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Questions to Ask Before Hiring Professional Movers

If you are planning for an interstate house shifting with removalists from Brisbane to Sydney then you must be confused on how to hire the best ones. You must be concerned about a lot of stuff including the overall costs and the safety of your items; after all you cannot let just anybody handle your precious household furniture, goods and appliances.

To help you out with the search for professional movers we have created a comprehensive list of questions that you can ask from the removalists in gold cost and finally get your hands on the best one.

Question 1: Are you a licensed company?

This is the first and foremost question which you must consider to ask. Enquire if the company has proper documents to prove that they have the license of services as movers. These days there are many moving companies in the market and almost half of them do not even hold any legal license for their service, so you should not fall for them.

However a licensed moving company would definitely come for the meeting carrying their proper documents and references, if not, then you can ask them to show you the documents first only after which you will proceed. The list of documents that you should look for are-

  • Trade license
  • Service tax details
  • Personal identification proofs

Question 2: Can you provide a list of references for the past customers?

With other customers good and bad experiences you can get a brief knowledge on how exactly your experience will be. Many times the clients mentioned on the company’s website are not even genuine so don’t get carried away with it. Always look for original references and contact few of them to know what their exact experience was. Enquire about the advantages and disadvantages, their personal comments and if they have any suggestions for you. Hence this question should be on the top of your list.

Question 3: what is your overall experience in this business?

The service of packing and moving is all about experience. The more number of clients they handle the more experienced and well trained they become. New business ventures are definitely more open on providing attractive discounts and offers but choosing such trivial attractions over the safety of your goods can incur you a bigger loss. So always look for removalists who have got a significant experience in this business from past few years.

Question 4: what is the permanent business address of your company?

Before finalizing the contract with any Gold Coast removalists company you must ask about their permanent business address. If unfortunately you encounter an adverse situation because of their service then at least you have a proper address where you can go and discuss your problem. Not just getting the address but also verifying it with a short visit is important.

Question 5: Are you willing to provide a written and attested document for your commitments?

Every service provider knows that the shortcut to attracting a potential client is to make huge commitments and promises, but how can you believe them all?

A mover and packer who will be true to his commitments will not hesitate to give it in written but those who are just making fake promises will definitely make excuses to put it down as a proof. You should be alert of such fake service providers as in the end only a written proof is what matters and not the words.

Question 6: what are the types of insurance that you provide?

Your household stuff can include all types of material including delicate materials such as glass and porcelain. You must be also having some expensive or rare possessions that require special type of packing when being transported to your new address. Professional movers are well trained to handle all types of household items but in case of any unforeseen mistake or accident you must know about the type of insurance they provide. If any item gets misplaced or broken then do they have a good enough liability insurance to cover all your losses? Also, ensure that you have duly gone through all the terms and conditions mentioned in the insurance papers.

Question 7: Can you provide me the detailed breakup of the quote?

Mostly movers have got a standard quote which depends on the client’s requirement, if it is an office shifting or a house shifting. But you can save some money by getting a detailed breakup of the quote. It can be that you don’t require few of the services that are mentioned in the quote, with a proper breakup view you can select the services that you want whereas eliminate the ones that are not required.

Question 8: what are the terms and mode of payment?

This is a very important question and it also includes the payment terms for example some removalists prefer to get 20% in advance and the rest of the amount after the shifting has been done. So ask them about their payment policies well in advance. Also you must be aware of the final amount before signing a contract. If you think that the prices are too much then you can also negotiate or ask for a discount. Lastly you should ask for the mode of payment if they are fine with a cheque or debit/credit card payment.

Question 9: what if the delivery is not done on time?

Movers mostly insist on how they are always on time and they have never done a late delivery but you never know when that exception happens with you. Make sure that they know about the penalties in case of late delivery and will have to adhere to it. Whatever penalty you decide on, make it mentioned in the contract which can be signed by both the client and the company.

Question 10: what is the geographical extent of your removalist service?

This also depends on you if you are looking to move locally or interstate. In case of interstate moving you can look for removalists from Brisbane to Sydney shifting who are experts of that route. In case of local shifting there is no sense in hiring interstate movers who will definitely charge you more in comparison to local movers.

Question 11: how many direct employees and subcontractors does your company hold?

This question is significant in assessing the professionalism of the company. If they have their own team of employees who will be responsible for the entire shifting process right from the beginning till the end, then it is more reliable. Subcontractors are not that bad and can be trusted but still there can be coordination issues which might result in poor service.

Question 12: Does your company hold any particular specialization?

Almost every removalist in Gold Coast holds some specific specialization such as they can be good at transporting vehicles or can be experts at moving a warehouse. Also some of them are specialized at moving huge furniture’s, containers or good at getting the customs cleared for foreign goods. Well, whatever the specialization might be, you should know that you are working with experts.

Question 13: what all are the packing material that you use?

Packers and movers have got variety of material to pack every individual item. Clothes, crockery, glass items, show pieces… all of them are packed in different types of cardboard boxes, wraps and blaster sheets. You need to enquire about the quality of their packing material and if they will be using new cardboard boxes rather than the old used ones.

Question 14: Do you have rented vehicles or your own?

When in case of interstate shifting, the type of vehicles matter a lot. If the movers company has their very own fleet of trucks then it is more reliable as well as cost effective.

Question-15 What are the miscellaneous or hidden charges?
Moving companies that are not genuine tend to manipulate their clients with a faulty quotation. Hence this question is important to be asked if you want to avoid being fooled in the end. If you can find some expense mentioned in the quote with a star or unclear clause then ask about it. This can turn out to be a hidden cost which you will unwillingly have to pay in the end.

Lastly you can also add some of your own!

Here the list ends for top 15 questions which you must ask before finalizing on a professional removalist in Gold Coast or any other area. With almost all the important questions being covered in this list you can create some of your very own questions as well if they are of concern to you.