It’s that time of year again when the holidays are behind us, the cold is upon us and the hope of something great to come is in the future. What do new years resolutions and moving have in common? You’d be surprised that many things we often resolve to do better come January also double as helpful tips when preparing for a move.
Continue reading “Oh the Places You’ll Go: When New Years Resolutions and Moving Goals Collide”Blog
Moving Scams: The Bait and Switch
In honor of the holidays, we thought we’d give another tip on common moving scams. In our last post on moving scams, we shared the story of a friend of ours and his nightmare move cross country. One of the traps that story didn’t include though is one of the biggest moving scams: the bait and switch.
You visit a website, you call up a moving company, and they talk to you about your move, and then they quote you an unbelievably low price, often flat. You’re tempted, you’re skeptical, but then maybe you’ve stumbled on the best deal out there? And even if it’s not the best moving company, maybe saving a couple hundred bucks is worth it?
And then come moving day, you find out the truth: that estimate wasn’t based on anything. While you’re standing there with your lease about to expire and your whole lives in moving boxes, the price doubles or even triples sometimes. Just when you can’t back out anymore, you discover that the cheapest company out there is actually the most expensive one – or even worse, that the cheapest moving company isn’t even a moving company! That the company that took your deposit and gave you an estimate was just a middle-man pretending to be a moving company, and that now you’re going to get a new estimate and have a new price to pay.
The problem is so widespread, that the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation even sent letters to major online search engines to ask them to crack down on false moving companies and moving scams.
A lot of times this comes from picking a moving company in a hurry, without taking the time to really shop around. We totally understand that people today are busy and don’t always have time to slave over their moving decisions. But even just taking the time to visit sites like Yelp and reading customer testimonials can help you avoid this. It can also help you to get better educated and prepared for your move.
So take the time to research, it pays off in the long run!
Otherwise, it’s holiday time, and we hope you’re all home safe with your families and certainly not packing up and moving just now. Christmas is a big holiday for us movers – there’s just something about a holiday that revolves around a sleigh loaded with boxes visiting houses all over the world that appeals to anyone in our profession. Santa is something all of us in the moving business can aspire to – he does it all for no payment more than milk and cookies, and no one has better online reviews than he does!
Happy holidays, we wish you all a safe and healthy new year!
Business Relocation
Business relocation is a whole other world from a small home move and comes with its own challenges and concerns. A business move is a big task and takes a lot of planning – more than we can totally cover in a blog post. For now though, here are some of our thoughts on what makes for successful business relocation.
1. Get the word out in advance. If you’ll be relocating, put signs up in your current location to warn your customers it’s coming. If you have a Facebook page, share photos of the new location before moving day and even post photos as the move is going on. Business relocation doesn’t have to cost you a penny in lost business – if your customers are aware as things are going on it can even be a source of excitement driving more visits to your new site.
2. Have a specific contact person in charge. Call them a Move Manager, a Relocation Coordinator, whatever works for you, but make sure that there is one point person that is responsible for organizing the move. That way the moving company will know who to deal with, and also your employees will know who to look for with questions. Business relocation goes much more smoothly when communication is clear and everyone knows who to talk to.
3. Help your employees. You might just be moving across town, or maybe you’re relocating across state lines. No matter what your move is, it’s going to mean change for your employees. Make it easy on them by telling them well in advance of what is coming and trying to anticipate some of the changes your business relocation is likely to bring to them – even if it just means taking a different subway when they come to work in the morning or having to find a new place to meet up for drinks at happy hour.
4. Move on an off day. It will mean a long week for the relocation manager, but by relocating over weekends or on a day you’re usually closed, you’ll be sure not to miss out on normal business hours. If you’re going to need your employees to come in and help with the move though, don’t forget point number 3 above, make sure that it’s as easy on them as possible.
5. Update everything. Business cards, websites, social network profiles, flyers, tattoos, whatever you have that has your old business address on it needs to be updated. Make a list in advance and update them all as soon as you’re done relocating. By starting the list early, you can be sure that your business relocation won’t wind up in old customers standing in front of your old address wondering where you’ve gone off to.
Business relocation can be a real headache, but it doesn’t have to be. Preparing in advance and finding the best moving company around can make a big difference. In the end, relocation is a huge opportunity, and if you handle the change well it can the beginnings of great things for your business.
Time, Money, Books
Two Saturdays ago I stopped by Capitol Hill Books for a beer tasting and general camaraderie with the Bookstore Movers staff and the public. It’s often good for a man of my, well, “headiness”, to get out of the house every once in a while, and there’s only so much writing and music-making a man can do before he slips into the abyss of his soul. A little company, a little literature, and most importantly, a little libation can do the writer’s soul well. So, I decided to join the literati of the city at the premier beer-tasting event of that particular Saturday.
While I was there, sipping on a deliciously potent brew – an eerie chocolaty and hoppy concoction – and perusing the local book selection, I overheard a few different conversations about the same thing: bookstores.
Most people were talking about how unique Capitol Hill was. Referencing its selection, the sort of no-nonsense but extremely playful attitude of the staff, the seemingly endless supply of books on the second floor, and the laid-back atmosphere of the store itself. All of these things were said with a smile, and by regulars who threw around the names of people I have yet to meet. These conversations were airy and light, but they always led to a particular point; the difference between independent bookstores and big chain ones.
Most of the time it starts when they see the bottle of tequila in an unused sink in the poetry room.
“You won’t see that at a Barnes and Nobles!” someone will say with mock seriousness, then immediately laugh afterwards, thanking the gods of writing that places like Capitol Hill still exist.
But, what they often don’t say is that one won’t find many Barnes and Nobles anymore. Indeed, one will mostly find giant empty warehouses with large B&N logos on the windows in lieu of customers, books, and culture. The bookstore culture is dying, has been dying, and will continue to die if the trends don’t change. Most people do not lament the loss of giant corporate bookstores, but in a way, they should – especially if they are the same people who continually buy books off Amazon and merely window shop at their local stores while saying how cute it is.
It certainly takes a bit of convincing to get people to pay eight dollars for a book when they can get it for ninety-nine cents on Amazon – but in lieu of a long tirade for the literacy of America, I would like to put forward a couple of quiet arguments
Remember, when we buy books, we pay for the ideas of other human beings. Even a horrible, dramatic, ridiculous novel that has laughable writing still took a person years or months of labor – charging five bucks for a year’s worth of labor is not a far-fetched idea when you think about it – no matter how cheesy the dialogue may be.
We pay for the ability to discuss books with other book lovers, face to face, and the “extra” money you are spending is going to keep a roof over our heads while we do so. Supporting a local bookstore instead of Amazon and spending the extra little cash goes to keep establishments around, and establishments are far more than stores – they are part of our neighborhoods, part of our lives, and give us places to be ourselves around other like-minded people.
We are also paying for the ideals of bookstores as well. We are paying to value literature, to value reading and individual thought, personal relationships and the ability to be honest.
We do not just support businesses by purchasing books from establishments rather than places. We support the arts, and in a way, our souls, by surrounding ourselves with the culture of the good and the noble. We help bolster our communities and thus, ourselves. So, next time, when you’re wavering on buying a novel from a tiny little bookstore because it’s three dollars cheaper on Amazon – think of where your money is going, who it’s going to, and what it will create. Something tells me you’ll be willing to spend a little extra.
Craftsmanship
As most of you may have noticed, I am incredibly new to the Bookstore Movers universe. As far as I know, most of my co-workers are collections of ideas and atoms that exist in some sort of state far away from my tiny little home office. I hope to change that soon, and the company itself has been nothing short of accommodating, open, and just all around friendly to a new, nerdy writer like me. So, even without faces to the names, or deeds to the ideals, I still feel quite comfortable around the movers, the administration, and the people with whom I work.
And I realized after going on Yelp after I was hired that I wasn’t alone.
I would like to invite those of you who have the chance to read the blog to also read the first page on Yelp about us. A quick glance will tell you that Bookstore Movers has an impeccable record, and an overwhelming amount of positive reviews.
Sure, this sounds like bragging, or the world’s least subtle advertisement, but I wanted to bring it up because I think there’s an incredibly important detail in the majority of the reviews; the fact that the reviewer mentioned the names of the movers. There is something incredibly intimate about knowing the names of those who are working for you – it strips away the barrier of worker/master mentality and creates a space that, when done honestly, allows both parties to function as one harmonious and symbiotic unit. This was largely evident in the reviews I came across, as each one contained a “Chris”, “Pete”, “Craig”, “Benny” or “Rashim” – filled to the brim with proper nouns!
What an incredibly interesting feat – even for a local company, and rarer for a company where most encounters are only for a short time and one-time.
I didn’t write this post to brag about the company or to pull a certain sense of empathy and understanding from my readers – rather, I wrote it to show that there really is heart in what Bookstore Movers does. Whether it’s volunteering, throwing social events, or most importantly, moving someone, Bookstore Movers has an incredible sense of duty and pride. I say this as a relatively new employee, and more importantly, as someone who has yet to belong to the BSM family.
In a way, I suppose this little blurb ceases to be about Bookstore Movers’ ratings, or even moving – it’s about the value of working hard and letting your work define you.
No matter what the service is; from moving, to serving you coffee or food, to creating murals or constructing buildings – the true value is not in the speed, the price, or the method. The true value is how seriously those who work take their work, how much pride they have in it, and how much they truly love their work. If they take their work seriously, they take themselves seriously, and their work will reflect that. The artistry, mastery, and efficiency that makes one perform excellently will come naturally.
So, when you are looking for a craftsman, a service, or a company, find out how many people remember the names, the faces, and the attitudes that accompanied the work – if they do so in a positive light – then you have found those who wear their heart on their sleeve; and it’s these types of people that we should be happy to support.
Moving Waste
What can you do with moving waste after your move?
We hate waste! It’s something that we think makes us a better moving company. We don’t waste your time, we don’t waste your money, we don’t waste your moving supplies.
But inevitably, moving creates trash. If you move a 4-bedroom house once every ten years, you’re going to have a lot of moving boxes and moving supplies left over afterwards that are just not very useful. So, what can you do with them? Here are some more moving tips – we’ve seen some pretty great ideas over the years, these are some of our favorites…
Continue reading “Moving Waste”Book Drive to Help the Victims of Hurricane Sandy!
When disaster strikes, be it tsunami, earthquake, or hurricane, we all have the desire to help. However, I think that for most of us that desire remains an inchoate and inactive thing. We sigh and are thankful we avoided such catastrophe and we wish the victims well, but not too many of us actually do something.
Antonio Vasquez is one of those exceptional few that sees the suffering of our fellow citizens, decides to do something about it and then puts a plan into action. He called me up not long after Superstorm Sandy with a tremendous and ambitious idea: An Eagle Scout Project to collect books in the DC region to benefit libraries in New Jersey that had been devastated by the storm. We immediately agreed to help. Not only would be be able to be of service to those in need, but we would be able to provide succor in the form of books! Books are the reason this humble company got going in the first place. We revere books and the chance to deliver some to beleaguered libraries seemed almost like a sacred mission.
Far more important than my musings are the locations where you can drop off books:
-Colvin Run Elementary (Vienna)
-Longfellow Middle School (McLean)
-McLean High School (McLean)
-St. Mark Catholic Church (Vienna)
-8401/8405 Greensboro Drive (McLean)
-Victoria Station Salon (Vienna)
We’ll be taking the books up to New Jersey on February 15th and would deeply appreciate any support you can give to Antonio in his efforts to help our neighbors up north.
Robots, Jetpacks, and the Future of Moving
You’ve definitely seen them: the high-rise buildings, towering over every other concrete structure in the vicinity. They are dozens of stories, with pools on the roofs and entire walls made of glass. The buildings themselves look like the love-child of a quirky Project Runway designer and the cold, calculating hands of a Swedish architect. Dozens of apartments are packed into each floor and in spite of the number, there’s inexplicably one, maybe two elevators. And, without any surprise, there’s only one service elevator that somehow, in spite of the definitive modernity of the building, looks like it was stolen from a Saw movie set. Well, I may be projecting a bit of my own apartment experience for the last part, but you get the point.
Yes, nothing is more annoying to a group of movers and the residents moving in than a slow, singular and small cargo elevator – conveniently located approximately ten miles (or seems to be while carrying a bed, cabinet, stereo system, other heavy things) from your apartment on the floor. It lends itself to cramp corridors, tight fits and most of all, tons of sweaty dudes in an elevator at one point.
But, alas, what can be done? I mean, it’s not like we have giant robots that can pick up the heaviest of furniture and gently place it down through your open window or balcony. We do not have jetpacks that allow our movers to leap up boundless stories to safely deliver your pets, utensils, glassware, or whatever other valuables you hold dear directly to your doorstep. We don’t even have a really sweet truck that can attach the side of the building and then take our mov—
Oh, what’s that? People do have that?
Well, I sit corrected.
Some places do have some pretty amazing technology to bypass the horrid inconveniences of small elevators and long hauls (and halls) and there’s a whole lot else out there that is exciting for movers and those moving to see, but until we get our own sweet elevator truck we’ll have to stick to our normal trucks, stairs, elevators, and hallways. Plus, it’s not like our movers don’t enjoy the exercise, and in spite of how cool an elevator on a truck is….it’s still not a giant robot or a jetpack.
Moving Scams: From New York City to Hell
Nothing gets our blood boiling like moving scams. Not only are they some of the nastiest bits of theft around, but they give a bad name to the whole industry so that legitimate moving companies like us have to fight for respect. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been voted the best movers in DC 200 times, people still won’t trust you because of moving scams like these.
Here’s a particularly bad story we heard recently from a friend of a friend, father of 3 little girls about his family’s horrible long distance move from New York to Seattle (or, as we call it: From New York City to Hell…):
The move was far and expensive, so they decided to use one of the cheap interstate moving companies you can find online. The movers showed up one day, packed up the whole house into boxes, loaded them into a huge truck and set off. The family meanwhile piled into their own car, hoping to turn the move into a family cross-country road trip, and to arrive after their stuff had already made it.
The road trip went great – but when the family made it to Seattle, their house was empty, none of their boxes had been delivered. There was no sign of their stuff. It’s everyone’s worst moving scam nightmare. They had voluntarily given all their possessions to a band of criminals… The parents started making phone calls – to the company, to the police, to anyone who would listen. They started feeling stupid and angry too, blaming themselves for having been robbed of every single furnishing, article of clothing, dish and heirloom they owned.
They went out and bought some new clothes and dishes to get through the next few days – and then one day, with no warning whatsoever from the moving company, the truck showed up! The movers ignored all their complaints about being late and proceeded to insist that unloading the truck wasn’t part of the contract, and that they would only do it if they were paid more, in cash, right now – a classic moving scam.
Needless to say the parents were furious. They got into a screaming fight with the movers in the middle of their new front lawn (a great way to meet your new neighbors, right?), and only when they threatened to call the cops that instant did the movers agree to get to work.
They unloaded the truck, and a few hours later our friend signed the receipt and the movers headed out.
Nightmare over, right? Wrong. That was when the family realized about half their stuff was missing – and that about half the moving boxes in their house weren’t their boxes at all, they were filled with the possessions, memories, and lives of some other family!
These cheap interstate moving companies just take all your possessions to one warehouse and drop it off, and then another team of movers loads up another truck with whatever boxes they can find and takes that off to the final destination. Trucks can load and unload several times in a cross country trip, no one person follows your move. No one watches over them, there is no quality control, no guarantee of anything.
So what’s the moral of the story? If there’s a moving tip here, it’s that moving scams are everywhere. If an estimate you get from a moving company online looks too good to be true, it probably is. Stick with companies with positive reviews and a lot of them, and that have maybe even won awards (wink, wink). Also, call references, ask around – don’t take chances with your stuff!
From N Street Village to Miriam’s House
From N Street Village to Miriam’s House
By Amanda Clark
Bookstore Movers recently had the privilege to help N Street Village deliver five mattresses from its central location to Miriam’s House, a residential community in northwest Washington D.C. specifically for homeless women living with HIV and AIDS. Founded in 1972 by members of Luther Place Memorial Church, N Street Village is a community-based non-profit organization in the Logan Circle neighborhood.
N Street Village began as a way to provide services and advocacy to the growing female homeless population in Washington D.C. The organization now serves over 900 women per year, helping them achieve personal stability and enabling life-changing gains in their housing, income, employment, mental health, physical health, and addiction recovery. The organization has received extensive national and international recognition and given tours of its facilities to White House officials, Department of Housing and Urban Development officials, the Dalai Lama and visiting Kenyan dignitaries.
N Street Village is expanding and in November 2011 Miriam’s House was incorporated into its programs and services. The incorporation of Miriam’s House allows N Street Village to provide high quality housing and support to twenty women at a time.
The staff of N Street Village contacted us here at Bookstore Movers to inquire about moving five mattresses to Miriam’s House. We gladly said yes and offered our services pro bono. Successfully scheduling and planning the move, as well as accompanying our movers, John and Patrick, was one of the most exciting and satisfying projects I have accomplished in my time at Bookstore Movers. Moving the mattresses was a small but important project. It was great to hear that the women at Miriam’s House “would sleep well tonight” as a result of our efforts. In this case, it really does take a village and we are happy to contribute to N Street Village however we can.
And what was John and Pat’s favorite part of the move? “The hugs!”
How else can the Bookstore Movers community help? In addition to volunteering and financial support, N Street Village accepts fully functioning, gently-used and new items. Due to limited storage space, they can only accept items that are currently needed and all donations are accepted by appointment only, Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They do accept used clothing when they have available storage space and oftentimes their greatest needs for clothing are plus sizes. They also accept smaller household items when needed, but do not accept large furniture pieces. Please check their wish list to find their most pressing needs: http://www.nstreetvillage.org/donate/in-kind/
As you are cleaning up and clearing out in preparation for a move, you can contact their In-Kind Gifts Office to schedule a drop-off time or for additional donation assistance at 202-939-2050. They are unable to pick up donations.