Think Outside the Box:
Movers Become Creative

Aug. 12, 2003 -- In Texas, they'll fill your empty fridge with brie and wine. An outfit in New York promises quick high-speed Internet hookup. And when Allied Van Lines finishes unloading your couch, they'll have a feng shui expert figure out just the right spot. "I thought it was kind of goofy, but then I really liked it," says Mary O'Connor, who's just putting the finishing touches on her Naperville, Ill., Georgian townhouse.

In case you hadn't noticed, the $7 billion moving industry is thinking out of the box -- way out. Coming off three straight years of declining business, moving companies are expanding into some pretty unusual services, bringing in maids, dusting off the blinds and even getting somebody to mow the lawn. Then there's the growing lineup of moving "consultants" who'll make the bed or light the candles on the first night -- without actually lifting a piece of furniture. "Our customers want more," says Robert Starck, president of Starck Van Lines in Pittsburgh.

Part of this, of course, is aimed at running up the tab, with high-end extras tacking on as much as $2,000 to the bill. With companies cutting back in the slow economy, corporate relocations -- often the most lucrative contracts for movers -- are off 30% in two years. But movers say they're also trying to shake the old image of guys who drop your piano, then hold it hostage and demand a tip. And with complaints to the Better Business Bureau up nearly a third in one year alone, they're counting on things like karate-class referrals for the kids to leave customers feeling warm and fuzzy.

But is it worth it? To find out, we hit the road in the peak of the moving season, tagging along with three families as they left their old homes and settled into new digs. We picked three kinds of movers -- a bargain dealer, a fancy consultant and a corporate giant -- and gave each a special list of requests to go along with their other services. We gave points when they went the extra mile (one put our glasses away and lined the shelves), but also kept a lookout for how politely and gently the move went (yes, we checked, using hidden shock detectors in our boxes). Still, be forewarned: We learned that an estimate is at least as important with "nice" movers as they are with anyone else. We're still studying our $1,600 bill -- for a seven-mile move.

Moving, of course, has always been somewhat of an ordeal. But at least during the '90s corporate-relocation boom, many folks got their employers to pick up the tab and handle the details. Now those days are gone, with one survey by Atlas showing 85% of companies plan to cut or keep their relocation budgets unchanged this year. Indeed, even with home sales strong in many places, industry giant Sirva -- parent of Allied, North American and Global -- had 2002 revenue of $2.2 billion, flat from a year earlier.

Now, with more people handling moves on their own again -- and paying themselves, too -- the business is getting more competitive. Some movers are courting consumers by offering to research schools or arrange special transportation for your tropical fish (feeding them en route). Sirva has rolled out an online resource center where folks can sign up for "personal move coordinators," order new appliances and get e-mail reminders about the move. And while all these services are still a small part of the business, companies also say they're one of the fastest-growing segments. "It's about getting the business," says Mike Fergus, Sirva's president of moving services.

For our test, we did two short moves plus a longer one, paying for the extras for our test-case families. We picked movers and consultants who promote special services, but also tracked the basics, like how close they came to their estimates and how careful they were with our valuables. Below, the highlights of our truly moving experience, with total prices for the move along with per-mile charges to help you compare.

Low End

• The Mover: Pack Rat Relocation
  Price: $1,272, Orlando, Fla., to Tampa, Fla. ($15 a mile)
  The Pitch: We're small, but we'll do it all.
  Nicest Touch: Designed three different layouts for our living room.
  Watch Out for: Grimy fingerprints on white kitchen cabinets.

When we heard that even the U-Haul people were offering "concierge" services, we were intrigued. So we went to the company's Emove.com Web site, where folks who are moving can hire a variety of services such as landscaping help and a driver for that rental truck, eBay-style. After punching in the location of our move and what we wanted (packing help, maid service and personal shopping errands), we got a list of moving specialists, with estimates ranging from $500 to $1,400, including our U-Haul rental. We settled on Pack Rat, which had testimonials from two dozen happy customers.

Considering the low-end price, we were pretty impressed with Pack Rat's can-do attitude. Our request to pick up a prescription and sweep the back porch clean for the new owners didn't faze the team of three men and one woman, and they promised to fold our T-shirts. One surprise: They offered to design a furniture layout in our new home, which ended up making our living room look even bigger. "We'll do right by you," said Ivy Moore, Pack Rat's manager. Indeed, by the time they were done mowing the lawn, we had a yard to make the neighbors jealous.

Still, it's clear the bargain approach has a long way to go. The move had its share of bumps, literally (the hidden shock detectors went off in two of our boxes, and both a dining table and a filing cabinet were damaged in transit). Two of the movers were new, and it showed. They spent 10 minutes trying to squeeze our couch through the door until someone came up with a solution: unscrew the feet.

Middle

• The Mover: What's Organized?
  Price: $2,403, Palatine, Ill., to Lake Zurich, Ill. ($343 a mile)
  The Pitch: Consultant handles what the movers won't.
  Nicest Touch: A closet layout that makes it look like we have fewer shoes.
  Watch Out for: Six hours to line the kitchen shelves? We don't think so.

One of the newer twists on the moving scene is the professional organizer, with more than 600 nationwide now specializing in relocations -- up 50% from just five years ago. They promise to make the whole ordeal painless by dealing with the movers for you -- while doing all kinds of extra work around the house, like alphabetizing your CD collection or stocking your pantry with groceries. Indeed, consultants across the country say business is booming, from Move-In Made Easy in Oceanside, Calif., (triple the staff since 2002) to New York's Cross It Off Your List, where sales are up 20% from a year ago.

For this category, we went to Lucianne Gutman, a social worker-turned-organizer in Chicago's fancier neighborhoods. Running an outfit called What's Organized?, she doesn't just work on moves -- she'll weigh in on everything from straightening out closets to setting up kids' homework schedules. In our case, she got busy right away, calling in one of her many "subcontractors," who himself was something of a personality (he wrote a book on how to stop swearing) and got to work on the wrapping. Eight hours later, he was done.

At the new home, Ms. Gutman roamed around with clipboard in hand, posting numbered signs in each room to indicate where all of our boxes should go. That didn't impress the movers, including one who told her he'd "never seen this system before." (Her response: "It works -- trust me.") Things only got worse from there: With the meter running at $45 an hour, by the end of the day in our new house, Ms. Gutman still hadn't unpacked a box and had misplaced our "open me first" box with basic necessities. Our move was done on unusually short notice, she says.

As much as we loved finding our toiletries organized by type (hair ties, cosmetics), we couldn't believe the bill. To move a four-bedroom home just seven miles, she charged $1,600 -- fully twice what we paid the movers themselves. It was even more surprising considering that Ms. Gutman had refused to give a firm estimate. "I'm not good with time," she says.

High End

• The Mover: White Glove Transportation Services
  Price: $3,125, New York City to Cambridge, Mass. ($14.50 a mile)
  The Pitch: Full service from a national hauler.
  Nicest Touch: Dropped off our unwanted clothes at Goodwill.
  Watch Out for: Smoking breaks.

By this point, we were ready for a truly hassle-free move, and White Glove, a local affiliate of moving giant Bekins Van Lines, said they could deliver on our special requests -- for a price. The estimate for our 200-mile move to Boston came to a whopping $4,600 at first, though our estimator immediately offered a 30% discount. A little more haggling, and it was a further $230 off, making us wonder if we should have pushed for more.

The company is relatively new to the "concierge" business, but they arrived like veterans in the upscale move wars, wearing "White Glove" shirts and driving a freshly washed truck. The four-man team took their places immediately, mopping the floors, spackling painting holes, and wiping dust off furniture before packing it. A fellow named Edwin even repacked a box of china after noticing we'd done a bad job ourselves. They wouldn't prearrange our phone service, but told us they were looking out for us (protecting our privacy). "Don't forget to fax my boss to tell them how great I was," one mover said.

Without all these extras, the relocation might have cost us about half as much. But compared with our two other movers, White Glove actually charged the least when you factored in the distance -- about $14.50 a mile. More important, though, the team left our house in pretty good shape -- and invited us over for dinner anytime we want. Our clothes were folded, our shoes were lined up and the carpets were all vacuumed. And even though it was 90 degrees, thanks to the air conditioner our movers installed, we were sitting cool.

-- Heather Won Tesoriero contributed to this article.

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