For High-End Relocations, Luxury Moving Companies Deliver

Standard moving companies are a dime a dozen. In almost every community, you can find a crew to pack up your belongings, load your boxes and furniture into a truck, drive to your new location and bring everything inside.

But what if your home and your belongings require a little more care than a run-of-the-mill moving company can provide? That’s when you turn to a luxury moving company. Whether your belongings are extra-fragile, extra-valuable or extra-difficult to move, there is a luxury moving company out there that can give you a top-of-the-line experience.

Luxury moving experts offer personalized service and innovative solutions for transporting anything that requires extra care. Here are a few of the features a luxury moving company may be able to offer.

1. Virtual Consultations

If you have used a traditional moving company for a past relocation, you may have been asked to estimate the quantity of belongings you needed to move. Perhaps you had to walk through your home and write down the number of beds, sofas, tables, and other pieces of furniture. You may have been asked to estimate the number of boxes you would use. If you were not sure, the moving company may have supplied an estimate based on the number of rooms and your assessment of a lower than average, typical or higher than average volume of belongings.

For more precision and expertise, some luxury moving companies offer virtual home consultations. In a virtual consultation, you might connect with your representative through a video call, then walk through your entire house, pointing out particularly valuable, awkward or delicate items. The moving representatives can use their expertise to estimate the volume of space you will need in the truck (or trucks).

Another benefit of a virtual consultation? If you live in a remote area, you can still get personalized service without having to pay the company for an extra trip to your home.

2. Technology-Based Inventory Management Systems

A standard moving company will have only a basic inventory management system. At best, they might keep track of the number of boxes and large items going into the truck using pen and paper or a simple spreadsheet. For most moves, that is good enough.

If your move requires more care and better tracking of your belongings, though, a luxury moving company can help by leveraging an advanced inventory system. This system might use barcoding or specialized labeling to ensure every item makes it from point A to point B. An elite moving service might also photograph everything to make sure nothing is missed.

3. Customized Packing Solutions

For the things you own that will not (or should not) go into a simple cardboard box, luxury moving companies have you covered. They may design a custom crate to fit and protect your valuable item. For fragile belongings, they can integrate shock-absorbent materials. And for items that are sensitive to heat and humidity, they can provide you with temperature- and humidity-controlled containers.

The most sensitive items can be packed with monitoring devices that can alert the movers in case of excess heat or cold, high humidity and excessive vibrations.

4. Real-Time Tracking

Some of your belongings are more than just “stuff.” They may be investments, such as original artworks; a part of your heritage, such as antique furniture; or your pride and joy, such as a classic car. You may not be content to watch your items get loaded onto a truck and disappear over the horizon — especially if you are moving across the country and will not see your possessions for several days.

That is where luxury moving experts come in with GPS tracking systems. You can get the real-time location of your delivery, often through an app or client portal, so you know it is making progress and not off in a ditch somewhere. You may even be able to communicate with the moving team.

5. Extra Services

When you pay more for relocation services, you should get more, too. Many high-end moving companies offer services beyond what a standard moving company can do.

One service a luxury moving company may offer is junk removal. When you are preparing to move, you may decide that not everything is worth taking with you. While junk removal is out of scope for standard moving companies, a luxury moving company may be happy to do it.

Another possible advantage is handyperson service. If anything needs to be fixed before it is moved, they will have it covered.

You may also find a company that provides concierge service, giving you a single point of contact for your move and perhaps even helping with miscellaneous moving-related requests that are well outside the bounds of an average moving company.

A luxury moving company might have background-checked and uniformed employees, white glove service, newer and cleaner vehicles, delivery date guarantees, excellent insurance, short- and long-term storage, and furniture assembly and disassembly services. You may even be able to find cleaning, locksmith, and IT setup specialists through your moving company.

Each company is different, so be sure to have a list of questions to ask to make sure the company has the features and services that are most important to you.

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Moving Specialty Items

You may be wondering how a luxury moving company handles various types of valuables, especially those requiring the utmost caution and those that require a more creative solution. Let’s take a look at a few of the specialty items that your moving company may need to handle.

• A. Artwork

  Fine art has to be carefully taken down from its display location in order to prevent scratching, tearing and denting. Then it must be wrapped in a way that does not damage the surface. During the move, it may require humidity and temperature control — to within a few degrees — to prevent mold, fungus, warping, discoloration and cracking.

• B. Cars

  If you want to move a vehicle and do not want to drive it yourself, you will need to find a company that offers car transport. Most vehicles are moved in the open carriers you may have seen on the highway, but if your car is extremely valuable, you may want to opt for an enclosed carrier.

• C. Pianos

  Pianos can weigh anywhere from 500 pounds for a standard upright to 1,200 pounds for a concert grand. They are also very vulnerable to damage. An expert mover will take extra care to protect the internal workings of the instrument and will ensure that it is kept at a proper level of humidity.

• D. Wine and Liquor

  If you entertain often or if you are a collector, you may have a large quantity of wine or liquor to move. The bottles must be padded and packed tightly to prevent them from breaking during transport.

• E. Antiques

  A one-of-a-kind heirloom can’t be replaced, so great care must be taken in moving it. Antique furniture requires extra padding and gentle handling, and it may benefit from humidity and temperature control.

• F. Pool tables

  Large, heavy, and surprisingly delicate, pool tables also require special handling. They must be padded and tightly secured in the truck. Even minor warping of the surface from temperature and humidity fluctuations can render a pool table unusable.

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How to Find a Luxury Moving Company

Unlike traditional moving companies, luxury companies are not available everywhere. The good news is that, if you are willing to pay the price, these companies are typically happy to come to you. So how do you find them?

One of the best ways is also one of the most traditional: word of mouth. Ask friends or acquaintances who have moved luxury items and high-dollar-value households who they have used and how happy they were with the service.

You can also find high-quality luxury moving services online. Your best bet is to search for particular items or categories. If you have a luxury car, for example, seek out moving services for automobiles and find out whether they can also move the rest of your belongings.

Read the reviews; when you are paying for a luxury service, you should expect top-quality customer relationships. Better yet, call the company and talk about your particular needs. If you need to move a grand piano and you can talk to someone who has moved many of them in the recent past, you can move forward with the confidence that you are in expert hands. Still not convinced? Ask to speak with references.

Before deciding on a company to work with, ensure that they operate along your moving route. Some boutique moving firms do not offer cross-country services. And if you are moving out of the country, you will need to find a company that specializes in global relocation.

Conclusion

Special belongings require special treatment, and that means hiring the best moving company you can afford. Doing so can help you avoid the headaches and stress that are so common with a big move. A luxury moving company’s specialized knowledge and attention to detail are what set it apart from the load-and-go companies you see every day.

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