Ok, so you’ve got a list of 4 to 6 Atlanta movers near you, either from your friends and family or online. Now were going to get to the nitty gritty of figuring out which of these companies are worthy of moving your precious things! Qualifying a moving company is the most important part of hiring a moving company, even before you get an estimate. This company will be in charge of moving all of your personal belongings from point A to point B. Whether its 10 miles or 1,000 you need to find a reliable, trust worthy mover. I will get to the estimate questions a little later, but right now I want to deal with the important background information. No matter what their price is, if they don’t have the qualifications you don’t want to hire them.
The first thing I recommend is checking out each moving company with the Better Business Bureau to see if they are an accredited business and have had any complaints. The next thing you want to do is compile a list of questions. Find out more information about each companies background and their policies. Here are some important questions to ask:
How long have they been in business? Generally you want a company that has been around for at least 8 to 10 years. However, if you received a recommendation for an Atlanta mover from a friend or family member and that moving company hasn’t been in business that long, I wouldn’t rule them out.
Are their movers experienced? See if you can’t find out how long some of their movers have been with the company. Obviously everyone’s new at some point but you want to make sure they have at least 1 to 2 people on your moving crew with a few years experience.
Are they going to hire subcontractors? Some bigger companies will hire smaller Atlanta moving companies to do the moving for them. This isn’t a deal breaker but make sure they give you all the information. Ask for the name of the subcontractor that they plan on using. If they do not know which company it will be either ask them for a complete list of all their subcontractors or to get back to you when they find out for sure. Then research information on the local Atlanta mover that they plan on subcontracting to. They should not have an issue giving you any of this information, and if they do it may be a red flag.
Do they have any outstanding complaints and/or claims? Most moving companies will give you a history of any outstanding complaints or claims that were made against them. They should also provide information on whether the issues were resolved as satisfactory to the client. More often than not you won’t get complete details of these claims, however if there are any outstanding issues you should ask for more information about why they have not been resolved.
If at this point you feel that they have answered your questions successfully and you would feel comfortable with them moving your things, then this is when you would request an estimate.
