes there roots around for a place, and signs the paperwork (this is not meant to sound smarmy). You can do most of your searching from home, and arrange to go see a few you like. You will need ID, and a deposit.

Note: things may have changed. This is the old school method.

That's my guess, I'm just trying to look at the best way to do this without flying 8 hours to get there, have only half a day to look for a place, and then fly another 8 hours back.

I've had similar experiences to the military guys here. I will say that a buddy of mine moved around a year ago now, including his significant 40k collection/garage stuff. He informed the moving company how much stuff he had, but when the estimator showed up, the estimator saw how much space was taken up and tried doubling the price tag. Luckily for my buddy, he was able to prove the weight and everything were at the original estimated weights/prices and paid the original contract price (IIRC, he was estimated at 5k to move from Tacoma, WA to somewhere in Alabama, when they opened the garage the guy tried claiming it was gonna be 10k, and "extra space" charges in the trailer, despite the original contract reserving one full trailer)

 jreilly89 wrote:
Like the title says, I'm looking into having a moving company move me out of state due to having family. However, I've read a lot of mixed to bad reviews, so I'm curious if anyone's ever used one and had it go fine.

I've moved across the world, across the state and within my city several times. Best experiences were the long moves paid for by my firm and the worst experiences...bar one...were when it was just little old me signing the contract. Best option, if available, is to see if your employer has a mover. Now it sounds like this move has nothing to do with work, obviously, but if you can approach a mover referenced by your company...a contract and relationship they probably fought to get and want to keep...it gives you leverage with the firm relationship behind you and should act as motivation for them to provide you with a positive experience.

If that isn't an option, take pictures of your stuff, number boxes and items as they're loaded and watch the process as it's happening and your stuff is being packed. Be nice and offer coffee, lemonade, water, what have you to the movers...even the most jaded people will respond well to simple kindness and hopefully they'll remember the gesture when they're packing your more fragile items.

Moving almost always goes fine, but you're going to see bad reviews because people get cranky when their stuff gets damaged. Sometimes it's the mover's fault, sometimes it's the person.

The movers don't know what's in the boxes, how valuable/delicate/whatever it is like you do. While generally they try and be careful with it, if you don't pack it well enough to handle being picked up, carried around, loaded, reloaded, rattled around in the back of a truck rolling cross-country, then unloaded, that's kinda on you.

I had a friend I help move get really pissy with me with the damage I did to his models - because he packed a big, heavy box in such a way that the contents would be perfectly fine. So long as you kept it perfectly level, didn't shake it too much, or tilt it in any way what so ever.

Just keep in mind that whatever you pack is going to be handled repeatedly and jostled around, and 99% of the time, it will all be fine.