Movers

Ballpark cost for move & tipping movers?

Hi everyone. I saw the recent posts re tipping movers. We are moving in about a month. I called flatrate and they came by and quoted me a fee of $3450 to move our 1500 squarefoot 2 bedroom apartment. It is in a walkup (with a few large items up a spiral staircase as well)….

by Splenda
08/28/2008

Hi everyone. I saw the recent posts re tipping movers. We are moving in about a month. I called flatrate and they came by and quoted me a fee of $3450 to move our 1500 squarefoot 2 bedroom apartment. It is in a walkup (with a few large items up a spiral staircase as well). Is that a fair price???

More importantly, if we go with Flatrate (or any other company that charges a similar rate), are we really expected to tip 20%? That would be nearly $700! That seems a bit excessive, dont you think?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated….

Movers

Comments

  1. A larger home with more than 5,000-square feet will take six or more movers 8-12 hours and is priced around $1,200 -$1,800.
    When i moved house I hired Box very professional in this regard. I recommend every one to hire movers but only the reputable movers.http://www.boxyourstuff.com

  2. Used North American Van Lines movers (www.navl.com) – Everybody was on time and communicated with me very well. They were courteous and professional.

  5. Movers and Shakers were reliable and efficient, BUT I would never again use them. When we were paying our bill, and giving the four men their tip ($25 per person to move a 1 bdrm apt, 100sq ft; less than 3 hour job), they complained that we undertipped them. Left us feeling stupid and cheap and scrambling in our pockets to come up with the 20% they felt they were owed. Then, a couple of weeks later when a different team showed up to deliver our belongings, we were all set with our 20% tip for each of them. AGAIN, they complained and asked for a bigger tip! And this was on top of the food and drinks that we provided to them. Plus….they lost several items (never heard back from mgmt. about that) and gave us a few boxes that belonged to someone else. Took several phone calls to get that resolved. Bottom line: they are slighlty cheaper than other companies, but the extra hassle from the movers is not worth it. It was a really bad moving experience with Movers not Shakers.

  6. I saw the previous day’s posting on Movers Not Shakers. I had the exact same problem with the head guy–grumbling about the tip ‘this is not enough. we get 20%, like a restaurant’.
    I always thought the amount of a tip was based on good service? Frankly their slowness, angry behavior (‘there are too many boxes here!’…uh, it’s a MOVE) and refusal to move larger items up the stairs i feel deemed them the tip we gave them.

    After a day of frustration with these people it felt frighteningly aggressive to have them not LEAVE and wait in the truck until more money was brought out to them.

    It was the worst move i’ve ever experienced.

  7. We moved two weeks ago and used Shea Movers. They were excellent: hard-working, efficient, friendly. They packed and moved everything from a 1800 sf apartment (and basement) for their $4000 estimate. I gave them a 20% tip. They really worked their asses off and didn’t break a thing.

  8. We had a really good experience with Movers Not Shakers and then a really bad expeirence with them. Needless to say, the bad overshadows the good and I wouldn’t use or recommend them to anyone ever again.

    We are using Rainbow Movers for our upcoming brooklyn to brooklyn move. I like them so far Lenny the owner seems like a stand-up guy.

    We got quotes from Flat Rate and Oz. Flat Rate was over double what Rainbow and Oz wanted for the job. Plus the estimator who came out was VERY unimpressive.

    I think you’ve been over quoted.

    GL

1 2 3

  • Get started on

    your next project

    Find a Pro