Anyone use PODS to move?

[unfreshdiva1]

Moving from Orlando back to West Palm Beach, FL. Thinking of using PODS instead of hiring someone to move me. Anyone use this service before? Pros/Cons? Thanks in advance!

 

[mom2travel]

Moving from Orlando back to West Palm Beach, FL. Thinking of using PODS instead of hiring someone to move me. Anyone use this service before? Pros/Cons? Thanks in advance!

We used PODS for our last move. It was really easy and cheaper than hiring movers for us (our move was about 650 miles). We did not have much in the way of furniture to move. We also rented a Uhaul truck to move the last stuff packed and some valuables. We had the pod delivered maybe 2 weeks ahead and filled it as we had time. They picked it up the day before we moved out officially and delivered it to our new home. I believe their fees depend on the amount of time you have the pod at each location for loading/unloading, the distance moving, and whether or not they need to hold the pod in storage for you. I'm not sure about if there are exceptions for short distances, but I remember a minimum of I think 2 days to get from house A to house B.

We packed all of our boxes ourselves - used tons of bubble wrap/newspaper. And made sure everything was packed in tight. We did not have any broken items when we unpacked (I went crazy on the packaging for fragile holiday items and picture frames). And I think we may have used our own padlock to lock the pod

 

[Bren's Mom]

We used Pack Rat (same thing as PODS) for a local move and it was fantastic. We actually used 2 units. The first one was delivered about 4 weeks before we went on the market. We filled that with non-essential items from the house in order to stage the house properly. So it had some extra furniture pieces, off-season clothing, extra housewares, etc. We packed it full and then had them deliver it to their storage facility.

Then when we sold, we had a 2nd one delivered 2 weeks before closing. We packed that one as we got boxes packed. That one was picked up and moved to our new house on closing day for our sale, one day before we closed on our new house (with the permission of the sellers of our new house). When that unit was empty, they came and picked it up. We had them wait a few weeks to deliver the other one to unpack, to give us a break.

It's about $200 per month, and it's nice to have that extra time to pack and unpack. It's also nice that they can be stored in your driveway OR at their storage facility. We would definitely do it again.

 

[EKW]

I used them in 2007. It cost me $1700 to move from KCMO to CO.

Pro: They were professional...came on time, were neat, clean, accomodating.

Con: The POD is NOT the size of a large U-Haul. It is the size of the medium sized truck. We left behind our sofa, queensized bed, computer desk, and entertainment center because the contents of a 2 bedroom townhome couldn't fit inside. They are SMALL.

Also, they needed at least a week to move it, so we sat here at our new home without furniture for a week. I bought a hide-a-bed off Craig's list so we'd have a place to sit and sleep. The POD doesn't go from point A to point B. It goes from point A to local storage, gets transported, goes to local storage, then goes to point B. And, they don't work weekends.

I should add...you will need your own padlock and ropes because you have to tie off sections inside the POD.
Personally, it was what worked for me. I'm a single mom and didn't have anyone to drive a rental truck. Had I been able to find a driver, the second route would have been faster and cheaper.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Also, they needed at least a week to move it, so we sat here at our new home without furniture for a week. I bought a hide-a-bed off Craig's list so we'd have a place to sit and sleep. The POD doesn't go from point A to point B. It goes from point A to local storage, gets transported, goes to local storage, then goes to point B. And, they don't work weekends.

I'm thinking that different companies and/or different franchises within the same company might have different policies. With Pack Rat we were absolutely able to get the unit moved on the exact day we wanted it moved (we gave them about a week's notice). And on of our units DID go from point A (old house) directly to point B (new house 3 blocks away). Our other unit went to storage, but that was at our request because we'd packed it as part of staging the house, before it even went on the market, and we didn't want it in the driveway during showings.

 

[BrettS]

And on of our units DID go from point A (old house) directly to point B (new house 3 blocks away).

I suspect the 3 blocks away is what made the difference here. When they're moving units longer distances it's not cost effective for them to send a truck with only one or two units, so after they get picked up they sit and wait until they have enough units to fill a truck and then they move them all at once. Then they need to schedule someone from the location that received the units to send them out to the new houses.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Could be that a local move v a long distance move is what makes the scheduling differences.

Orlando to W Palm Beach, I'm assuming that's a local move. But I guess her actual PODS or PackRat or whatever co could tell her the specifics for that.

 

[Dizneydaz]

My Niece used PODS for her move from Salt Lake to Kansas. It worked well and according to my sister they packed it tight! Also they used a car relocating service to ship her car (they flew) The car was shipped from California to Kansas. They also filled the car up completely with her stuff.

Moving household items and a car is just one of those things to think about when your kids go off to college. Or in this case from one college to another. She completed her Masters at U of U and went KS for her PhD.

They decided against driving themselves since she was going in Jan. and the weather could be iffy!

 

[akcire]

We used a pod for a local move. It was awesome. We would definitely do it again.

 

[unfreshdiva1]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll give them a call this week and check out the cost.