Hiring a Moving Company: Don’t Fly Blind
I just went to visit clients who had recently moved into their new home. I asked them “How did the move go”, remembering that I had recommended one of the Winnipeg Moving Companies I personally know and trust.
Turns out they did not use my recommended mover, but hired a couple of small guys who promised to have a lot of sympathy.
Here was their experience:
- The bill was substantially larger than the initial estimate (a common scam in the moving industry )
- Some of their stuff got damaged, and most disturbing of all
- $180 cash disappeared out of the lady’s purse
Calling the company directly got absolutely no results, leaving a frustrated client.
Thing to look for in a great moving company
Why you should get a referral
Especially in industries which are as unregulated as Moving Companies, asking your real estate agent for a referral is important (Same goes for Landscapers, Mortgage Brokers and numerous other services). If my clients had used my recommended movers, here would have been the outcome:
A: None of the above would have happened, or
B: They could have called me to rectify the problem, which I would have done, or
C: I’d never be recommending THAT mover again, which would cost them money in the long run
If you need a referral for a Mover, HVAC, Electrician, Landscaper, Mortgage Broker, or any one of dozen different services, call me anytime…. Bo 204-333-2202
How to find a great Moving Company (anywhere)
Full Transcript of audio, click here [expand]
Hiring a Mover in Winnipeg
[00:00:00] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: Spring market is here. And as with every spring home sales are increasing. So more people are buying and selling, which means more people are going to end up moving. Do you do it yourself or do you hire a mover? So coming up next is an interview with a friend of mine who runs total moving in Winnipeg.
[00:00:16] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: And we’re going to get some tips on how to find, hire, and select a great.
[00:00:20] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: Uh, you’re listening to the bone knows real estate podcast tips and advice for home buyers, sellers, and owners with award winning Remax agent Beau Kaufman.
[00:00:41] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: All right today, we’re going to be talking about moving, hiring a mover or doing it yourself. The moving industry I have found is one of those really unregulated industry, anybody with a pickup truck and call themselves a mover. It’s like a home inspection, a service, anybody with a flashlight. Can call themselves a home inspector.
[00:00:57] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: So how do you weed through that? I can tell you a quick little story. When I was a police officer, I was sitting in the station and somebody came in and report that they had a whole bunch of stuff go missing from their moving company. It is, it is kind of a wild west out there as far as moving goes. So if you are going to hire a mover, make sure your hire a good one.
[00:01:18] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: And today we’re going to be talking with a good friend of mine who runs total moving, which is fairly new here in Winnipeg. And we’re going to talk to him next. His name is Colby kiss. All right. So I’m here with my friend Colby kiss from told will moving Winnipeg, uh, Colby. Let’s get right into it and ask you if.
[00:01:37] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: There’s so many movers out there. I mean, anybody with a pickup truck and call themselves a mover, it seems to me it’s like a somewhat loosely regulated industry. There really is, you know, it’s a wild west show out there. How do people find a great mover? What sets a great mover apart from the.
[00:01:53] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: You know, what’s, um, bad.
[00:01:55] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: You’re absolutely correct. In that sense, you gotta be careful with who you’re hiring. Um, some places you might want to look to first would be like BBB, better business bureau. Uh, they only bring credible businesses on with business, better business bureau. Sorry. Um, we’re on there. We have a great, great review system through them.
[00:02:11] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: The next would be check your Google reviews. That’s probably your most important, um, important thing to look into, right? Like if you have a company has all five stars and they’ve got over. Say even 30 reviews, you’re probably looking at a company that is somewhat credible and they can all be fake ones and companies are looking to do that.
[00:02:27] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: Right. So it is something companies do, unfortunately. But, um, if they’re getting over the 30, 40 mark, they’re definitely, they’re definitely having customers that are having good experiences with them. So that’s massive. And then another one we’re hopping into, as soon as we get into, um, two years in business, sorry, is cam the Canadian association of movers, our business mentor and Phillips is in there.
[00:02:46] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: And. Set the steps up for us to get right in. We’ve already been deemed as, uh, as credible. And it’s just about. Getting two years in the industry for us right now, so that we can hop into that one to further go into it. I guess like some things you’d want to look into when you’re making the calls to the moving company, or you want to make sure that they’re friendly, they’re willing to help you right off that first phone call.
[00:03:06] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: I get lots of calls from customers. From the first phone call, they say, they’re so surprised that we’re approachable via phone, and that were over the phone, over the phone. I’m willing to answer their questions and not just get their, their estimate info that we need. If you want to know what’s going on in there with their whole situation before they’re moved.
[00:03:24] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: And, uh, next thing of course, you wanna make sure these, these companies are fully insured. Workers, they have their workers’ comp certified they’re fully insured as well. I think it’s important if you looked on a company’s website or in their socials, um, just make sure they’re staying relevant. Lots of these moving companies that maybe are trying to hide the kind of sketchy or things they do or whatever it might be.
[00:03:45] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: They don’t have a social presence. They’re not completely updating their website regularly. So it’s kind of a good way to good way to tell that if a company is staying relevant and staying. Updated on their content. They’re not afraid to be out there. They get out of customers that are mad at them, commenting on their stuff, 24 7, if they, if they’re doing that.
[00:04:03] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: Right. So I think we do that. We, we have a very good social presence and I think our website’s pretty top notch and yeah, I think another important question to ask when you’re hiring a mover, first of all, make sure they’re going to get you an estimate, like, you know, movers over the phone should ever just say it’s going to be four hours and then they show up and yeah.
[00:04:18] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: A thousand more things than they expected for a one bedroom move. We make sure we break all their things down through a cube sheet, ensuring that we actually get our customer a proper price and an hourly rate that makes sense for their move. And when we get them that we normally fall within half an hour positive or negative of that estimate.
[00:04:33] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: So it’s kind of an important thing there for sure. You want to get a number before going into your
[00:04:37] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: move, especially if you just kind of want to know what you’re getting. Exactly.
[00:04:42] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: Yeah. And there’s you hear that so much too, that customers come to me and they say, oh, Hey, this one company I hired three years ago told me it was going to be $300.
[00:04:50] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: And they showed up to my one bedroom apartment and then ended up being $700 in five hours. Right. So we make sure we get them that our number and a price that will be somewhat close on. Okay. And then the last thing I think is kind of important there. Would be ask them, ask a moving company. This one always throws a company off and it might not be the right company if it does throw them off.
[00:05:10] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: When you ask them this question, but ask them what they’re going to do. If things go wrong. And the unfortunate part of this industry is we’re movers. There’s going to be dings Nicks. There’s going to be stuff like that. That happens. The important thing is how that’s, how that has made up for, uh, We run claims forms.
[00:05:25] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: There’s basic laws from the federal government of what we must meet, but then we also sell our customers valuation. We make sure they understand our claims forms for going in so that they know if anything does go wrong, we’re here to help them. And we give them every opportunity to ensure that they’re getting, whether it’s money back or things fix, they’re getting those opportunities to have any mistakes made.
[00:05:44] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: No. Excellent
[00:05:46] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: in the big one there that stuck out for me is the insurance and the, uh, workers’ comp because of, uh, if a mover slips in your house and hurts himself, uh, that actually it’s the home owner’s responsibility sometimes because he’s provided the home owner, the seller or the buyer has provided the workspace.
[00:06:04] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: So you gotta have worker’s comp and
[00:06:06] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: insurance. Absolutely. I mean, some of the, I mean, it’s not even to bash some of the smaller movers. Everyone’s trying to make a dollar, I guess, but it needs to be done correctly. Right? So those two things are huge. Of course you want them fully insured and, and, and the companies to have workers comp for their employees.
[00:06:22] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: Well, listen, I
[00:06:23] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: get it. A lot of young people, uh, buying their first house. And I remember when I was like 25 30, we always had friends. We had a ton of friends, some of them would pick up trucks and they’re always willing to do stuff for a pizza and a case. So w what do you say to young people who say, well, I’m going to see myself that 500, 600, $800 and just get a bunch of buddies together, have a good day, make a day of it.
[00:06:45] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: What do you say to people like that?
[00:06:47] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: Um, call me for an estimate first. Uh, I, you know what everyone says that like every, it seems every friend group, including my own, they all go through. Whoever’s lucky enough to call. I shouldn’t even say lucky enough to move into their first place, but. Whoever’s moving out first.
[00:07:04] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: It seems like they all go through that and they end up buying the case of beer and pizza. And then no one else in the friend groups fortunate to save the money there. But, um, there’s just certain things that aren’t going to get done. When you hire, hire a friend group, you’re not going to know how long it’s going to take.
[00:07:17] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: If you’re moving, will you, we, can we go into pound? Did you want to be, make our moves? Right. So if you’re moving, say 3000, 4,000 pounds, and you just got to pick up truck, you’re going to be moving all day with your friend group as well. So I’ll make sure they know that, but. Yeah. It’s certain things like pat wrapping your furniture.
[00:07:32] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: If it’s, if it’s furniture you care about, like it’s not going to be taken care of properly, right. There there’ll be other things you don’t think of like this assembly, um, certain moving techniques, trying to get a coach through doors a lot harder when you don’t know what you’re doing. Um, and yeah, it’s just more difficult
[00:07:45] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: than people plus the insurance factor too, right?
[00:07:47] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: Like, I mean, if your friend drops that headboard and scratches it all up, uh, don’t think you’re going to have
[00:07:52] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: insurance. Yeah, I’m sure there’s been a lot of, uh, lost friendships over moving. Like it’s not really worth
[00:07:58] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: yeah. How to burn through your friends and three
[00:08:01] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: easy steps. Hire them for three moves in two years.
[00:08:26] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: Listen, I also, what I like about you guys is you offered a whole bunch of different services. Like, um, one thing you go out and you sell just the packing supplies and rapping and tape and stuff like that.
[00:08:36] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: But what other services do you guys offer?
[00:08:39] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: Or we were talking about that recently. You and I. Put it into it’s on our website right now we have a little infographic, but we kind of break things down into, uh, uh, a four step moving process kind of thing. Now you don’t need to use this for all four steps, but the first would be kind of like just virtually or just online.
[00:08:56] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: We can set you up through email with the packing supplies. You need, get you our prices, get you set up there and, um, have them delivered to you. Then we can come do that pack, whether it’s the move day, the day before we send Packers, however, it works. That’s kind of step two was doing the pack and then step three is the obvious one that everyone knows we do, which is just getting the move done.
[00:09:15] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: Right. And then our fourth step, the final step in this kind of infographic would be. Doing the unpack organizing of the house. Um, it’s again, you don’t have to hire for all four things. Lots of customers will buy our packing supplies. They’ll do all the packing, we move it. We give them tips on how to properly pack, ensuring that there’s going to be no damages.
[00:09:37] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: Um, and that’s totally fine, but yeah, we do offer all four and then I guess the other big thing we offer is. Is this
[00:09:44] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: Emily. That’s what I was waiting for it. Yeah. The assembly that kind of blew me away. So people go to Ikea buy that dresser with the 400 parts and you offer a service to put it together for
[00:09:55] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: that’s absolutely right.
[00:09:56] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: Yeah. We, uh, I don’t blame people that can, Ikea stuff can be pretty annoying. So we found a little bit of a market in there. We’re hoping to get that to start taking off even more so in the future here, but, uh, yeah, if anybody just needs some things built, put together, we’ll, uh, we’ll send our best assembly guys over and get that done.
[00:10:14] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: Right on. So what’s the best way. How do people get ahold?
[00:10:18] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: Um, but we have a quotation link and just to contact us through our website that never hurts goes directly to me and my staff’s emails. And then we reach out, um, you can get a hold of us set, uh, my email as well. We’ll be at total moving one, a big.ca or hello at total moving one, a big.ca both of those we can be reached, um, and our phone number.
[00:10:38] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: Um, we have our office line, which is, uh, 4, 3 1 4 4 1 move. It’s a 6, 6, 8 3
[00:10:44] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: for the end there. So that the website was total moving. Winnipeg dot. Yeah, I guess I
[00:10:50] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: should’ve said the
[00:10:51] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: website. Okay. Was part of your email, but I just wanted to make sure people understood and got off.
[00:10:56] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: Absolutely. Yeah, no, it is of www total moving winnepeg.ca that’s the website.
[00:11:02] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: All right. Well, listen, I’d like to do another episode with you sometime down the road. Maybe, uh, we’ll talk about how people can save money. What, you know, what some, some tips and tricks to moving, how the. Do some of the stuff and hire you for some of the other stuff, but we’ll come up with some ideas on, on how to save people money, because they’re going to be spending a lot of it buying the house.
[00:11:22] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: Uh, these days it’s the market is just, is nuts. So, uh, I’ll uh, I look forward to doing this again. I can’t
[00:11:31] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: wait to be back on both. Thanks for having us. All right. Take
[00:11:34] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: care of by Colby. Take it easy, bro. Well, I met Colby about a year and a half ago or so, and I’ve been recommending total moving to all my clients for that time.
[00:11:45] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: And I’ve had nothing but positive feedback. And like I said, this is an industry where it’s a real hit and miss, you can get some really good ones and you can get some that will quite frankly, rip you off. And I’ve always found Colby to be a standup guy, and I liked their whole business mentality and philosophy.
[00:12:02] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: And I think you’d be quite happy hiring total moving for your next move. And no, they did not pay for this episode. This is just a service that I provide. I like surrounding myself with. That that are good at their business. So if you look into, by herself, just know that I’ve already got a great lawyer, home insurance company, mover, a plumber, electrician, home inspector, a roofer.
[00:12:25] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: I’ve got them all on speed, dial people that I know and trust and people that I can get ahold of even on the weekend, uh, try and get a lawyer to answer a phone on the weekend. So if you look into, by herself, give me a shout because you get more than just a realtor. You get access to all the best professionals in their respective fields to help us make that purchase or the sale of that house.
[00:12:48] Bo Kauffmann – REALTOR: So until next time, this has been Bo Kaufman Remax performance. I’ll talk to you soon.
[00:12:57] Colby Kiss – Total Moving: You’ve been listening to Bo Kauffman of Remax performance Realty. Are you thinking of buying or selling a house or a condo in Winnipeg called Bo at 2 0 4 3 3 3 2 2 0 2. Remember Bo knows real estate.
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About the Publisher
Bo Kauffmann is a residential real estate agent with over 18 yrs experience in helping buyers and sellers achieve their goals. Inducted into the REMAX Hall of Fame in 2010 and receiving the REMAX Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019, Bo has sold over 500 houses and condos in the Greater Winnipeg market. He is an accredited buyer representative (A.B.R.) and a Luxury Home Marketing Specialist.
Bo provides exceptional service to First-Time Home-Buyers, Seniors looking to downsize and Home Sellers of all ages.
He can be reached easily By E-Mail or call/text him Call/Text Here
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