Understanding a Quote

When you and your moving company agree on a quote, you need to understand not only what you are being charged for, but how much room there is for adjustments on the day that your possessions arrive at your new home. Whether you are receiving an online moving quote, an instant moving quote, or you are going over your estimate for moving over the phone or in person with your chosen moving company you have to keep in mind that this is a ballpark figure.

Moving is chaotic business whether you do it yourself or you hire someone. How common is it for everything to be loaded up before someone remembers that last item in the backyard that needs to be taken apart? Or how about that extra propane tank you forgot about when you plunked it in a corner of the basement two years ago? The point is simply that things happen that are the result of human error or human mis--estimation. When you receive an instant moving quote or an online moving quote, the quote is based solely on the information you fed into the computer. If you have forgotten something, it won’t be added into the bill until much later.

For this reason your estimate for moving is likely to fluctuate about ten percent when the final bill is drawn up upon delivery. It might run higher if you forgot to mention something rather large, like the fact that you have an entire play set in the backyard that needs to be disassembled and moved and then reassembled upon arrival.

Your estimate for moving will reflect information that you provide, so the more accurately you provide the information the more accurate your instant moving quote or online moving quote will be. When you sign the documentation your estimate for moving will still reflect what information you have given out. If you are signing a binding agreement, the price will stay the same, which usually has room for error built right into the price with many moving companies. If you sign a non—binding agreement then you will be given the most accurate estimate for moving possible and presented with a final bill upon arrival. This is really quote standard in the moving industry. Know what you’re signing and what the possibilities for additional charges are and you will be well prepared when the movers deliver your possessions to your new home.