PACKING STRATEGIES

Pack Kids and Pets Firs

No matter how you go about getting all your things into boxes, onto a truck, and into your new home, keep one thing in mind. Preteens can be a big help with advance operations, but they should be with a friend or a sitter on Moving Day. Ditto your pets.

Both invariably get hyperactive because of the commotion and the sense of big change in the air. At best they get in the way, cause delays and mistakes. At worst they can get into poisons or dangerous equipment, trip a trucker carrying something heavy, or wander off and get lost.

Tip: Be sensitive to your children’s fears about the move. Reassure them that you will be back to get them before you leave and that you won’t go off without them.

The Moving Company Does It

If you’re having a moving company do your packing as well as moving, prepare for a blitz. Have everything organized ahead of time—all items not going with them isolated, all appliances moving with you unhooked, clean, dry, aired out, and containing a sock full of baking soda to absorb smells on the trip.

Packers are told to pack everything, so wastebaskets, ashtrays, and food containers must be empty.

Even with professional packers, you can’t escape the responsibility of overseeing final checkout. As Kay Cooperman, one of our respondents, commented, “I’d been told they’d clean up after they loaded everything. They took off with my cleaning supplies and the vacuum cleaner, but left fingerprints on the woodwork, dirt from outside all over the carpet, and dust where the large pieces of furniture used to be. And they forgot to pack the things in one closet.”

Ask to review the moving company’s “Household Goods Descriptive Inventory” while the movers are setting up, so that you can go over the abbreviations used (B=Bent, S=Scratched, T=Torn, and l=Arm, 4=Front, 10=Top, etc.). As your mover loads things into the truck, each piece will be tagged with a number, then notations on scratches, tears, and dents go onto the form with the corresponding number. Inspect the furniture with the mover. If there’s just one scratch on a tabletop, don’t settle for “Item #36—S,10.” Write in “Item #36—S, 2 inches, 10, on corner.’’ That way, if a new scratch appears all across the top, you can claim damages.

Packing-It-Yourself Options

There are two other options—doing all the packing yourself or packing just the soft goods and the durables and leaving the breakables for the movers.

The advantages of doing your own packing are:

Ö    You may take better care of your things. Consumer Reports respondents reported 32 percent who packed themselves had breakage problems, but 55 percent had breakage when they had the movers do it.

Ö    You save the packing charges, which can add up to a third of the overall moving cost.

Ö    Even if you leave some items for the movers, it’s easier to keep your things organized when you pack and mark boxes yourself.

The disadvantages are the time it takes and the fact that making a moving company insurance claim on breakage with goods you pack yourself is more difficult.

Packing is an organization challenge. On the one hand, you want to pack as much as possible ahead of moving week. On the other hand, you may still be having prospective purchasers or friends coming through, so you don’t want boxes all over the house. Besides, things invariably get packed that you need the next day.

We’ve developed the following Steiner Smooth Move System, with lots of suggestions from friends, clients, and our survey respondents.

Packing Materials

The most economical source of supplies for packing materials is a specialty shipping and packaging material store.

Tip: If you don’t have a discount source in your area, and you’re looking to buy boxes and other staples in twenty-five-piece lots, call Bradley’s at (800) 621-7864 for a catalog.

It has almost everything—boxes and plastic bags, in various sizes, bungee stretch cords to secure padding, rolls of thirty-six-inch corrugated wrapping material for padding, storage tubes for posters. Its prices are about half what a moving company charges. While Bradley’s can’t supply some things—wardrobe, dishpack, and mirror boxes, a few tools—otherwise, it’s a big help.

Box Collecting. Start collecting boxes as soon as you decide to move. The penultimate find is somebody down the street moving in. Drop by and ask owners if they’d like your help in getting rid of boxes. We usually offer to buy the wardrobe and mirror/picture boxes that are in good shape for half price and cart everything away. If you happen to hit one or more of these treasures several months before you start packing, fold the boxes fiat and store in the attic or garage.

Check local stores. Furniture boxes are often too big to handle, but sometimes lamp departments or stores have good sizes.

Liquor stores have the best, sturdiest, most consistently sized boxes. They come complete with handy cardboard dividers for glasses and small items. Having boxes mostly the same size makes packing the truck much easier. Ask what days the store unpacks wines, and arrive yourself to break them open, so the lids are intact. The store usually slits lids, because it’s faster. If someone breaks open boxes for you, tip or do something to show appreciation.

Tip: Andy Smitters, one of our frequent mover respondents, advises checking boxes you pick up on the street carefully. Turn them upside-down and thump them before putting in your trunk, as they can hide some unwelcome insects.

Other sources to check are box manufacturers (in the yellow pages, under “Boxes”) or packaging stores. Office supply store boxes aren’t good, because they come with separate lids, which are likely to pop off, even when carefully taped.

Moving and move-it-yourself companies tend to be the most expensive box source, but their boxes are sturdy, standard size, and easy to handle. Their wardrobe, dishpack, and mirror boxes are particularly useful. Sometimes local movers will sell secondhand boxes, and some moving companies have a box supply outside their warehouse for anyone to pick up. Ask all the companies you interview. If you can find one that rents or sells seconds, it also may pick up your boxes after you’ve unpacked for free.

Personal Resource Packing Materials. Use your own sheets, towels, clothes, and air-popped popcorn for wrapping and cushioning as much as possible. You can use old newspapers, but they may leave ink on everything. Ask your newspaper production office if it’s using the new soybean inks that don’t stain as badly as the old kind. Protect against ink by putting items in plastic bags before wrapping. We recommend using old newspaper for the bottom cushioning covered with a layer of clean unprinted newsprint between it and your things.

Bargain Packing Materials. Find out the most economical source of unprinted newsprint, which IIP Frequent Mover Survey respondents liked best for packing breakables. Besides checking with newspapers themselves, look for paper wholesalers listed in the yellow pages under “Paper Products.” Query suppliers of restaurant/butcher wrappings as well as newspaper suppliers.

Shredded paper also may be a packing option. Look under “Paper Shredding” in the yellow pages or ask local government and business offices what they do with theirs.

Padding. Hoard any covers or blankets you don’t mind tearing to serve as padding for large furniture pieces. Ask friends and relatives if they have any of these things they were thinking of giving away.

You can buy Bubble Pack and Plastic Popcorn from moving and packing retailers, but we don’t recommend it because it’s expensive and it pollutes the environment.

These retailers also sell wide corrugated wrapping material for padding, but this is not as easy to bend around corners as woven padding. Look for blankets and covers secondhand at a thrift shop.

Strapping/Banding. You can tie padding on with rope, tape it with sealing tape, or secure it with long bungee cords. If you’ve got numerous large pieces that need padding, you may want to get the bungees for speed and safety. These can be bought at a notion’s wholesaler.

Tip: Never tie, tape, or cord furniture without padding, as the tape can leave marks and the tape or rope can cut into the finish. Always use extra pieces of cardboard to insulate the furniture from the rope at the corners. If you’re shipping something with fragile legs, nest a padded box inside the legs to brace them and use tape, not rope or cord, to secure the outer padding.

Plastic Bags. Get plastic bags in various sizes. If you’re going to need them to protect against old newspaper ink, you’ll need lots. If you’re using clean newsprint, get a good supply anyway, as plastic bags are great for storing desk, drawer, and cupboard items plus holding mounting screws from furniture you disassemble. Once you’ve collected items in a bag, tuck a slip of paper identifying the contents into it. Tape it shut, then tape it inside the drawer or to the underside of the furniture so it will be handy when you unpack.

Labels. All labels should be the easily removable type, but never put them on polished furniture, anyway. Order labels with your name and new address and telephone number or a contact number, if you don’t have a destination address yet.

Get small, self-stick, colored labels; tie-on labels; tape; twine; and fine-tipped, nonpermanent, black marking pens. Stock up on garage sale marking items at the same time. Packaging and office supply stores have a good variety of these products. Some of the larger moving companies include free labels with their estimator information packets.

Designate a label color for each room—for example, Kitchen= Yellow, Living Room—Red—so that boxes will be easy to place in the new home.

If you’re using moving company boxes, just stick a colored label on the printed area and write next to it the room location, the contents, and any special instructions, such as “Fragile,” “This Side Up,” “Take It with Me.” (See the “Take-It-with-Me Tote” section later in this chapter.) Tie-on labels (look for the elastic, slip-on ties) go on non-boxed items that can’t have sticky labels.

Tools. An automatic, hand-held tape dispenser is invaluable when you’re packing lots of boxes. Ditto a razor-point utility knife at unpacking time.

ORGANIZATION

General Guidelines

Pack and mark boxes with contents and room as you go, so that unpacking is easier. Except for wardrobe and dishpacks, boxes should be packed to weigh no more than forty pounds. Heavier boxes are difficult to manage and can burst open en route. If you’re packing heavy items, weigh them on a bathroom scale to check as you go.

Work Assignments

Each family member should pack a different room. Children should be responsible for their own things as much as possible. Tape and label boxes for the younger ones, and show them how to pack heaviest items in the bottom. Often children are excellent helpers who can help pack adults’ clothes and household soft goods in other parts of the house.

Pacing Yourself

Do one area at a time. That way, you and your fellow packers will all have manageable, one-evening-at-a-time projects.

If you’re having a weekend moving party, calculate how many boxes you’ll be packing, then figure the number of helping hands to invite. According to the Atlas moving expert, Paul Evans, professional movers pack an average of four to ten boxes an hour, depending on whether they’re working on unbreakables or on lamps or dishes. They estimate each worker can do fifty to sixty boxes a day. Don’t expect you and your untrained helpers to do better than that, even when you’re willing to work a longer day.

Priorities

Start cleaning, sorting, and packing from the back of closets and drawers. Work on a card table you can cart from room to room as you go. Tape a piece of plastic over it to protect from dirt and ink stains.

Clean everything out of each space, keep a large plastic bag for throwing away the hopeless stuff, and put the remainder in three containers—”Sale,” “Shipping,” and “Take-It-with-Me.”

Don’t get so absorbed in packing that you forget other duties. If you’re selling and buying homes, check with your agents regularly to be sure both escrow timetables are moving according to schedule. (See the sample in Appendix B.) If you’re renting, verify your move-out/move-in dates with both your landlords.

Check your Chapter 13 timetable for important items that may be overlooked. If you’re moving out of or into a highrise, make elevator reservations. Make easy-to-execute appointments to give up your keys after you’ve got your things out and to get your keys before you arrive at your new home.

Box Preparation

Tape the box bottom seam and sides. Your unpacking will go better if you mix different types of things from a single room rather than trying to put all the curtains in the same box. Label boxes on all four sides plus top and bottom with room, general contents, and special shipper notations. Your name and contact information only needs to go on one side.

Except for boxes holding soft goods, cushion every box with three or four inches of crumpled newspaper and a layer of clean newsprint. Place the heaviest items in next, surrounded snugly with crushed newsprint. Cushion between layers with more newsprint, and use a cardboard separator to make a flat surface.

Next do a layer of lighter items. Pack the top with another layer of cushioning that pushes against the lid as you close. When taped shut, the box should feel firm on all sides and should not bulge.

Self-Packing Containers

Use all container furniture—chests, drawers, hampers, the insides of any large appliances—to pack light, fragile items with sheets, clothes, and other soft goods. Then blanket and band the container. Never pack furniture with heavy, durable items, because tools, statues, bookends, and the like can break through furniture walls or pull a washing machine drum off its mounting.

If you’re moving yourself, you may need to take the drawers or contents out of heavy armoires and chests before you start moving it downstairs and into the truck. Blanket the frame before carting to truck. On the truck, unblanket, replace the drawers, and then reblanket to protect it en route.

Heavy Items

Never pack breakables with heavy durables, such as tools, statues, or clocks. No matter how much packing materials or towels you put between them, the breakables get crushed. Use small boxes, otherwise they will be too heavy to work with. The general rule is, the heavier the item, the smaller the box.

Tools

Pack tools in their own carrying cases or inside a plastic bag with soft goods. As long as the soft goods won’t get dirty, it’s better to have boxes with a couple of heavy items packed at the bottom and light soft goods at the top. Be sure to rubber-band electrical cords, so they don’t tangle.

If it’s not too bulky, take the loaded tool box with you in the car, as this knocks weight off your load, and it will come in handy in the new house before the furniture arrives.

Breakables

Wrap fragile items in several sheets of cloth or paper. If you’re doing plates or other articles all the same size, wrap them individually, nest three to five together for extra support, then wrap the bundle as a separate package before placing it in the box.

Save fragile items such as cups and glasses for top layers in dish boxes. They should be wrapped, nested, bundle-wrapped, and stacked rim side down. Crystal should be on the very top and wrapped individually in tissue paper—newsprint is too stiff.

Be sure to mark all dish and other breakable item boxes with “Fragile” and “This Side Up.”

Flat Items

Pack dishes, records, and other flat items standing on their edge, as this distributes the weight better. Pack the bottom of the box with crumpled paper, and place a row of individually wrapped large platters and plates all the way across. Put in another layer of crumpled paper on top and then a cardboard separator. Repeat the same process with smaller plates on the next layer. All the plates should be standing vertically—large plates on the bottom, small plates on top—and if there’s room, do another layer with cups. Cups should be packed standing on their rims.

Also pack books on edge. Alternate the spines, one facing up, one facing down. Stuff popcorn or newsprint into excess spaces to keep books from shifting. For shipping via third-class mail, books should be packed in small boxes by themselves.

As we mentioned, third class used to be the cheapest way to ship books, but now, with rising postage rates, you should investigate UPS and other alternative shippers. If you’re moving long distance, it may be cheaper, but with short-distance moves, it may be more economical to ship these boxes with the moving company. Look into each option to see what’s best for you.

Telephone Books

Telephone books need to be available as much as possible during the moving process. Take both your existing books and the destination books you’ve already obtained with you if you can. Otherwise, consider shipping them express or pack them in a well-marked carton that you can unpack early.

The new book will be important from your first day in your new home. The old book will be vital if your home hasn’t sold and you have business to tend to. Or if school transcripts, doctors’ records, and the like turn up missing a crucial page or signature. Or if you need to get in touch with neighbors who aren’t in your personal address book.

Clocks

Pendulum clocks need to be disassembled and the weights packed separately. Heavy and antique clocks need very sturdy packing and are better crated. If you’re unfamiliar with how to disassemble them, ask a specialist.

Clothing

Wardrobe boxes hold two feet of hanging clothes. Pack them with all hangers facing the same way and fairly tightly, so they wrinkle less. These boxes are wonderful for speedy packing and unpacking, but typically weigh over seventy pounds and are bulky to get on and off the truck.

Drapes and Curtains

We never seem to get the same size windows from one home to the next, so we leave current window dressings behind, and ask the owner of the next house to do the same. If you take them, try to have them cleaned the month before you move, then leave them on the hanger in the dry cleaning bag and pack them in with the clothes in the wardrobe box.

Carpets

Have these cleaned the month before as well, and ship in the dry cleaning bag.

Large Appliances

We don’t recommend carting refrigerators and washer/dryers with you. Not only are they heavy to transport, often they don’t fit or operate properly in the new location.

Tip: Be particularly careful about appliances requiring natural or LP gas or 220 volt hookup. American electrical appliances usually don’t work abroad. You can use transformers and adapters for some electrical appliances, but they never work well. Razors and hair dryers, for example, always short out. One of our U.S. survey respondents living in England had the unpleasant experience with his American-made electric clipper that shorted out in the middle of a haircut.

If you just bought a luxury model appliance last year, and you really want to take it with you, contact the original vendor for shipping information, and how to block the motor and other movable parts with a brace. Your utility service may help with disconnect/connect procedures.

Small Appliances

Review their usefulness. If you haven’t used an appliance in the last three months, sell it or give it away. Do not ship them abroad, as most don’t work with overseas electrical services. If you are shipping, remember to brace movable parts and to fold up and rubber-band cords.

Electronic Equipment

The rules are the same as for small appliances, except that personal computers, CD players, and other digital equipment less than five years old may work abroad without problems. Check your user manual.

Tip: Computer floppy disks, music tapes, and other plastic items can be ruined in an uninsulated van on the road in summer heat. If this is a concern, talk to your mover about how to protect these articles and/or make other arrangements for shipping,

Before packing fragile equipment, remove any appendages, such as printer feeder trays, to pack separately. Brace and tape nonremovable items, such as record player arms. Place old disks inside disk drives to protect heads from bouncing. (Don’t use disks that contain valuable information; a bouncing head can trash the information.)

Place each item inside a plastic bag before packing to prevent packing material dust from getting inside it. If you have original boxes and Styrofoam braces, use them; otherwise, use a box at least four inches larger all around than the item, put a layer of packing material in first, then the equipment. Place packing material gently into all the cracks and crannies. Cover with another layer of packing material, so that the item is well cushioned and the entire box is full, shut, taped, and marked.

Medicine and Food Containers

Use up all refrigerator foodstuffs ahead of time. With medicines and food staples, tape them shut and pack in plastic bags before wrapping and packing.

Plants

Again, we recommend not trying to ship plants. Moving companies will not ship except on local moves. If you’re moving yourself and it’s midwinter or midsummer, don’t torture your green friends in an uninsulated vehicle. Try an air freight option.

If you’re not going far and you’re taking your plants with you, give the last watering at least twenty-four hours ahead of moving, Pack wet newspapers around the soil in the pot and tape it down to keep soil spillage to a minimum. Put them in a carefully marked “Load Last/Unload First” box.

If you have a valuable collection of plants to ship quite a distance, contact an insulated freight shipper or a packaging store. Many states and countries have restrictions on incoming plants because they may be invasive or harbor pests. Shippers should have these regulations on file, or contact your state agriculture agency.

VAN LOADING

Figure on at least three hours per 1,000 pounds as a goal time for yourself and your untrained helpers. The key job goes to the person inside the van, packing snugly with fragile articles on top. In estimating how long it’s going to take and how many helpers you need, make certain you take into account the tricky stuff/ tricky location factors.

Carting your things onto the truck is tiring, and you’ll need to take frequent breaks, even if you’re used to working out. Take them . . . and while you’re thinking sensibly, remember those health class admonishments advising you to crouch down when picking things up so that you use your leg muscles, not your back. Don’t add a chiropractor’s bill to the moving cost.

Moving is no longer the straight mule work it used to be. Do-it-yourself rental agencies will rent you dollies, hand trucks, and other helpful equipment, even if you’re using a friend’s van. Some trucks come with power-lift platforms and/or adjustable ramps that can be fed directly into the front door, eliminating the need of going up and down the porch stairs.     

MY TAKE-IT-WITH-ME TOTE—A CHECKLIST

Must-Haves

All family members should each have their own prominently marked container for personal things they want with them on the moving trip. There also should be general containers where you include:

A money belt or money garter where you carry cash and credit cards to cover trip expenses. In a separate location, keep a coded list of credit cards and 800 numbers for reporting loss.

Your “Important Documents” accordion folder, which should contain:

The moving company binding estimate and any addenda, the order for service, and the bill of lading.

A certified check (needing your cosignature to cash) to pay movers if you haven’t been able to arrange credit or credit card payment.

Travel tickets, reservations, passports and visas. School transcripts, insurance policies, doctors’ records, all bank records, and other vital documentation.

Your “Neighborhood Information” folder, with articles and other research giving data that will make settling in easier and more fun.

Your personal telephone books for both old and new locations and both old and new city telephone books (if they’re not too bulky).

Children’s toys—a lovey friend and things to do on the trip. See “Avoiding the Kids’ ‘Are-We-There-Yet?’ Dirge” later in this chapter

Pets’ favorite toys, carrier, blanket, comb or brush, pooper scooper and Baggies, food and water dishes, food and can opener, and a supply of water. Unfamiliar water can cause problems for already stressed animals. Also, take paper towels and air freshener for accidents.

Always have any animal that is going to be let out of the car wear a collar or a harness that has current contact ID, and keep it on a leash.

Jewelry and other small valuables—questionable. Many movers will not ship small valuables (including such nonbreakable items as a stamp collection) with the furniture load. But there is always a danger of loss or theft if you take them with you on the road. Consider having them insured and shipped by air.

Traveling clothes and personal suitcase items, including enough for a few days after you arrive. Don’t forget to include a first aid kit, any medicines or vitamins needed daily, and any current prescriptions, including eyeglass prescriptions. Somehow, in the rush of packing, our family always manages either to break or lose at least one pair of glasses.

If you’re going to be on the road several days, or if you have some time at the new home before furniture arrives, take basic picnic supplies, including paper plates, cups and utensils, plastic bags, instant soup mixes, instant coffee or tea, and an electric coffee pot to heat water in.

Maybes

The following items may be too bulky to take with you. If so, consider purchasing them at your destination or shipping by air cargo or UPS ground if the bulk of your furniture won’t be moved for a while.

Your vacuum cleaner, mop and disinfectant, and some rudimentary tools to spruce up your new home before the furniture arrives. If you’ve planned some interior painting, wallpapering, or more extensive refurbishing, pack accordingly.

If it will take several days for the furniture to arrive, consider staying with friends or at a motel or hotel. Alternatively, take sleeping bags, rudimentary kitchen utensils, window coverings and thumbtacks, a telephone and a lamp or two. If you can squeeze in a card table, so much the better. If you’re not shipping furniture until the house sells, plan to rent beds, chairs, and tables or pick some things up at a thrift shop or garage sale.

TRIP TIPS

Safety First

Traveling on strange roads, particularly in an unfamiliar rented vehicle, can wipe regular safety routines from our minds. Don’t forget the following:

Ö    Safety starts at home. Get your vehicle thoroughly inspected before you go. Be sure that tires are aligned and inflated properly, to help with fuel efficiency. If you’re going to a colder climate, check antifreeze, oil weight, and snow tires or chains.

Ö    Have good maps of all the areas you’re going through. If you’re renting a vehicle, maps should be provided.

Ö    Plan your trip on the “beaten paths” rather than on isolated roads.

Ö    Check radio road reports periodically to avoid tie-ups. Never take small, backroad “shortcuts” late in the day or in stormy weather.

Ö    Be sure to wear your safety belts, including the lap belt, even with an air bag.

Ö    Schedule to arrive at your stopovers before 5:00 p.m., so you’re not maneuvering through other people’s commutes and/or trying to read the map and find a motel after dark. If you have to drive long days, it’s better to start in the predawn dark than drive during the 5:00 p.m.-to-midnight peak accident hours.

Ö    When you park during the day, park in the shade to keep the car as cool as possible. When you park at night, park under a light to make the vehicle less vulnerable to thieves.

Ö    Lock your car, van, or truck doors at all times, including when you’re in the vehicle. Be sure the trunk or back van door is always locked.

Ö    Don’t pull over to help a stranded motorist. Call for help from the next telephone.

Ö    If your vehicle breaks down, pull over, put on the warning flashers, walk to the nearest telephone for help, then wait in a store where you can see the van or inside the vehicle itself until the garage repair person or the police arrive. Stay in your car and ask passing motorists to call for help rather than go off in their car with them.

Ö    If you’re driving a van or truck, beware of low tree branches and overhanging signs.

Ö    When you go to your vehicle, don’t unlock it until you’ve checked to be sure no one is in it.

Avoiding the Kids’ “Are We There Yet?” Dirge

Traveling time passes slowly for a child. Get a travel game book, and have everybody pick one to play. Store up a surprise bag of fruit, crackers, and new puzzles, games, and coloring books to give out at certain hours. Make sure you have enough for every child to get the same item at the same time. Use a kitchen timer to provide fairness about sharing and/or announce “rest stop time.”

Take card games and any board games with magnets or pegged pieces. Hand-held electronic games, personal radios, or stereos with headsets are a great way for everybody to “do their own thing.” Take along talking books and old radio shows as well as music.

Older children should each get their own map, research the trip, and pick out a couple of interesting sights along the way, where you can stop and unwind for an hour or so. It’s fun for everybody to switch seating, driver, and chief navigation officer duties.

Dr. Stevanne Auerbach, author of The Toy Chest and other parenting books, suggests encouraging a child to do a trip journal or picture book and to take along a pillow for each child to take naps.

Buy picnic food along the way and eat at picnic grounds, where pent-up energy can be released. Short hikes every once in a while are good ways to get a feel for the countryside you’re traveling through. If the weather is bad, eat at food halls in large shopping centers, which usually have a covered play area nearby.

Before the movers arrive, vacuum and fix such things as broken electrical outlets that will be hard to reach after furniture is in place.

Go over your original furniture layout to confirm that everything will fit where you planned. Photocopy enough copies of the plan to have one taped to the doorway of each room, so that neither you nor the van people have a problem about which wall to place the breakfront against.

Finalize your arrangements to have pets and children out of the house while the movers are there. This is even more important if you’re moving yourself, because your attention will be even more concentrated on the job at hand.

When the movers arrive at your new residence, go over items and the inventory form with the same diligence as you did when they left. If at all possible, have two people—one to direct where boxes and furniture go and one to check off items on the form. Be sure that every item arrives.

If you’re having the movers unpack, watch carefully. You’ll want to know if they’re rough with boxes or if they drop the piano. When they’re done, look over every item, and note any new dents, scratches, or rough treatment on the inventory form before signing. They should point out broken items they have found, and you may wish to photograph these.

Tip: If the damage is small, ask the mover if the company will pay you now. It may prefer not to have a claim go against their company record.

If you’re going to do the unpacking, check any piece of furniture where padding has slipped. Open any boxes that have been obviously crushed or damaged en route, observe any damage, and write it by the proper item number: “Item #34 received damaged. 7 broken china plates.” Get the mover to initial this. If you’ve got a camera, take a picture of the problem.

Tip: John Fristos, who headed the Interstate Commerce Commission Office of Compliance and Consumer Assistance when it was overseeing the household transportation industry, says that in the thirty-four year he worked with consumer complaints, the biggest problem in the industry was always unpaid damage and loss claims. He recommends inspecting the condition of your furniture, particularly valuable antiques, upon unloading. If you’re not able to do that, it helps if you cross out the acknowledgment that “This is a true and complete list of the goods tendered and of the state of the goods received,” on the inventory and write, “Subject to my final inspection of all items for concealed damage or loss” above your signature.

Be sure that all copies of the inventory carry the same notations. Follow the procedures outlined in the next section on filing claims.

WHEN TO TIP

Movers are always being asked to do special favors for householders. They deserve a tip if they’ve driven extended periods to make your schedule; if they’ve kept your antique clock in the cab, so that it arrived in perfect condition; and especially if they’ve had to haul your 900 pound bowfronted chest of drawers through three rooms before you decided on its final resting place.

Let them know you appreciate their efforts. Tips in the neighborhood of $20 to $50 for the driver and $5 to $20 for the helpers are about right, depending on the service you’ve received.

UNPACKING AND CLAIMS

THAT GET RESULTS

We still haven’t unpacked some boxes that were packed the move before last. This is not a recommended procedure, but we’ve never met anyone who succeeded in unpacking everything within the first month after arrival.

Our major effort on arrival is to unpack major things so that the house is livable, then go after less essential things on a room-by-room basis.

Tip: Consider disassembling the boxes, folding them flat, and keeping in the attic or garage for future use. The wardrobe containers may come in handy immediately for storing seasonal clothing. Or you may want to sell the boxes through an ad in the local advertiser.

Then there are always things that are destined for the back of closets and cupboards. Don’t just shove them away. Even though you don’t plan to use the china set till next Thanksgiving, you should open and go through any boxes with fragile items within the first month after your arrival to check for breakage.

If you find anything broken, photograph it and leave it in the box, as is. The moving company reserves the right to inspect the box and the way it was packed before recognizing a claim. ICC watchdog Fristos has advised that it helps to get a neighbor to testify as to having seen the problem in the box as soon after the move as possible.

Whether you noted damage on the mover’s inventory or discovered it later, you have to get the claims forms from your moving company’s destination office. Many companies allow you to file a claim on interstate, even without any notations on the inventory, for up to nine months from move-in day. If you were moving locally or intrastate, you need to check local regulations.

File the pictures, forms, and other evidence with the local company, but be sure to keep a copy yourself. Include as much premove evidence—pictures, appraisals, purchase receipts—as possible. If you’re filing a claim on an item you packed, you do best when the box was obviously crushed (another picture here) or you observed rough handling and noted it on the inventory form.

The company should give you a written response to your claim within 30 days and pay, deny, or make an adjusted offer to you within 120 days of filing. The van line should give a copy of a booklet, “Household Goods Dispute Settlement Program,” when it gives you an estimate on an interstate move, and the company also will send you the forms for appeal upon request.

If you find you are not getting any satisfaction on a claim and the item was valuable enough to make it worthwhile, most moving company contracts allow you sue or take a complaint to Small Claims Court. Otherwise, you may want to contact the American Movers Conference at (703) 706-4978 or on the website at www.moving.org, for arbitration. Although this is industry-sponsored service is fairly new and untried, it is operated on an independent basis. For intrastate and local moves, look for the state transport or public utilities office. You also can contact the Better Business Bureau in regards to unethical practices.

Copyright (c) 2000 by Clyde & Shari Steiner - All rights reserved

Copyright © 1998, 1999 by Clyde and Shari Steiner. All rights reserved. No part of this book, including cover design, art, interior design or icons, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any way, including but not limited to photocopy, magnetic, electronic or other record, without the prior agreement and written permission of the copyright holder.

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Steiners Complete How To Talk Mortgage Talk, by the same authors, covers all aspects of financing your home, and is also available at better bookstores. Find out more at www.movedoc.com