
The Real Cost of Moving
Moving can be a stressful time for a family. With an ever-growing list of things to do, and time running out, the last thing you need is additional anxiety and confusion caused by your movers. Unfortunately, for many of our neighbors, that’s exactly what ends up happening. Choosing a mover based only on a quick internet search can leave you faced with dozens of hidden charges and fees that you didn’t budget for… One of the major reasons why moving sucks.
At Metro Moving Company we’ve simplified our costs with this in mind—and this blog post is going to show you that. We’ll shed light on a variety of unnecessary fees other movers may charge, and explain why we choose not to.
The Big Guys
As former employees of large corporate moving companies, we know a lot of dirty little secrets, which we’ve used to improve the moving process for our customers. Because the families we move often share their previous experiences with us… and one of the most common complaints is unjustified hidden fees. Many moving companies add fees to your invoice for extra movers, additional stops, furniture assembly or disassembly, number of stairs, rolls of shrink wrap used… we’ve even heard of a “setup” fee… Whatever that is. All of this on top of the hourly rate you’re already paying! At first glance, the hourly rate may seem much lower. This is a marketing tactic to lock down your business… Then, when it’s no longer convenient for you to back out, they share the true price of moving with them, which is often much more than you’ve budgeted for. Don’t fall for it!
Metro Moving Company
If that upsets you, it absolutely should… That pricing structure is deceitful at best and is designed to trap you—leaving you with a bad taste in your mouth. We believe that a satisfied customer is the best business strategy. While a happy customer may share their great experience with 10 loved ones, an unhappy customer will tell 100 people never to hire you! It’s just not worth it! Our goal is to move you as affordably and efficiently as possible so that every customer walks away happy, and with more money in their pocket than they expected to walk away with. Read our reviews, and you will find a recurring theme: “I paid a lot less than I expected to, based on estimates from other moving companies.” Besides the standard flat $99 travel fee (which puts gas in our 26-foot box trucks), our pricing structure only has two variables: the number of movers needed, and the hours it takes to complete your move.

Hours Required
Whether you’re moving across the state or within the same building, your final cost will be determined by the hours it takes to complete the work. After our 2-hour minimum, we at Metro Moving Company bill by the quarter-hour. In other words, if your move takes 3 hours and 19 minutes, we round to the nearest quarter-hour and bill you for 3 hours, and 15 minutes. We don’t charge you for an entire hour that you didn’t need. And that time covers all the supplies, accommodations, furniture assembly & placement, additional stops, etc. The way we see it, you’re already paying for our time, and that includes all of our services.
Number of Movers Required
The second variable in our pricing structure is the number of movers in your crew. We offer moving crews between two and five movers, with the rare occasion where one mover is required. A single mover job is usually reserved for when a customer only needs to move a washer and dryer, or 20 boxes… items one person can easily handle. Our 2 mover crews can efficiently complete jobs between the sizes of a studio apartment up to a large 2-bedroom ranch style home. Three to four movers are typically recommended for moves with multiple floors and no elevator, or homes three bedrooms or larger. And finally, if we recommend five movers, congratulations, you live in a mansion, and we want to be you when we grow up.
It’s important to understand the cost of choosing the wrong moving crew size:
Too many movers: Companies often quote you more movers than necessary on smaller jobs to jack up the total cost of your move. In their eyes, it makes small jobs worth their while, and they simply pocket the profit.
Too few movers: It may be tempting to hire the moving crew with the lowest hourly rate, but keep in mind, these professionals are human, not machines. If we send two people to complete a 4-mover job, they will burn out twice as fast, take twice as long, and ultimately cost you twice the money it would have, if you hired the right size crew. There are other sure-fire ways to save money on your move. Don’t risk it with this approach.
At Metro Moving Company, we review all the items you plan to move, in order to recommend the best move size to complete your job at the lowest possible cost. Again, happy customers skip the internet search and call us without hesitation for their next local move. That’s our ultimate goal.
We know that every move is different, and every family’s budget is not going to be a perfect fit for our company. We just want to educate our neighbors about the true cost of relocation in the Greater Atlanta area, so that when you do hire a mover, you know what you’re paying for. Any company that isn’t giving you up-front and honest pricing, is not a company with your best interest at heart. Shop around, and then call Metro Moving Company. Because moving sucks… but it doesn’t have to.
