OT: Dealing with movers

User Forum Topic
Submitted by sheilawellington on May 17, 2008 - 1:43pm

We are moving locally (a few miles) next week. BTW, we decided to rent for at least another couple of years.

I'm hiring a moving company that a realtor referred us to. We've done most or all of the packing ourselves, so we just need the movers to take care of disassembling/protecting our furniture, appliances, etc., and take care of all the loading and unloading.

I've read so many horror stories about movers. I'm thinking of "bribing" them by offering a good tip if nothing is broken, walls are not scratched and no one is injured. We hired a team of 4 movers (plus truck) for about $100 an hour.

I'm thinking of offering $30 to each guy if everything goes smoothly. What is the best way of doing it without offending them or sounding too obvious? Do these guys earn minimum wage? Or maybe $15/hr? I'm hoping that a tax-free $30 plus lunch (pizza?) might make them my friends for the day. Is $30 too much, or too little?

Thank you for any input or recent experiences with movers!

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Sheila Go here and do a
Submitted by Enorah on May 17, 2008 - 2:20pm.

Sheila

Go here and do a search on the forums.

http://www.movingscam.com/

We used Sullivan out of Vista for our last local move here and it went beautifully.

I always tip each guy $40 at the end of the move. But that is me.

Enorah, thank you! We're in
Submitted by sheilawellington on May 17, 2008 - 3:40pm.

Enorah, thank you!
We're in the San Fernando Valley, and yes I had seen that website. Lots of horror stories, though. I'll search for "tipping" in the forums (fora?).

I thought of buying full-coverage insurance, but the minimum coverage had a $355-$425 premium for $50,000 coverage (too much for my needs). At $40 each guy, the tip'll cost me $160. At $50, it'd be $200. Still cheaper than the insurance.