"This review is long overdue," as I have often seen it said.
We struggled initially to find an affordable, reliable and straightforward moving solution for some things we wanted to move across country. For anyone who does not yet know, using a traditional moving company is fraught with a variety of minefields: If your possessions get damaged, for example, you may find it very difficult to get the company to honor the promises in its contract.
Another major problem is bait-and-switch in terms of pricing. The movers who end up with your stuff may end up demanding more money than you originally agreed to pay, holding your shipment hostage: If you don't pay up, you don't get your stuff. If you try to complain to the company with which you signed your contract, you may be told that they have subcontracted out to another mover, for whom they do not bear responsibility. (There may be fine print in your contract that allows them to do this.)
These traditional movers would probably rationalize their actions by saying that consumers have forced them to do this: Everybody is price shopping on the Internet these days. If you don't offer someone an unrealistically low price for the move, they won't choose your company. So you give them a price that appeals to them but is not the price they are going to end up paying.
When we asked these movers whether they would be subcontracting out the move, they all had very slippery language that would have enabled them to do this. After reading countless horror stories online, we decided to search for a better solution, which we fortunately--most thankfully--eventually stumbled upon by posting on various discussion groups. That solution is U-Pack.
U-Pack may not be a good fit for everyone. But if you are a candidate for their program, there is no doubt in my mind after our superlative experience that this is the only way to go. Everything is clear and transparent up front. There are no surprises. The solution is also much more affordable than a traditional moving company.
You do have to educate yourself a bit online about how the system works and make sure you follow all the rules. Make sure you watch the online videos and ask whatever questions you need to have answered.
TIP #1: It's especially important to tie down your belongings very securely in the Relocube, as contents do get shaken up somewhat during a long move. Fortunately, no damage was incurred in our case but some of the straps came loose during the transport of our cube across country. If I had to do it over again, I would ask the people I hired remotely to do a better job of securing the straps.
TIP #2: We tapped into moving talent at TaskRabbit, to help us transport items from the Service Center delivery destination on O'Toole Avenue. If you're careful about whom you choose (make sure to vet the talent through their reviews), you can make sure that they will do a good job. For the first leg of the journey, moving our stuff into the Relocube in another part of the country, we engaged well-reviewed local movers we found through reviews on Yelp and Google.
TIP #3: When we used U-Pack more than a year ago, the locks on the Relocubes were relatively easy to defeat, as a video on Youtube clearly demonstrated. If that system has not been upgraded, you would probably be well advised to ship anything very valuable separately.
All in all, U-Pack was a godsend for us and I can't recommend the service highly enough, for those whose needs fit well with the limitations involved. A special shout-out to Greg and Troy at the San Jose facility, for being so pleasant, helpful and easy to work with. In fact, everyone I dealt with at U-Pack throughout the entire process was courteous and straightforward. U-Pack, you rock! read more