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Real People: Moving My Apartment Into Storage Using A Uhaul And HireAHelper

Posted in: I'm Moving, Movehacks, Moving Stories, Moving Trucks, Self Storage

This post is part of our “Real People” series. Usually, these posts are written by a real person who is not employed at HireAHelper, who actually used the moving services they mention, in this case, Uhaul and HireAHelper. Today’s Real People story is still written by a real person, and even includes a photo gallery of the experience, but this time it’s someone who HAS worked with us. Craig B. is an independent graphic artist living in Los Angeles, CA. He’s the one responsible for the awesome illustrations on our homepage. Craig says, “I’m not only the illustrator, I’m also a client!”

I’m getting married in a couple months, and I decided to put my things in storage and stay with my fiancé until we have a chance to find a bigger place after the wedding. At this point I’m only using my apartment as a $1,200 closet. So, moving my apartment into storage for $200 or less each month will save some serious cash.

I have moved a ton throughout the years, and, at this point in my life, I feel like I’m too old to ask friends for help, and too old to put my back through another move. I knew of HireAHelper because of some illustrating I had done for their website, and I thought I could rent a truck and use them to hire moving help. They call this kind of move a “hybrid move.”

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I went online to HireAHelper.com and started to see who was available. I liked the way their site was laid out, because it was very easy to know what my first step was. After I put in my zip code and moving date, they gave me a list of companies available for my move. The first company on the list was Ogre Man Movers, and they looked good. I saw that they would be available for a good price, but I didn’t book them yet because I wanted to first make sure I had my moving truck reserved.

I went over to U-Haul’s site and went through their process to book a truck (if you’re thinking about reserving a UHaul truck, read this guide first). It seemed really easy, and then when I got to the end of the process they even had a suggestion for a moving labor company. It wasn’t a company I had seen on HireAHelper, but they seemed to have great reviews and they were even cheaper than Ogre Man. I liked the “one-stop shop” experience and thought it would be better just to book everything through U-Haul so that it could be done in one transaction.

I went through the checkout process online with U-Haul, reserving the truck, moving blankets, insurance, and the movers. At that point I thought I was all ready to go.

Can I Hire Movers When I Rent The Truck?

It turned out not to be so easy. Even though it seemed like I paid for movers in addition to my truck, that wasn’t how U-Haul’s process actually worked. The movers were supposed to call me to finalize details, but they never did. I got an email from U-Haul with a link to the movers’ website saying I should try them out. I felt like it was a total disconnect.

I called U-Haul to find out how much my credit card was charged because now I wasn’t clear about what I was paying for. It turned out I had reserved the truck, but no movers. This was very confusing to me because at the final checkout step when I put in my credit card information, there had been a total for the truck, the moving blankets, the insurance, and the movers.

At this point I went back to HireAHelper and went through the process of booking movers over the phone with one of their operators. She was extremely friendly and patient. She looked up the best moving companies in my area and gave me all the information I needed to pick my favorite. As it turns out, I still chose to book Ogre Man Movers, and she confirmed some of the information I already knew about them from the website. She explained how the booking and moving process would work and she answered all of my questions.

The call to HireAHelper only took seven minutes. After we were done, the operator said she was going to call Ogre Man to see if they were available for my move date. She called me back about forty minutes later and said I was all set to go. I really liked how throughout the process, she told me exactly what I could expect as we went along. And after dealing with U-Haul, I sure did feel good when I received a confirmation email with all the information the operator had gone over.

The day before my move, Ogre Man Movers called to confirm the date and time. Even though I had been scheduled for 11:00 am., they committed to being there earlier, just as soon as I could pick up my truck from U-Haul.

On the big day, I went to U-Haul at 9:00 a.m. and picked up my truck. I ended up going with the smaller 10-foot moving truck because I felt like it would be easier to drive (rent the right size moving truck). And after all, if my stuff didn’t all fit, we could always do two trips to the storage unit. I was right, the smaller truck was easier to drive, and the guys from Ogre Man Movers were arriving just as I pulled up to my apartment. I was very happy to get an earlier start!

David Weissman from Ogre Man Movers was amazing. He was friendly and professional, and he and the other mover made a very efficient team. In addition to my many different sized boxes, I also had oddly shaped large items like my two bikes, a long surfboard, and an antique cabinet from my grandmother. Dave treated my things like they were his own, and he had a very upbeat attitude.

These guys were true pros. They safely wrapped everything in the moving blankets, they made sure no small items were lost or damaged, and they were even able to get almost all my things into the truck in one load! The few things that didn’t fit were small enough to toss in the back of a pick-up following us to the unload, saving me from needing two trips.

The final step of the move took place at the storage unit, and the Ogre Man Movers team was outstanding there as well. They unloaded the truck very quickly, and had great ideas for how to pack the storage unit so that I could easily access my items in the future.

At the end of the process, I felt really good about being done with the move a lot sooner, and I loved that my back was not sore at all. I didn’t have to lift a single thing! I could not have asked for a better experience with my movers.

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