Weadles

My daughter is moving to another location near Davis Square. Anybody got a reasonable mover to recommend? THank you so, so much!

Ackislander

If anything has changed since we made recommendations in response to your 2010 post on the same topic, her friends are more likely to know than we are who is doing a good job these days.

Read the reviews of Gentle Giant or Isaacs on Yelp. They are still tops.

mztery

why would travelers know the best moving company for a local Somerville/Cambridge move?

Plus one fact is that ALL movers who are licensed have ot charge the same, it's the little local movers that vary. SO someone who did a cross country move isn't going to be much help w/ a local move w/ an unlicensed yet locally bonded company.

gail

Doucette Movers in Reading. Movers are expensive - if you find a cheap one, there is probably a reason, and it is not likely to be a good one.

nytraveler

Ho wmuch is she moving? Does she need a real moving company with insurance, etc. or does she just need 2 guys with a van?

and agree that people here won;t know a lot about local moving companies. Can she ask people who have moved recently in her area?

Separately, if she needs a real moving company - a really cheap one is the best way to ensure either 1)damages/things missing or 2 ) lots of extra surprise charges at the end

mztery

@nytraveler - if you just look at cheap, you're right. But in most college towns and big cities, there are a lOT of local movers who are bonded for damages but aren't licensed movers. We have several here in SF. If a student-type is moving across twnn and doesn't have antiques or fine china it's kinda crazy to pay what licensed movers charge.

china_cat

I used gentle giant years ago, as did other friends. Probably not the cheapest, but they are the best.

gail

Any recommendations, unless they are for a local independent company or the specific local franchise of a national company are useless - the local offices of national names are either franchises or independently owned - and what matters is the specific guys at that specific office.

MareW

I used Gentle Giant too, but it's been a while.

yk

I've used Issac's 4 times over the course of the last 18 years: 2 long-distance and 2 local moves. The most recent was 1 year ago for a local move. They're definitely not cheap, but they do the job just fine. My very first move w/them they broke my desk (which is a cheap, fiberboard one) and they reimbursed me quickly without any trouble. No other breakage on the other moves.

My only "concern" with them these days is that they have moved their HQ from Brighton all the way down to the Stoughton area. So the local move we did last year, they ended up showing up an hour late b/c they were stuck in traffic coming up to Boston.

nytraveler

Yes, but the students - and I moving into my first apt - did the 2 guys and a van thing. Saved a huge amount and since you (and often a friend) are with them - there are rarely problems.

gail

"there are rarely problems" - true,but when there are, you are totally unprotected. I rented a friend of a friend of a friend plus a U-Haul truck. Seems U-Haul did not check validity of driver's lic of this friend. He drove truck without a valid license, drunkenly side-swiped a parked car, and got 2 parking tickets that he discarded.

HappyTrvlr

Boston Trucking. . They move antiques nationwide and we've used them several times, very reasonable. Perhaps they would handle a local move.

davidmeek

It's amazing how easy it is nowadays to search for movers, hire them and end up not having the kind of service you want. I would suggest of course to look at the track record of the company that you eventually decide to use and since everything is done online now, I'm sure with a bit of patience you'll be able to find the right one. Good luck.