Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Things to Ask Your Houston Moving Service

Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States, is a cultural hub of the country. People from different background, ethnicity, and religion come to this city to never return, which has given rise to a complete Houston moving service industry. And like every other industries there are some good, some bad, and some ugly Houston movers in here as well. My goal behind writing this article is to help you find a good Houston relocation company to move you safely to the city.

Why Houston, of all the cities!

Well because of the opportunity the city provides, particularly provided by the energy (oil and natural gas), aeronautics sectors, as well as biomedical research. It is considered as the energy capital of the world because of the presence of the world’s top five of the six Supermajor energy companies¬-the United States operational headquarters of Exxon-Mobil, the United States headquarters of Shell Oil(the US subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell), British Petroleum (BP), and international headquarters of ConocoPhillips. Houston is also becoming national hub for Renewable energy sources (wind and solar energies).

There are many more energy companies of all sizes located in Houston, which have made the city a great place to find well-paying jobs that lead to inflow of people from different parts of the country necessitating a need for a good-quality Houston moving service.

But how to find one?

You will need to ask the following questions if you need to hire a good moving company.

Questions to ask your Houston movers

  • What kind of service will you get? You must ask your Houston mover about the services you will get. Will you get full-moving service that will include packing the stuffs, transferring it, and unpacking it in the new place, or will it just offer moving services and not the packing and unpacking services or something else in between?
  • Guarantee and insurance. Will there be any guarantee against the breakage, mishandling, and misplacement of the stuffs you are moving. What will be the terms of guarantee? Does the moving company offer full-coverage insurance for the stuffs they move?
  • 2 to 3 references. Can your potential moving company give 2 to 3 references of their past clients? Is the company willing to give you the contact details of the past customers? Call the past customers and verify the quality of services and their satisfaction level.

These are the basic but very essential questions you need to ask your Houston movers. Do not hire the company that fails to answer even one question (of the three mentioned above) reliably.

Monday, March 1, 2010

5 Things You Should Know About Your Houston Moving Service

Houston is the largest city in Texas, and the fourth largest city in the United States. The city gives home to 2.2 million people within its area of 600 square miles, as found by US Census Bureau. The economic decisions made in the city impacts the lives of people throughout the world, as Houston has the second largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies, second only to New York City. Living here is fun; that's why so many people move to Houston. If you have decided to move to the city then you will need a reliable Houston moving service provider to relocate you, which as easy as it may sound is not at all easy. Like many other markets the city is full of Houston movers waiting to prey on you.

Which, I will not let happen. That's why I am going to share with you 5 mantras that will help you find a right Houston moving service. But before I do that, let's talk about life in the city.

Why you should move to Houston!

Because Houston is a multicultural city where lives a large community of people born outside of the United States. It is estimated that around 1.1 million people from outside the United States live here who, in total, speak more than 90 languages. Houston is your home, no matters where you are from. One in every five foreign-born people is an Asian here.

The diversity of origins of Houston's resident has added color to the cultural life of the city. The festivals and celebration in the city is as colorful as the population mix of the city. The most notable celebration among all is annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo that goes on for over 20 days from late February to early March.

The Houston International Festival, the Houston Auto Show, Art Car Parade, Houston Greek Festival, the Westheimer Block Party, night-time Houston Pride Parade, and the Bayou City Art Festival-one among top 5 art festivals in the US-are other major annual events celebrated in the city.

Because of the location of Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center of NASA Houston is also known as "Space City."

5 things to care about when hiring Houston Movers
  1. Their rates: Yes, this is one, and perhaps the most important one. No matter how great the services of a particular Houston mover are, if it's not in your budget it is not for you. Do a research to find out the rates offered by the moving companies, and also enquire how they charge: is it on per mile (or kilometer) basis, or is it hourly, or a combination of the two? Will there be any overtime or any other extra charges?
  2. Their fleet: What make are the trucks that possibly will haul your belongings to Houston? Are the trucks in good condition? How often are they checked for problems? Well, they may provide you insurance, but I am sure you will not like to lose your valuable possessions to a bad-quality moving company.
  3. Insurance: What if you lose some stuff in transit? And what about breakage? Check the insurance coverage details of the Houston moving companies. Read the fine prints.
  4. Operator license: How good is the insurance you are promised, if the person or document promising it is fake? In such cases, nothing matters. Neither quality of fleet, nor their rates.
  5. Track record: Words come cheap, and even cheaper for many, so do not get sold to empty promises of quality, insurance, and fleet, etc., unless it is backed by solid review. Find reviews on Houston movers and see who have stood on the promise in the past, and who failed on the delivery.

You must follow the above written guidelines when hiring a Houston moving service provider. It will save you the horror of post-transfer headache.