7 Smart Ways to Get Along with Your Movers
Hiring a professional moving company to tackle the toughest aspects of your upcoming move is a sure sign that you’re committed to having a smooth relocation experience without any additional stress and unexpected problems.
Both the initial contact with the movers and the subsequent in-home surveys are really important for establishing a successful partnership with one common goal in mind. And yet, it’s the way you interact with your movers on moving day and the way you treat your hired workers during the Big day that will determine just how successful your residential move turns out to be.
Follow these 7 clever ways to get along with your movers and thus enjoy a productive stress- and problem-free household move.
1. Be ready for your movers
If you’re using a moving company for the first time, then you may realize that you don’t know how to prepare for your movers. It goes like this: by the time your hired men turn up at your door on the day of the move, they will expect you to be 100% ready for their arrival.
It’s simple: if you’ve requested professional packing services, then you should have already sorted out your items and got rid of all the things you don’t want to move to the new home before the professional packers arrive. On the other hand, if you’ve opted to pack your home on your own, then your movers will presume that all the household items will be already packed up in boxes, labeled and ready to be loaded into the moving truck.
One thing is clear: it’ll be an unpleasant situation for you to be far from being ready with your preparations when the professionals show up. And of course, that wouldn’t be the perfect start to your move-out day.
To have a smooth move where you and your movers will get along well during that rather stressful and crazy busy day, then:
Unless you’ve hired a full-service mover, make sure you pack up your things and label all moving boxes before your movers arrive.Leave only the things worth packing and moving if you’ve requested professional packing services. Sell, donate or throw away all unwanted items;- Have all your items packed up, properly labeled and ready to be moved and loaded up if you’ve decided to pack your things without using professional packers;
- Prepare some boxes with absolute essential items that you’ll use when your other possessions are out of reach. Keep those essentials boxes with you at all time;
- Defrost and clean up your fridge;
- Take down any framed items from the walls and pack them up safely;
- Unplug all electric appliances, including lamps. Photograph the way your electronic devices are wired up before disconnecting them.
Being ready for your movers will also cut the overall move time, which will lower the final cost, at least in most cases.
2. Be punctual, be available, be there
It’s important to start Moving day on the right foot. This is why your punctuality and that of your movers will set the tone for the entire day.
You can be sure that the professional movers you’ve hired will be working on a tight schedule. And just as you wouldn’t want your moving crew to be late for pickup, your hired workers would also appreciate it if you were waiting for them at the right time and place.
Life’s rather unpredictable and anything can happen at the last minute. So, if you are forced to be out of your home at the scheduled time, assign somebody else to be your representative before the movers – somebody you trust and somebody who you can instruct on what to do in your absence. If possible, make sure you keep in touch with the person you’ve empowered to represent you in case questions or issues arise during the most uncertain day of the move.
Keep in mind that if your movers are forced to wait for your appearance, you will most likely be charged extra for that downtime. In the worst case scenario, the professionals may just head back to their office or worse – go to another address, thus creating a whole new set of problems for you.
3. Welcome your movers and show them around
One question you must be asking yourself is what to do when movers arrive. In fact, the most critical thing is to be ready for the arrival of the moving crew – that is, to have finished the packing task (unless you’re paying packers to do that for you) and to have taken care of all the other pre-move tasks in your moving calendar.
Be there when your movers show up at your door on Moving day.
Of course, it’s also important that you should be there when the hired laborers show up at your home. And when they do, it’s time for you to welcome them (Hi is usually enough) and to show them around your house or apartment. The thing is, you may have had their company representative survey your home and issue you with a cost estimate, but the movers that just came will be seeing your residence and the things you want to be packed and/or moved for the very first time.
Provide all the necessary information to the movers without withholding any important details, then tell them directly you expect from them. Most of the time they will know exactly what to do, but you must make sure that you’re both on the same page. It’s best if you stick around in case of any questions or problems, but the usual advice in such cases is to let them do their job.
4. Provide your movers with the essentials
While your movers are packing and moving your stuff, it’s your duty to provide them with the absolute essentials so that they feel comfortable in their work. This is a great way to show that you care about their needs and will contribute to a more efficient move without any serious problems, unnecessary tension or unpleasant situations for both sides.
Just for a second, picture yourself in the place of one of the workers – what would you want to have if you yourself were a mover?
Here’s how to get along with movers on moving day:
- Provide easy access to drinking water or other non-alcoholic beverages such as sodas, coffee, and tea. If your movers show up early in the morning, they’ll surely appreciate a cup of coffee.
- Have a bathroom ready for your workers; get enough liquid soap and disposable paper towels.
- Turn the air conditioning on if the room temperature is too hot or too cold.
- If your packers and movers are set to work for many hours, it’s inevitable that they will get hungry and their energy and level of efficiency will diminish as a result. At lunchtime, it’s considered a nice gesture when the host (that is you) offers to buy them pizza for lunch or provides delicious (home-made) sandwiches for the crew members. And even though the best movers in the industry will come prepared with their own sandwiches, you can be sure that your act of consideration will not go unnoticed.
5. Resolve any issues before they escalate, or at least do your best
Sometimes even your best efforts to keep your own move problem-free may not be enough – mistakes, misunderstandings, and accidents do happen from time to time. Yes, using the services of a top-rated mover will considerably increase the chance of having a smooth relocation experience from start to finish. Nevertheless, there is just no guarantee that everything will go as well as you want and expect.
Having problems with your movers on moving day? If you can’t seem to resolve these issues with your movers, contact the head office of the moving company for assistance.
One good way to prevent any issues from spoiling your moving day mood is to keep the communication channel open with your movers. Tell them again that you’re there in case they need you and urge your laborers to turn to you if they have questions or come across any issues that they can’t seem to resolve on their own.
If you happen to have any issues with your movers – rude attitude, improper handling of your items or other obvious acts of unprofessionalism, then your first step is to inform the foreman of the crew about that. Hopefully, that should be enough to fix most of the issues. In case your request falls on deaf ears, contact the main office of the moving company and demand that something should be done about it.
It’s imperative to keep your cool throughout moving day. Remember that raising your voice will seldom solve anything. In most cases, when you show respect and understanding to your team of movers, you will be treated the same way. And that will go a long way toward establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with your professional packers and movers.
6. Tip your movers if their efforts deserve to be rewarded
Hopefully, your movers will turn out to be true professionals who will do what you’re paying them to do – pack and move your belongings quickly and safely. And, as soon as the pros finish their work to your satisfaction, they will expect their genuine efforts to be rewarded in the form of individual tips.
What should you know when hiring movers? Professional movers are part of the service industry and the standard way to show appreciation and gratitude toward their work is through tipping. Just like you would tip a waiter or a waitress for a job well done, the movers you hire will expect tips at the completion of their duties.
Thus said, in no way should you feel obliged to tip your movers. Instead, base your decision whether to tip movers at all, and then how much to tip movers, on the quality of their job.
- DON’T TIP YOUR MOVERS if they did a poor job altogether, handled your items disrespectfully, damaged some of your belongings, or acted rudely and non-professionally.
- OFFER STANDARD TIPS to your hired workers if they did a good job when packing, protecting, carrying and loading your items.
- OFFER BIGGER-THAN-STANDARD TIPS to your hired team of movers if they did an exceptional job, worked under tougher conditions or did much more than they were supposed to.
Of course, the next step is to know how much to tip movers. There are no set rules and it’s best to reward your workers in relation to your particular financial situation and level of satisfaction. Nevertheless, you can use these standard movers tips as a guide:
- How much to tip local movers? $4-$5 an hour per mover is believed to be a reasonable tip while $7-$8 an hour per mover is considered a generous tip.
- How much to tip long-distance movers? $5 an hour per mover or around or around $40 a day per mover is accepted as a good tip.
7. Provide valuable feedback
Just how well you get along with your movers on moving day will determine 1) the amount of the monetary tips you give them (if any!), and 2) what type of feedback you leave about their work.
Your feedback in the form of a moving review is more important than you think.
For a moving company that values its reputation, it’s extremely important to keep receiving positive reviews and good feedback about its services and its employees. The reason for this is simple enough: the better reputation a professional moving company has, the more its business will grow simply because more and more new customers will trust them.
So, if you’re really satisfied with the way your movers handled the move from beginning to end, then there’s one more thing left for you to do in order to honor the brief yet successful partnership: to leave a positive review about the moving company.
On the other hand, if your interaction with the moving professionals left a disappointingly bitter taste in your mouth, it’s also your duty to share that (very) bad experience with the world in order to 1) warn other people of the bad mover, 2) improve the mover’s services in the future, and 3) get justice for whatever injustice you received during your move.
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