Excellent movers for my first move - Moving Review

I would recommend NorthStar to my own parents.  That's how great they were with a $3,100 one bedroom apartment move across the country.  Our stuff traveled more than 2,700 miles and not one item was broken, severely damaged, or lost.  Amazing!My NorthStar experience first began with a phone call with Ted.  I had some basic questions and he was friendly and helpful.  A few days later, Ilan D. came to our apartment with his laptop handy and made a quick assessment/inventory list of our belongings.  He was calm, friendly, helpful and not pushy at all.  Ilan seemed like a nice typical dad (in his early forties?)  We had other companies also come out to do an in-house estimate, which I highly recommend.  The guy from a company that contracts with North American was a bit annoying and pushy, so we are glad we went with NorthStar instead.  Ilan immediately emailed us a flat rate/not-to-exceed estimate which we accepted and signed a few days later.We painstakingly packed and labeled our items (everything except furniture) ourselves.  I had my own secret labeling system.  NorthStar sent three, young, nice, respectful, and thin men to us for the pick up.  The guys were surprisingly strong and were extremely careful about disassembling our furniture.  They took our heavy boxes and furniture down our treacherous stairs to their truck without incident.  One kindly asked us if he could play music from his phone, which we all appreciated.  It helped break the silence.  We had cold bottled water, juices, and some energy/cereal bars for them.They took our belongings to their storage facility in Chatsworth since we didn't know the exact address of our new place yet.  Finally, when we picked a new place I called NorthStar to give them the address.  He recommended I email the info to their general email address.  Unfortunately, the email was never read or the guy never entered it into their system.  When I called a couple days later, they had no idea we were ready for pickup.  But the second guy, Adam D., worked really hard to get the delivery going.9th - Called NorthStar and emailed them that we were ready for delivery13th - Called NorthStar for a delivery update and they had no idea we were ready for delivery13th - Adam D. emailed me back and said our belongings would be delivered sometime between the 13th & 25th (13 day window)27th - Actual delivery day.  18 days after I initially called.  14 days after my second call.  Pretty good considering our building only allows moving in/out M-F during business hours.Delivery was fine.  It was three young (Russian?) guys who worked fast.  I feel like the delivery guys had an easier time because they don't have to be as careful putting together the furniture as the guys who take it apart.  The guys who take it apart upon pick up have to spend a lot of time wrapping the furniture pieces and not lose little screws and bolts.Our total move cost was approximately $3,100.  It was approximately $400 over the original estimate because we used a few extra weeks of storage beyond the first free month ($130 ), elevator at the destination ($50 ish), two "long carry" charges ($150 ish), and an additional 3% charge for using a credit card to pay.  Tips for moving:Have several companies do an in-house estimate.Buy moving insurance.  http://Moveinsure.com was easy.  Glad nothing happened to our stuff, but if it had caught on fire we would've been okay.  Devastated, but okay.Finish your packing before the movers arrive.  They told me that we would be surprised by how many people aren't finished packing their stuff when they arrive to take it away.  It took me much longer than I thought.If you're doing a self pack like we did, make your own labeling system and keep a list of all the boxes and their contents handy upon pick up and delivery.  Check off boxes/furniture items as they arrive at your new place.  That way when the delivery guys are done, you can say, "Thanks, we have all our stuff" fairly quickly.Have cold water bottles, gatorade, packaged snacks, etc. ready for the movers.  It doesn't cost much and they usually appreciate the gesture.Tip.  I don't know how much the moving guys get paid, but a tip is usually appreciated by the guys.  Actually, no matter how much they get paid they are working really hard to move your lazy ass'  heavy ass belongings.Call the company several times leading up to the pick up date.  Confirm that they are coming.Call and email NorthStar several times about the delivery and get updates from them.  I called to notify them that we were ready for delivery, but the guy who answered did not actually enter it into their computer system.  Several days later, I called and they had no idea I was ready for delivery.  Don't hesitate to call them!Review your moving company on yelp, google, moverreviews, etc. :)

Photos posted by Pamela