National move - long distance - how to find a moving company?

Hey - I have to bring this up again: Do you still remember approximately how many m3 you had indicated?

After your tip, I used the same platform for comparisons. And we had the same situation - "apparently misestimated after all, needs to be adjusted upwards." What puzzles me a bit is that I had already indicated over 60 m³ on the platform. They then sent me an offer for a single 7.5-ton truck, whereupon I questioned whether they were sure that 60 m³ would fit into a 7.5-ton truck, when everywhere you read that a 7.5-ton truck has about 30 m³ of loading volume. Then the response was "send us photos," and after the photos, "oh, that's more, it'll be 1,500 euros more expensive." I could understand if we hadn't already indicated 60 m³ on the platform, which in my opinion is already quite a lot and clearly CANNOT fit into a single 7.5-ton truck. Therefore, I find the statement "we need a second truck" a bit dubious. You could have seen that from our info alone without the photos. I then asked on the phone how that came about, since the initial offer for 62 m³ was quoted at 3,500 euros, and how many m³ they now estimated it to be after the photos. The answer was a lot of hemming and hawing on the phone and "I have to ask my colleague, I'll call you back later," but a callback never came.

They weren’t that precise with us. We had indicated 50 m3 and they came with a 7.5-ton truck. Shortly before the move, we even bought a piece of furniture and asked whether it would cost extra, and they just said, "Nope, as long as everything fits in the truck, it doesn’t matter." We still had quite some space, but I honestly don’t know if the 50 m3 we indicated was somewhat realistic.

So maybe you should ask them again (I had sent you the name via e-mail), in case they haven’t made an offer through the portal yet. Greetings from Westerstede (currently visiting)

They weren’t that precise with us. We had indicated 50 m3 and they came with a 7.5-ton truck. Shortly before the move, we even bought another piece of furniture and asked if that would cost extra, and they just said, “Nope, as long as everything fits in the truck, it doesn’t matter.” We still had plenty of space, but I just don’t know if the 50 m3 we gave was even roughly realistic.

So maybe you should ask them again (I sent you the name via email), in case they didn’t make an offer through the portal now. Cheers from Westerstede (just visiting)

We have now also decided on them. They also confirmed the price after the photos, so I got upset too early. A second company asked for photos and then raised the price; that was not yours (our second favorite). They justified it with an increase in volume, but when I asked how much volume they estimated based on the photos (I had already indicated over 60 and the photos really don’t support that), she wanted to call me back and the callback never came. Maybe it really has to do with fuel prices, I don’t know.

Anyway, funny enough we actually chose the same moving company as you. Are you staying longer in Westerstede? Come over for a Bauforums coffee. :D

We have now also decided on them. They still confirmed the price after seeing the photos, so I got upset too early. A second company asked for the photos and then increased the price; that was not yours (our second favorite). They justified it with an increase in volume, but when I asked how much volume they estimated based on the photos (I had already indicated over 60 and the photos really don’t support that), she wanted to call me back and the callback never came. Maybe it really has to do with the fuel prices, I don’t know.

Anyway, funny enough, we actually used the same moving company as you. Are you staying in Westerstede longer? Drop by for a construction forum coffee. :D

Great, then I’m curious if you are as satisfied as well. :) Yes, I also think that the fuel prices have pushed the prices up a bit. You can tell how expensive such a trip across all of Germany suddenly is.

Unfortunately, we’re already driving home tomorrow, but if we’re in the area again before your move (which is quite likely), we’ll gladly get in touch with you. :)

You can tell yourself how expensive a trip across Germany all at once is.

Yes, I’m really glad once we have that behind us after the move. Expensive, stressful, wasted time. I don’t particularly enjoy driving. ;) Also, finally having family nearby. We realized how valuable that is just yesterday when we had the 2.5-year-old with us at the notary.

Based on my final experiences with them, including the lawyer we had to hire, unfortunately I cannot recommend them.

But that was a recommendation from , wasn’t it? That’s too bad it didn’t go well...

Unfortunately, we also had a bad experience with a moving company, they lit a cigarette every half hour, packed terribly, where you really noticed that they were trying to force a second load on us, and in the end, they were so slow that I ended up helping myself... it was supposed to be hourly, but I didn’t expect it to be exploited so brazenly. I don’t even know that on a construction site.

The guys I had for clearing out my single apartment (so a bit less than half of what the company had to move) cost me 1/10 of the others and were done in 1 hour, and that was from the third floor! The shared apartment was on the ground floor...

But that was a recommendation from , wasn’t it? It’s unfortunate that it didn’t go well...

Yes, but I don’t blame her/him for it, it might have gone completely differently back then.

We had over 60 cubic meters and they arrived with a single 7.5-ton truck. The truck looked like they had bought it from a scrap dealer that very morning. In some damaged spots it was patched up with duct tape, it was almost absurd.
Actually, 3 movers were supposed to come. Only one experienced driver came in the truck, and the woman from the moving company then arranged some local students through some student helper portal. They tried hard to be diligent, but without any experience it was, of course, a disaster. We barely managed to stop them from putting tape on lacquered furniture surfaces. The driver (the only professional in the group) then explained to them that the lacquer could be damaged by that...
The rest of the move went the same way. He also arrived 2 hours late in the morning. They were supposed to be finished sometime early afternoon. We only broke down the tents (rather poorly) after 8 pm and drove 600 km through the night with a small child and 2 cats.

Besides, our moving goods simply would not fit into the truck. Which you can imagine given the volume and the size of the truck. She couldn’t find an alternative. After hours of phone calls, we found a small van to get the essentials in. Still, around 10 cubic meters or so had to be left behind. The buyers, out of goodwill, let them stay in their shed for a few days. But those were partly things not really meant to be stored outdoors...

The woman from the moving company was supposed to pick up the things the next day and bring them to us. Furniture assembly and lamp installation were also included in the price. But during the last phone call on unloading day she wanted, I believe, an extra 700€ for that, which made me lose it eventually. I refuse to pay extra on top of the flat rate just because they can’t calculate.
She then simply didn’t pick up the things (just left them standing), the guy didn’t do the furniture assembly anymore, and we were stuck with the mess. Several cubic meters of moving goods still in Lower Saxony. The house was handed over completely dirty because they took hours too long and arrived late. Damage galore to our moving goods because the students didn’t know what they were doing. And they even ruined a few things on the sold house. It was really a disaster.
From our new place, I had to shamefully call a trustworthy moving company I knew from the north. They pulled our sorry situation out of the mud, picked up the stuff promptly, stored it for us, and brought it down to us later when they had the capacity. Of course, I paid for that (just like the small van) out of my own pocket.

At that time, I was very early pregnant, completely exhausted emotionally, and worn out with worry that the little baby wouldn’t survive the whole stress. At some point, all the anger erupted from me and I kicked the balcony at the transition house out of rage, fury, and fear for the unborn. Then I started crying because on top of everything my foot hurt too. Then everyone present hugged me first, then I was okay again. o_O

After all that drama, I called my legal protection insurance and explained everything again to the lawyer in much more detail than here. He is now handling the case. Let’s see if we get some of the extra money we invested back.
Silly, but what annoys me almost the most: Since they didn’t assemble our furniture and we needed a bed, I tried to do it myself. Being clever as I am, I pressed the Bosch power tool too hard and the battery pack hit me right on the head. The cut has left a huge scar smack in the middle of my forehead that unfortunately doesn’t seem to go away. :(