Sauver de l’argent lors de votre déménagement

Une compagnie de déménagement qui vous dit comment économiser ? Vous ne rêvez pas!

Stationnement – Planifiez et Réservez!
En permettant aux déménageurs d’installer la rampe de chargement le plus près possible de la porte d’entrée ou des escaliers, vous allez grandement accélérer le processus. S’ils peuvent sauver 6 secondes chaque fois qu’ils se rendent au camion, c’est près de 20 minutes économisées au total, soit 30$ à 50$.

Utilisez des boites de pareille dimension (2 à 3 grandeurs)
Les boites aux dimensions standard peuvent être facilement empilées dans le camion sans avoir à jouer à Tétris. Vous pensez sauver de l’argent en utilisant des boites usagées? Pensez-y une seconde fois! Tenter de placer toutes vos boites de différents formats va en fait augmenter drastiquement le temps de votre déménagement.

Dégagez le chemin!
Gardez les porches, les cages d’escaliers, les entrées et les corridors libres. Plus les déménageurs pourront se déplacer rapidement, plus vite le déménagement se fera.

Démontez vos meubles avant le jour du déménagement
Si vous vous sentez d’attaque, bien entendu. Démonter et remonter un lit IKEA pourrait rajouter jusqu’à 20 minutes à votre déménagement. Enlever les pattes d’une table; 10 à 15 minutes. Vous pourriez facilement sauver jusqu’à une heure sur votre facture à le faire vous-même.

Organisez vos articles hors norme
Les balais, les ventilateurs, les moppes, les aspirateurs, les plantes d’intérieur, les articles de sports, les parquets ou encore les affiches roulées ne peuvent être chargés tels quel dans le camion. Rassemblez les articles de dimensions semblables et placez les plus petits articles dans de petites boites pour accélérer le déménagement.

Montrez aux déménageurs TOUS vos items, dès leur arrivée
Vos déménageurs vont remplir le camion stratégiquement. Si vous les informez à la fin du déménagement que vous aviez oublié de mentionner vos deux air climatisés, votre souffleuse à neige et un set de patio qui se trouvaient dans le cabanon, ils devront prendre le temps de réorganiser le camion pour accommoder ces items de plus.

Réservez l’ascenseur
Vos déménageurs seront en mesure de vérrouiller l’ascenseur ce qui simplifie et accélère le processus. Ce n’est pas facile d’essayer de remplir un ascenseur qui essaie constamment de vous écraser!

Allez voir notre page “Conseils”
Évitez de perdre du temps et bien des frustrations en allant jeter un coup d’oeil à notre page Conseils!

Pourquoi vous ne devriez pas acheter des boites usagées!

Utiliser des boites usagées pour déménager est une mauvaise idée.

Scénario:     Julie emballe les vêtements de son bébé dans une boite usagée.
Possibilité:   Cette boite a été utilisée par un grand fumeur et elle a absorbé la fumée.

Maintenant: Les vêtements du bébé de Julie sentent la cigarette.

Scénario:     Fred emballe sa vaisselle et sa verrerie dans une boite usagée.
Possibilité:  Cette boite appartenait a un amoureux de chien et de la fourrure s'est accumulée dans les coins de la boite. 

Maintenant: Les invités de Fred trouvent le poisson un peu '' Poilu''...

Scénario:    Suzanne a emballé ses livres et ses travaux dans une boite usagée.
Possibilité:  Cette boite a été rangée dans un cabanon et des araignées y ont trouvé refuge.
Maintenant: Suzanne doit lire sur comment se débarrasser des araignées dans sa maison.

Scénario:     Darius emballe ses ingrédients secs dans une boite usagée.
Possibilité:   Cette boite fut utilisée pour transporter des produits chimiques. 
Maintenant: Darius ne se sent pas très bien après avoir fait cuire des muffins.

Scénario:   Kendrick a profité de l'escompte offerte par sa compagnie de déménagement et a pu utiliser des boites garde-robe.
Possibilité:  Le client précédent avait des puces de lit et ne le savait pas.
Maintenant: Kendrick a des puces de lit... ce qui est beaucoup plus cher que de nouvelles boites garde-robe. 

Comme vous pouvez le constater, vous ne savez jamais qui a utilisé ces boites avant vous et ce qu'ils en ont fait. Plusieurs compagnies vont louer des boites et des boites garde-robes à leurs clients en leur faisant remarquer l'économie d'argent. Néanmoins, comme nous l'avons vu, ce n'est pas toujours le cas.

Avec Déménagement Bust a Move, nous utilisons que des boites neuves; Vos biens et votre famille sont en sécurité avec nous.

Why you shouldn't buy used moving boxes!

Using used moving boxes is a bad idea. Here is 5 examples that illustrate why.

Scenario:    Julie packs her baby's clothing into a used cardboard box.
Possibility: That box belonged to a heavy smoker and the cardboard has absorbed the smoke.
Now:          Julie's baby smells like cigarettes.

Scenario:    Fred packed his dishes and glassware into a used cardboard box.
Possibility: That box belonged to a pet lover and the joints and creases are packed with fur.
Now:          Fred's guests are finding the fish a little "hairy".

Scenario:    Susanna packed her books and paperwork into a used cardboard box.
Possibility: That box was stored in an outdoor shed and spiders got inside.
Now:          Susanna is doing a lot of reading on how to get rid of spiders in her house.

Scenario:    Darius packed his dry ingredients into a used cardboard box.
Possibility: That box was used for chlorine, lawn pesticides and other chemicals from his garage.
Now:          Darius isn't feeling too well after baking his house warming muffins.

Scenario:    Kendrick happily took advantage of his moving company's free, used wardrobe boxes.
Possibility: The previous client had bed bugs but did not know about it.
Now:          Ken has bed bugs... which is more expensive to fix than buying new wardrobe boxes.


So you see, you never know who used those boxes before you or what they used them for.  Many moving companies will rent boxes and wardrobe boxes to their customers which may seem like a good way to save money, but now you see that it's probably not.

At Bust a Move Moving we always use new, clean and sturdy boxes to move your items so that you can rest assured that your belongings and family are safe!

My Movers Dumped Me! A Tale of Panic and Despair.

What's worse than being dumped on your wedding day?
Getting dumped on July 1st by your movers.


Its' unfortunate and it happens all the time and the story goes like this;

You (the client) being well prepared take the time to contact a moving company in March to reserve for July 1st. They give you a great price so you book your move and hang up the phone feeling great.

Skip Forward to July 1st. Your reservation was for 8:00 a.m. It's now 11:30 a.m and after multiple phone calls which go unanswered you really start to panic.

What Happened? Your movers dumped you to make room for higher paying, last minute bookings.

But you're not going to let them get you down! You're resourceful, capable, a real Go-Getter! So you pick up the phone and start calling around only to find out that literally every company is fully booked.

You finally reach a moving company that has an available truck. Great! One minor detail though; their rate is $450/hour. They have purposely left trucks available for last minute callers that are stuck in a jam. With no other options you agree to the outrageous price.

You sit on your steps with tears rolling down your cheeks, feeling angry and helpless wondering how you're going to pay for your overpriced move.


Why are we telling you this?  To protect you from a disaster of course!

If you need to move during peak moving season (April 25 to July 15th) in Montreal make sure to choose a reputable company that's more interested in maintaining a good reputation than gaining short term profits. The added cost of hiring a reputable moving company is worth the peace of mind that comes along with it.

Money Saving Tips for your upcoming move

Keep more cash in your pockets by cutting down on time!

Bust a Move moving is here with valuable tips on how you can keep your moving bill down by properly preparing.  Being prepared for your movers arrival can knock upwards of 25% off your total bill.

RESERVE PARKING
The closer your movers can place their loading ramp to your front door or staircase the better.

SAME SIZED BOXES
Regular sized boxes can be quickly stacked in the truck without having to play Tetris.  Think you're saving money by scoring free boxes? Think again! Trying to stack all of your odd shaped boxes will actually add a significant amount of time to your move.

CLEAR THE WAY
Keep porches, stairwells, hallways and entrances free of items and junk.  The faster your movers can maneuver around your home, the quicker the job will get done. 

DISASSEMBLE FURNITURE
Only if you're feeling up to it of course. Taking apart an IKEA bed and rebuilding will add about 20 minutes to your move. Removing legs from a table could take 10 minutes. The difference between taking apart your own furniture could easily save you one-hour of billed moving time.

ORGANIZE THE ODDS AND ENDS
Fans, brooms, mops, vacuums, house plants, sporting equipment,  wooden slabs, rolled posters and other awkward items can not be loaded in the truck as is. Try to bundle like-shaped items together and place all smaller items inside of boxes.

SHOW YOUR MOVERS ALL ITEMS AT THE BEGINNING
Your movers will load the truck with a strategy in mind. If near the end of the loading process you say, "Oh! and I have two air conditioners, a snow blower and a patio set in the shed", they may have to spend time rearranging the truck to accommodate the extra items.

RESERVE THE ELEVATOR
Your movers will be able to lock the elevator which simplifies and quickens the process. It isn't easy to load an elevator that is constantly attempting to crush you. 

CHECK OUT OUR PACKING TIPS
Save on time and frustration by checking out our PACKING TIPS

The $3,588 Ikea bar stool

Years back one of our clients had to suddenly move to Vancouver. Everything happened so quickly and she was forced to squeeze out of her lease early and place the contents of her 1-bedroom apartment into a storage facility.

And off she went to begin her journey. New school, new job, friends to make, parties to go to, studying and exams to write. Fast forward 3 + years and she lands back in Montreal just like the good old days and she is ready to move into her new apartment. 

Moving day arrives and  Bust a Move moving arrive on time as expected and begin to empty her locker. She mentions that her boyfriends apartment is already furnished and she will be throwing out most of her things and just keeping personal items. In the end the movers delivered the  bar stool (see above) and around 6 boxes of personal items to the apartment. They brought the remaining contents of the locker to renaissance to be donated.

So let's do the math. The storage was $92/month and she used it for 39 months. That's $3,588!!! And all she kept was 1 stool that sells for $49 at Ikea. She could have bought 73 stools for that price!

Sometimes it's better to cut ties with your furniture/possessions. Instead of spending that money she could have liquidated her stuff at a garage/moving sale and maybe made $500-$1,000.   Value your items with a dollar amount and estimate the length of storage needed to determine whether it's worth the cost of storage. Your furniture will not get more fashionable or comfortable over time so it's better to make that call early on!

As for our client, well she's probably just living her life, going about her day, sitting on Montreals most expensive bar stool.

The Garbage Bag grumbles

Garbage Bags are great for moving.... Said no one, ever.

We've traveled through the vast lands of Nepal to converse with wise Buddhists about a question that we can not understand; "Why do people use garbage bags instead of moving boxes"
________________________________

Have you ever seen a golfer strolling down the fairway with their clubs in a garbage bag?
No!  Yet on moving day,  your golf clubs are jammed into garbage bags.

Do the products in grocery stores come in garbage bags?
No!  Yet on moving day you empty the contents of your fridge in 1 garbage bag.

When you buy a set of dishes does the cashier carefully place them into garbage bags?
No!  Yet on moving day you place your dishes into garbage bags to ensure ultimate protection.

When Dell ships your laptop does FedEx ring your doorbell and hand you a garbage bag?
No, Yet on moving day you cram every electronic in your home into one large garbage bag.
________________________________

Even garbage bags come in boxes when you buy them. Can you imagine buying a garbage bag filled with garbage bags from the store?

The best is when people cover their glass lamp shades with a garbage bag for protection. The only good thing about this is when (I'm saying 'when' because it's inevitable) the lamp shatters, the pieces will already be in the garbage. 

Garbage bags should not be used for moving because;
1) The can't be stacked
2) They are awkward to carry
3) The chance of them ripping apart is 100%
4) The chance of them protecting your things is 0%

Things Garbage bags are great for;
1) Garbage
2) A cape for a Batman costume

Plan ahead, Pack early

Like the trees and flowers, moving season is in full bloom in Montreal. After the prank mother nature pulled last week with the hope-crushing 15 cm of random snow the cold winter has passed and the longer days are filled with promise of a summer soon to come.

Summer time is also moving season in Montreal. Whether moving out of your parents house, moving in with a loved one, upgrading, downgrading, moving for work, etc there's no avoiding the fact that you'll have to move (despite your best efforts to ignore it). All of your stuff is going to have to get packed up and moved to a new place whether it be at the other end of the city or across the street.

Due to Quebec's famous 'Moving Day" over 80,000 Quebecers' spend Canada Day packing boxes. Also, lease patterns tend to end between May and August resulting in a large number of people having to move at that time. Companies therefor experience a huge amount of over demand during those peak times and charge higher rates.


Here are a few tips on how to save time, effort and money when hiring movers during the summer rush.

BOOK EARLY - Save Money - Booking in advance ensures that you will get a decent rate from your moving company. If you wait until the day before you can expect to pay higher prices.

BOOK EARLY - Save Time - Early bookings mean that you will be able to reserve easily. If you wait until the last minute you may have to contact multiple companies before finding one with openings and may end up with a company that you would never hire otherwise.

AVOID THE LAST DAY/FIRST DAY- Of each month. This can sometimes be tricky due to lease patterns but if your moving date is flexible and your budget is tight then avoiding these days are your best choice. These dates have higher demand and higher prices.

MID MONTH MOVES - The middle of the month can a quieter time for movers. By reserving a date between the 10th and 20th of each month, you may be able to benefit from a lower rate

There you have it! A few friendly tips from the team at Bust a Move Moving regarding your upcoming move in Montreal this summer.

When life gives you lemons, fill them with furniture.

Bust a Move moving started off with a 1993 Toyota pickup that was composed of more putty than steel. After helping a friend move her mattress, she secretly put an ad on Craigslist titled, " Student Mover with Truck".

It's safe to say that 70% of our customers muttered  "Whaaat the Heeeeck" under their breath as they witnessed this truck roll up to their front door.


We upgraded to a covered truck.  This cool looking 1972 Grumman Kurbmaster was better suited to serve ice cream to screaming kids in the park but we made it work. When I bought it had an "Antique license plate" I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing at the time.

1984 Grumman Curbmaster

Check out those rims! We loved this truck. You could drive it with the doors wide open, and the horn was an air pressured device which sounded like a train.


We then progressed to something a little more modern. Nothing too interesting to say about this thing. It was a 14 foot cube truck that ran well and helped us secure larger scale moves.

14-foot Ford E-450

The next step was to invest in a reliable, large moving truck that would enable us to offer a better service and undertake larger moves once again.

20 foot - Ford LCF Truck

Stored inside of this guy are dozens of protective blankets for your furniture, dollies, tools, straps, mattress covers, packing tape, shrink wrap, floor mats and everything else needed to complete your move in an efficient manner. The truck is clean, reliable and great for inter city moves.


And then this happened;

And then this;

Et voila, there is a history of our fleet which is always modernizing and improving to best serve our customers. It only makes sense, they deserve it.

Until Next time!

www.bustamovemoving.com

What a Waste!

Going Green is no longer a trend; it’s the new way of life. Nowadays companies are dreaming up amazing solutions that benefit both society and the environment. Bamboo laptops, water-less washing machines and solar powered refrigerators are just a few inventions which are beyond impressive.  When thinking of the moving industry however, there is nothing spectacular to be found.

This past January we moved two customers from Montreal to Toronto and brought a load back to Montreal on our way home. Once all was done, we were bothered by the amount of waste that we produced in order to complete our moves.  The distance of the entire trip was approximately 1500 km’s (return) and took two days. Below is a list of our supplies used;

-500 Litres of Diesel fuel.

-10 queen size mattress bags – Plastic

-600 meters of packing tape – Plastic

-140 boxes, give or take – Cardboard

-800 feet of Shrink Wrap – Plastic

It was disappointing to see how 'un-environmentally' friendly our business was and had us thinking of what could be done to reduce our impact. We have a few ideas, but they require a lot of extra time and effort to implement, not to mention they are more costly for us.  

We would be interested to hear from anyone who may have ideas as to how we could reduce our impact on the environment.  All ideas are welcome (no matter how small, large, ridiculous or unlikely).

Feel free to reply to this post or send an e-mail to info@bustamovemoving.com

A World of Weird

If you're moving and think that some of your belongings are 'special', it's always best to notify your moving company in advance.  Even good movers are unable to work with certain objects. Below are some of the most unusual objects that Bust a Move Moving has encountered over the years in Montreal.

THE BARBER CHAIR -  Moving an old school barber chair that weighed roughly 400 pounds down three sets of stairs (and it couldn't be tilted because it had oil in the base) was not easy for the movers!  Our client mentioned that he needed a "Chair" to be moved. One heck of a chair!

TURD BUCKET- "Can you load my cat litter?"  Yes, we can load the cat litter box after you remove that towering pyramid of turds, the actual litter and then rinse it out, over and over again. While you do that we will go get our hazmat suits.

EMPTY BEER BOTTLES - A 5 1/2 apartment with one room designated to empty beer cases. They were all 24's and all Budweiser.  The money they got back from the returns covered the $467 move and some extra. You do the math!

SNAKE SKIN - A big clear container full of snake skin. That is all.

FISH TANK FULL OF FISH - The fish tank is heavy enough on its own and they wanted to move it with all the water and the fish still inside!  Even the fish were rolling their eyes.  

BAGS OF BRICKS - About 60 bricks, placed in garbage bags. Unfortunately the ultra thin plastic could not handle the weight, which was surprising.......?  Once transferred to boxes the process went smoothly.

SEX SWING MACHINE THING -  This 'Sex Swing'  took up an entire bedroom. This thing could replace a jungle gym at a school playground. Metal bars, bungees, ropes, hydraulic lifts, chains. We didn't know what to say about this one.  We did not disassemble or move it.  We'll leave that part up to her lover(s)

Bellies Full - Spirits Up

Hot days, humid days, rainy days, snow, slush, stairs, bumps, bruises, cuts, tiny doors, stinky hallways, grumpy doormen, crying babies and broken elevators.

Just a few things that can put a damper on the morale while your movers work tirelessly to finish the job.  A three year study conducted by Bust a Move Moving has revealed that the single best remedy for a bad attitude is… Food. 

Research shows that a whopping 98.4% of Bust a Move movers experienced lifted spirits when offered food + drink during the move. Furthermore, the studies concluded that productivity increased by an astonishing 58% when movers ingested food or drink offered by customers. Below are notable offerings that were greatly appreciated. A big thank you to our amazing customers!

• Cheeseburgers from Burger de Ville / Capoli’s
• Smoked Salmon on fresh bagels from St Viateur
• Non-Alcoholic Becks
• Countless Pizzas
• Homemade Cookies – Straight from the oven
• Hundreds of bottles of Gatorade (You would think we were sponsored by them)
• Ham Sandwiches from Premier Moisson
• Smoked meat sandwiches from Shwartz’s

Top 10 - Make your Movers Hate You

Moving is tough so be sure to make things even more difficult for your movers by doing the following 10 things.


1- Find the biggest box you can and fill it with textbooks. Make sure to fill it to the top.

2- Don't sweep your place for three months prior to your movers arrival.

3- Place your 4L Jug of bleach upside down in a box. Make sure you don't tighten the lid.

4- Don't mention that your sofa was hoisted into your home with a crane the last time. We have the ability to move walls and door frames using mind power.

5 - Make sure not to reserve an elevator. They love constant high pitched beeping and being crushed by metal doors.

6-  If it's very hot out do not offer your mover a glass of water. Doing this will risk quenching their thirst.

7 - Never use moving boxes. Pack your dishes + glasses in garbage bags. Nothing protects better than an ultra thin garbage bag.

8- Ask your mover if you can help carry items into the truck. When he says "No",  do it anyway.

9- Remember that heavy box from #1?  Do not use tape to close the bottom, that way 4 years of university literature will surely fall through the bottom.

10- If you are pleased with the service and everything was great, do not tip your movers. If you tip them they will feel appreciated.

Make your movers love you

Your movers will love it if you;

1- Use boxes that are relatively all the same size
2- Sweep up dust/dirt/animal hair before they arrive
3- Are well prepared/organized
4- Reserve parking in front of your building so they can park
5- Reserve the elevator in your building so they are not constantly being crushed and beeped at
6- Offer them something to drink on hot days
7- Pack books and heavy items in smaller boxes
8- Remove ice + snow from stairways
9- Clean out your fridge
10- Clean dirty stoves and tables before they arrive

And remember, happy movers work harder!