10 Questions to Ask a Moving Company Before You Hire Them in Fort Collins
10 Questions to Ask a Moving Company Before You Hire Them in Fort Collins
You've narrowed your search down to two or three moving companies.
Their websites all look professional.
They all have good things to say about themselves.
And, unsurprisingly, every one claims they'll take excellent care of your belongings.
So how do you actually decide which moving company to hire?
Don't start by asking:
"Who's cheapest?"
Start by asking better questions.
Because two moving companies can give you similar-looking estimates while offering very different levels of service, experience, protection and professionalism.
The right questions can expose those differences before moving day, when you still have the ability to choose another company.
If you're comparing moving companies in Fort Collins, here are 10 questions we recommend asking before you hire anyone.
Quick Answer: What Should You Ask Before Hiring Movers?
Before hiring a moving company, ask about:
How long they've been in business.
Whether they're properly insured and licensed where required.
Who will actually perform your move.
How your move will be priced.
Whether you'll receive a written estimate.
What can cause your final price to change.
How your belongings will be protected.
What happens if something is damaged.
Whether they handle specialty items.
What you need to do before moving day.
The answers should help you compare more than price.
They help you compare the companies themselves.
Let's go through each one.
1. How Long Have You Been Moving People in Fort Collins?
There's a difference between:
"We've been in the moving industry for years."
and:
"We've been moving families in Fort Collins for years."
Local experience matters.
Fort Collins has everything from older homes near Old Town to multi-story apartment communities, newer developments in southeast Fort Collins, student housing near CSU and larger residential properties throughout the surrounding area.
Different moves create different logistical problems.
Your movers may have to deal with:
Narrow streets
Limited truck parking
Apartment loading areas
Elevators
Multiple flights of stairs
Long carries from the truck
HOA restrictions
Busy neighborhoods
Large specialty items
Colorado weather
Peak summer moving demand
A company that's spent years performing moves throughout Fort Collins has probably encountered many of those situations before.
Ask:
How long have you been operating in Fort Collins?
Then ask:
Do you regularly perform moves like mine?
Those are two different questions.
A company may have plenty of moving experience but very little experience with your particular type of move.
Local Experience Matters More During Complicated Moves
Imagine you're moving out of a third-floor apartment.
There's no freight elevator.
The moving truck can't park directly outside the building.
You own a large sectional.
That's a very different job from moving a lightly furnished one-bedroom apartment with ground-level access.
Likewise, moving a four-bedroom home with a piano, safe and garage full of belongings requires different planning than moving six pieces of furniture across town.
Experience helps a mover anticipate those differences.
Billy Goat Moving has served Fort Collins and Northern Colorado since 2005.
That means we've had plenty of opportunities to discover that no two moves are quite as "easy" as somebody initially described over the phone.
2. Are You Properly Insured and Licensed Where Required?
This shouldn't be an awkward question.
You're trusting a company with thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, of dollars worth of personal property.
Ask about insurance.
Ask about licensing requirements applicable to your move.
And if you're making an interstate move, make sure you understand who is actually transporting your belongings and what federal requirements apply.
Don't simply accept:
"We're fully covered."
Ask what that means.
Questions worth asking include:
What insurance does the company carry?
What protection applies to my belongings?
Are your workers covered appropriately?
Are there different valuation or protection options?
Does anything require special handling or coverage?
A reputable moving company should be comfortable discussing this.
If the answer becomes strangely vague the moment you ask about protection, keep asking.
3. Who Will Actually Perform My Move?
This is one of my favorite questions because customers don't ask it often enough.
You aren't really hiring a logo.
You're hiring the people who show up at your house.
Ask:
Are the movers your employees?
Do you use temporary or day labor?
Will another company perform any part of my move?
Who supervises the crew?
This matters because the quality of your move depends heavily on the people handling your belongings.
Experienced movers learn how to:
Properly wrap furniture
Carry awkward pieces
Navigate tight stairways
Protect floors and doorways
Load a moving truck
Secure furniture
Move fragile items
Work efficiently as a team
A strong moving crew can make a difficult move look surprisingly simple.
An inexperienced crew can make a simple move look like a documentary about poor decisions.
Why Crew Experience Matters
Think about moving a large dresser down a staircase.
There isn't much room for improvisation.
The crew needs to understand:
Where to grip it
Whether drawers should be removed
Whether the piece should be wrapped first
How to position it
Who moves first
How to communicate through the turn
How to protect walls and railings
That's learned through experience.
At Billy Goat Moving, our moving crews are W-2 employees rather than random workers assembled for individual jobs.
For customers, that means knowing who's being sent into their home matters to us too.
4. How Will My Move Be Priced?
Now we get to the question everyone actually wants answered:
What are my moving costs?
Ask exactly how the mover calculates the price.
Depending on the type of move, pricing may be affected by:
Number of movers
Number of trucks
Estimated time
Distance
Travel
Home size
Number of belongings
Packing
Specialty items
Access
Stairs
Elevators
Long carries
Storage
Additional services
Don't settle for a number.
Ask how they arrived at the number.
For example:
"What does this estimate include?"
"How many movers are included?"
"How many trucks?"
"When does billing begin?"
"Are there travel charges?"
"Are furniture pads included?"
"What services cost extra?"
Now you have something meaningful to compare.
5. Will I Receive a Written Estimate?
This question becomes increasingly important as the move gets larger.
Moving a sofa and a dining table across Fort Collins?
The scope is fairly easy to understand.
Moving a four-bedroom house, basement, garage, piano and 80 boxes?
Different story.
A detailed written estimate creates a common understanding of what the moving company believes the job involves.
It also gives you something useful when comparing moving companies.
Related: Before comparing estimates, read our guide to the 7 Red Flags When Hiring a Moving Company in Fort Collins.
Compare Scope, Not Just Price
Imagine you receive:
Company A: $2,100
Company B: $2,450
Company A initially appears cheaper.
But Company B has accounted for:
An additional crew member
A second truck
Your piano
Furniture protection
Disassembly
Longer access at the destination
Company A hasn't.
Which estimate is actually better?
You can't know until you understand what each company included.
For larger moves, an in-home estimate can be especially valuable.
Walking through the property gives an estimator an opportunity to see things that are easy to forget during a phone conversation.
Nobody intentionally forgets the 600-pound safe in the basement.
They just tend to remember it approximately five minutes after the estimate is complete.
Already Comparing Moving Estimates?
Don't compare only the number at the bottom.
Compare what each company is actually promising to provide.
If you'd like another number to compare, Billy Goat Moving offers estimates for Fort Collins and Northern Colorado moves.
Request a Free Moving Estimate →
6. What Could Cause My Final Moving Cost to Change?
This may be even more important than asking for the estimate itself.
Ask:
What could make this move cost more than you've estimated?
Now listen carefully.
Common factors can include:
More belongings than originally disclosed
Additional packing
Difficult access
Unexpected stairs
Long carries
Extra stops
Specialty items
Changes in destination
Additional labor
Delays outside the mover's control
Changes to the scope of work
The objective isn't to find a company that promises your price could never change under any circumstances.
The objective is to understand what variables affect the price.
Transparency before the move prevents arguments afterward.
7. How Will You Protect My Furniture and Home?
Moving isn't simply about lifting.
It's about protecting/packing your furniture correctly.
Ask how the company handles:
Wood furniture
Upholstered furniture
Mattresses
Televisions
Glass
Artwork
Doorways
Floors
Stair railings
Fragile items
Ask what equipment the movers bring.
Depending on the job, professional movers may use:
Furniture pads
Dollies
Straps
Shrink wrap
Floor protection
Hand trucks
Tools
Specialty equipment
If you have something particularly valuable, mention it before moving day.
That gives the company time to plan for it.
8. What Happens if Something Gets Damaged?
Ask this question before the move.
Not after.
No legitimate moving company can truthfully tell you accidents are impossible.
Furniture is heavy.
Homes have tight corners.
Weather happens.
People are human.
What separates companies is often how problems are handled when something goes wrong.
Ask:
How do I report damage?
Who should I contact?
What's the claims process?
What protection applies?
How quickly should I report a problem?
What documentation should I keep?
You want a company with a process.
Not:
"Call Steve. He usually handles that stuff."
Unless Steve is extremely organized.
9. Can You Handle My Specialty Items?
Tell your mover about unusual or extremely heavy items before the estimate is finalized.
Examples include:
Pianos
Gun safes
Large appliances
Antiques
Artwork
Exercise equipment
Oversized furniture
Fragile glass
Custom furniture
Commercial equipment
Moving a piano isn't the same as moving a nightstand.
Neither is moving a safe.
Specialty items may require different equipment, additional movers, special preparation or a different moving plan.
Ask:
Have you moved this type of item before?
Then:
How will you move it?
A confident, specific answer tells you considerably more than:
"Sure, we move everything."
Billy Goat Moving regularly handles specialty moving in addition to traditional residential and commercial moves, including pianos, safes and other difficult items.
If you have something unusual, tell us when requesting the estimate.
We'd rather plan for it than meet it unexpectedly in your basement.
10. What Should I Do Before the Movers Arrive?
This question can actually save you money.
Professional movers can move efficiently.
But they can't efficiently move boxes that aren't packed yet.
Ask your moving company exactly what they expect you to complete before the crew arrives.
Depending on the services you've purchased, that might include:
Finishing packing
Labeling boxes
Separating valuables
Clearing walkways
Reserving elevators
Confirming parking
Removing items you're transporting personally
Preparing appliances
Securing pets
Making arrangements for children
Identifying fragile items
Identifying items that aren't moving
Good preparation reduces confusion.
And on an hourly move, eliminating wasted time can potentially reduce your cost.
Bonus Question: What Won't You Move?
This question deserves to be asked.
Moving companies may have restrictions on certain items for safety, legal, insurance or transportation reasons.
Don't assume everything in your garage can simply go onto the truck.
Ask your mover about restricted items before moving day, particularly if you have:
Chemicals
Fuel
Propane
Flammable materials
Certain hazardous products
Perishable items
Unusual equipment
You'll have time to make other arrangements rather than standing in the driveway deciding what to do with something the crew can't transport.
Should You Get More Than One Moving Estimate?
For a substantial move, it can be smart.
Multiple estimates give you context.
But remember:
You're not comparing numbers.
You're comparing companies, scope and value.
One estimate may include more labor.
Another may include fewer services.
One company may have extensive experience with your type of move.
Another may simply be cheaper.
Ask each company the same questions.
The Answers Matter. So Does How They're Answered.
There's something else worth paying attention to.
How does the company treat you while you're asking questions?
Do they seem irritated?
Do they rush you?
Do they avoid certain questions?
Do they explain things clearly?
Do they return calls?
Do they show up for estimates?
Do they listen?
You're getting a preview of what it may be like working with them on moving day.
Customer service doesn't begin when the truck arrives.
It begins when you make the first call.
What Makes a Reliable Fort Collins Moving Company?
There isn't one magic qualification.
Instead, look for a combination of:
Local experience.
Experienced crews.
Clear estimates.
Transparent pricing.
Proper protection.
Good communication.
Relevant reviews.
Experience with your particular move.
And perhaps most importantly:
A company willing to answer your questions before asking for your business.
You shouldn't feel uncomfortable interviewing movers.
You're hiring people to enter your home, handle your belongings and transport a meaningful portion of your life inside a truck.
Ask questions.
A good mover will appreciate that you're doing your homework.
Why Fort Collins Families Choose Billy Goat Moving
Billy Goat Moving has been serving Fort Collins and Northern Colorado since 2005.
We handle moves ranging from apartments and individual pieces of furniture to larger residential, commercial and specialty moves.
Our services include:
Residential moving
Apartment moving
Commercial moving
Packing services
Custom crating
Specialty moving
Piano moving
Safe moving
Loading and unloading
Moving labor
And because every move is different, we believe understanding the job before moving day matters.
Tell us what you're moving.
Tell us where it's going.
Tell us about the stairs, piano, safe, apartment elevator, difficult driveway or enormous sectional that somehow got into the basement despite apparently being larger than the house.
We'll help you understand what the move requires.
Comparing Moving Companies in Fort Collins?
Start with the ten questions above.
Ask every company you're considering.
Compare the answers.
Compare the estimates.
Compare the reviews.
And compare exactly what you're receiving for the price.
If Billy Goat Moving is on your list, ask us the same questions.
We don't want you to hire us because you didn't compare your options.
We want you to compare your options and then decide.
Need More information? Check out the Fort Collins Moving Resources.
Get a Free Billy Goat Moving Estimate
Planning a move in Fort Collins or Northern Colorado?
Tell us a little about your move and we'll help you determine what kind of crew, equipment and services you're likely to need.
