Top 10: Common Moving Mistakes
05-08-2015 10:32:50am
Keep your move on track by learning from the most common mistakes that people make when moving house.
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#1 Packing Heavy Items in Big Boxes
Packing weighty items into a big box can cause the box to collapse or cause injury to the people who have to carry them. Use Book/Wine Cartons for heavier items and don't overload your boxes.
#2 Forgetting to Update Your Address
It's easy to get complacent when it comes to updating your address, but failing to do so comprehensively can lead to fines, unregistered vehicles, bad credit and frustrated homeowners or tenants that have to deal with all of your misdelivered mail.
- Keep a list of all incoming mail in the lead-up to your furniture removal. Update your address with anyone who is likely to keep sending you mail.
- Subscribe to a mail-redirection service with Australia Post. It's not overly expensive and can help catch anything you've missed.
- Nominate to have your bills and accounts delivered to you by email, where possible.
#3 Skimping on Packing Supplies
Many people try to cut corners here. Free boxes from department stores and supermarkets are usually too weak and constructed poorly when compared to proper moving boxes. You might save some money initially, but it can end up causing thousands of dollars worth of damages and loss of precious irreplaceable's. Bottom line - it's usually not worth the risk.
#4 Forgetting to Take Measurements
Can you actually get that couch up the stairway in your new home? Will it fit in your lounge room if you do? Will your double-door fridge fit into its new home? There's no point in spending time, money and effort in moving something if it cannot fit into your new home. So take some measurements of doors, hallways and floor plans to make sure you're not throwing money away.
#5 Failing to Get Protected
When your favourite arm chair is sitting comfortably in your home it is not at a great deal of risk. But most people would spend money on contents insurance to protect it. It's pretty sensible. When that arm chair is being handled several times and is hurtling down bumpy roads at speed, naturally, it stands a much higher chance of being damaged or lost than it would be in the relative comfort and safety of your home.
Make sure that you have adequate coverage for your belongings whilst they're in transit. It's one of the most sensible times to invest in some sort of insurance from your removalists or your insurance company.
#6 Going "Dark"
A client that is uncontactable can wreak havoc for operations managers and removalists. It costs a great deal of money to run a truck and there's usually more than one job in the load at any given time. If you're not responding to calls, text messages or emails over the course of your removal then your goods may need to be put into storage and redelivered at a later time at your expense. This is the case with any removalist.
It's really, really important that you stay contactable throughout the course of your move and supply as many contact details as possible to your furniture removalists.
#7 Biting Off More Than You Can Chew
Over-committing is a common situation that people find themselves in when moving house. It best to stay as flexible as possible when planning your move. If you plan to have your removalists arrive in the morning, closely followed by cleaners and an afternoon flight, there's a good chance that you're over-committing and you can easily come unstuck if everything doesn't go to plan.
#8 Under-labelling
If you're moving a long distance, or interstate, there's a pretty good chance that you'll be sharing the truck with other people. There's also a host of reasons that your belongings will not be delivered in the same truck or by the same crew as those who made the pickup. So label everything with your name, job number, contact details and delivery address - at minimum, to help stop your items from being misdelivered or from going missing.
#9 Packing Everything
There are a few things that you should carry with you personally when you move. Things like irreplaceable/valuable jewelry, prescriptions, passports, important contracts and other important documents should not be shipped with your removalists.
#10 Access Problems
Any obstacle can be overcome if the relevant information is conveyed early. If there is anything at all that could hinder your furniture removalists, you should let them know when organising your move. As always - time is money. So if your move is being held up by negotiating obstacles, then the cost is likely to be passed on to you.
All removalists would prefer to know what they have to deal with and be able to account for it (in every way) from the outset. So think carefully about pickup and delivery and provide as much detail as possible about anything that could slow things down or require special equipment to deal with.
Here are just a few examples of things you need to tell your furniture removalists about:
- Low branches or overhanging trees;
- Limited parking or parking restrictions;
- Height restrictions on underground car parks;
- Long walks required;
- Stairs and elevators;
- Apartment building elevator bookings and paperwork required by the building managers;
- Steep or difficult driveways;
- Anything else you can think of that might require more time or equipment to get the job done.