I’m moving from San Francisco back to New York on Thursday.
A mere 454 days ago I did this trip in the opposite direction. Back then, I didn’t own much stuff … bed, books, musical instruments, whatever … so when a moving company quoted me $750, it seemed a reasonable price. I said, “okay.”
On the specified date, two movers arrived and efficiently took my stuff; I signed numerous documents, tipped them, and flew to SF. Two weeks later, with my worldly possessions somewhere in Oklahoma, I was told the total bill would be almost $2000. I’m not sure why. Had I underestimated the weight of my things? Was it the optional insurance I ok’d? Or had those guys fudged the weight?
Hiring a mover feels like going to the car mechanic; you are almost completely at their mercy. Perhaps, this is also how people feel when talking to computer programmers (I wish!) or criminal lawyers.
Anway, I wanted to be smarter about this move and so considered ALL the options.
Option 1: Sell my stuff; buy new stuff as needed in New York.
This would be the most low-stress way; just sell, sell, sell then leave. Plus it held a Tom Sawyer allure … to purge my life of clutter, take only the essentials, maybe hitchhike across America like a beatnik, just me and my dusty duffle-bag, the two cats on a leash. Three weeks later my decomposed body would make headlines.
But I also considered the value of my stuff. Building up a comfortable coccoon is expensive: the reading lamp, the shower radio, the DVD/VCR player, not to mention the sheets and comforter from Bed, Bath & Beyond. Sure, a complete liquidation of these bourgeois possessions might only fetch $1,500 – I’d be lucky to get $300 for my $900 mattress, but to replace everything from scratch would cost over $10,000. I blame THAT on globalization.
Just kidding.
Option 2: U-Haul
Their vans have ”$19.99 per day” plastered all over them, times 5 days of driving = cheap enough. I could go truckin’ across the U.S.A., my stuff bouncing around in the back, Mr. Do-it-Himselfer, singin’ along to Willie Nelson tunes and eatin’ burgers. Perhaps I’d find someone else to do the trip with me; we’d share gas and motel costs, then they’d kill me and eat me. No headlines.
Nice idea, but ”$19.99” was for “in town” rentals. U-Haul wanted $2100 for a cross-country move. For that much, I’d rather get screwed by a moving company.
Option 3: Moving company
I began my search for a mover at google.com, of course. This is 2004 when guys lie me do everything online. Yet residential moving is an industry stuck in 1996.
I sifted through a dozen crappy websites – poor design, heinous graphics, very retro – before landing at This place; they would quote me a price based on the size of my move, but this required filling out an exhaustive form: name, address, PHONE NUMBER, a detailed list of my possessions. I left some fields blank but that just kicked me to an error page.
So I debuted my new, fake, online persona, Anne Yai (which, incidentally, is an inside joke for all you who speak Thai: what with Anne Yai being the opposite of Anne Lek … heh, heh. Funny.). Anne filled out the form with her details.
And …
After twenty minutes of divulging the sort of information I normally snd to the paper shredder, I pressed Submit and expected a quote. But no. No quote for Anne. Instead, a cheery little page thanked her and said a representative would contact her BY PHONE, shortly.
By phone? I could’ve done that with the yellow pages. It really was 1996 all over again.
Eventually, Anne (on my behalf) received a half-dozen quotes – I (as Trevor) had to explain where the Chinese girl had gone. The prices they quoted were between $750 and $1950. I chose the cheapest one – allusamovingandstorage.com since, other than price, there was no other selling points between these companies.
A moving crew showed up Monday and took my stuff. I was careful to not buy any last-minute insurance, and I read the contract carefully. Apparently, they weigh your things at a government station and get an official receipt; that’s what they told me. My fingers are crossed.
Anne says hi.