Packing can be one of the most time-consuming parts of moving. You have to take every item in your home and pack it up so that it can be transported to your new home. If you do not have the time to pack yourself, or you just want to ensure that every item is properly packed to protect it from damage when you are moving, you may be looking to hire a packing service. Here are a few important questions that you should always ask a packing service prior to hiring them.
Do You Supply the Packing Materials and Supplies?
One of the questions that you should ask packing services is whether they supply the packing materials and supplies, such as boxes, tape, and bubble wrap, or whether you have to supply these items. Some companies supply these materials, while others may require you to have them on hand when they show up to pack your home.
Do You Carry Insurance?
By law, moving companies are required to insure your belongings when they are transported. However, they are not required to insure your items when they are packing those items. As such, you should always ask a packing service if they carry insurance and whether that insurance covers your belongings if they are damaged as they are being packed or if they are damaged during transport due to a poor packing job.
What Steps Do You Take to Keep Belongings Organized?
Every packing service is different. As such, you may wish to ask what steps a packing service takes to keep your belongings organized. Do they write what room the items came from on the box? Do they store things like cords or chargers in the same boxes as the items they took the cord or charger off of? Do they only pack items from one room in the same box, such as only packing kitchen items in one box? Being organized helps you to find items and makes it easier to unpack, so this is important to ask.
How Do You Charge?
The last question you want to ask is how the packing service charges. Do they charge by the box, by the hour or do they charge a flat rate? Ask them for an estimate and then ask them if the estimate is binding or non-binding. If the estimate is non-binding, the service may charge you more or less than the estimated price.
Packing services can help you pack up one part of your home or pack up your entire home for you. This can be a huge timesaver and can help to ensure that your items are not damaged when they are being loaded up and transported to a new location. Asking the above questions and obtaining quotes is a great way to help you find a packing service to help you get ready for an upcoming move.