The moving industry in the U.S. is pretty crowded, with thousands of professional moving companies operating across the nation. If you live in a big city, you might be overwhelmed by all the different choices, offers, and quotes that exist out there if you look up “movers.”
Choosing one can’t be easy, either. There are so many horror stories out there, such as no-show movers, ones that charge mystery fees, or others that customers have called “mafia” companies because of their shady practices.
According to one TikToker, Backpack Johnny (@notbackpack), who recently moved, there’s a simple, cheaper, and more obvious answer to your moving questions. In one video posted to the platform, which got over 430,700 views, he explains what made this option worth it for him.
What Company Does He Recommend?
“Before you hire the movers for 5, 7, even $1,000, let me give you a little bit of game,” Johnny starts. “Save you a little bit of money.”
His advice is to check U-Haul first.
“Go to U-Haul. U-Haul got their own movers that you can use,” he says. “All you gotta do is drive the truck.”
From there, he says the movers can handle the loading and unloading, depending on what service you book.
“You should help, though,” he adds. “But, I mean, they moving your stuff, so you should help.”
Johnny says the option he used came with two movers and a two-hour minimum. However, in his case, he booked three hours, and they finished the whole move in about an hour and a half.
“But I was literally moving right down the street, so it wasn’t a big difference,” he explains.
He Checked Thumbtack And TaskRabbit First
Johnny says he didn’t land on U-Haul without comparing other options.
“I tried Thumbtack, Taskrabbit, and U-Haul was cheaper,” he says. “So I was like, well, Imma just go with U-Haul then.”
Johnny also points out that there’s a payment code involved.
“So you pay U-Haul for the movers, but these are local movers in your area,” he says. “But you pay U-Haul. And then once they finish moving all your stuff, then they gotta enter a code so that they can get paid.”
According to Johnny, that gives the customer a little more control.
“Because you wanna make sure that you satisfied with everything that they did,” he says. “But, I mean, it’s really just that easy.”
U-Haul Jumped Into The Comments
“We’re so glad to hear this!!” U-Haul wrote in the comments section. “One tip we always recommend: Take a few minutes to read customer reviews.”
The company added that reviews on the Moving Help Marketplace are left by customers who completed a move with that provider. U-Haul also said customers can sort Moving Helpers by ratings, rates, and services offered to find the best fit.
Some commenters backed Johnny up.
“Yasss!!! I move on this past Saturday, they U-Haul. It was $80 an hour and I had them for 3 hours. I did the load and upload option they was done before the 3 hrs,” one commenter wrote.
However, another viewer warned that the experience depends on who you book.
“Always look at reviews for your area!!!” they wrote. “We hired U-Haul for my move and they never showed. We called multiple times and they said they were down the street every time. U-Haul didn’t want to refund us either. It was a whole mess.”
Is U-Haul Moving Help Worth it?
U-Haul is one of the older and most recognizable names in DIY moving. It launched in 1945, and today, the company says it has more than 24,000 rental locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces.
It can be an ideal choice for do-it-yourselfers who want to mostly handle their move on their own. People also love it because it can be a lower-cost option.
But because Moving Help connects customers with local service providers, costs and reviews can vary a ton from city to city and mover to mover.
One Lynchburg, Virginia, customer on Facebook had a good experience, writing, “My dad drove the truck with all my things but we wanted to take the load off of him so we hired the uhaul help, they were great!”
However, one Austin, Texas, customer had the opposite experience after booking City Move LLC through U-Haul. In a Yelp review, they claimed the movers left in the middle of the job, unloaded only four items, left them on the street, and then stopped responding. The customer said their coffee table and plant were stolen, and they had to rent the truck for another day while trying to find new movers.
As other customers suggested in the comments, it’s a good idea to check reviews for your specific area before booking.
@notbackpack Hire the U-Haul movers #nogatekeeping #uhaul #movingday #newapartment #movingout
BroBible has reached out to U-Haul and Johnny via email for comment.