10 Ways Movers Can Increase the Final Cost (Without Cheating)

By now you should have heard or read some horror stories of moving house where rogue movers do as they please – increasing drastically the price on Moving day without a good reason, holding customers’ possessions hostage until they get the ransom they demand, or stealing some of the more expensive items and then disappearing off the face of the earth.

You should know that all of the above-mentioned ways of cheating unaware customers are illegal and are only done by rogue moving companies – really bad movers whose only purpose is to scam people in any way possible.

However, when you do your homework – that is, take the time to properly research the movers in your area – you should never become a victim of a moving scam.

Thus said, there are also legitimate ways movers can increase the final cost without trying to scam people in any way.

That’s right, we’re talking about top-rated moving companies that provide high-quality services to their customers. The thing is that under specific circumstances, even the best movers in the country may need to increase the final moving price – perfectly legally and with zero intention to cheat their clients.

By being aware of those special cases when movers may increase the final cost legitimately, you will have much better control over your moving expenses and will be able to save money by not paying movers more than you absolutely need to.

Here are 10 legitimate ways your movers can increase your final cost without trying to cheat you in any way:

1. You’re not ready on Moving day

One of the most common ways movers can charge you more than what their estimate says is when the pros arrive on Moving day and you’re not done packing. You may have just a few boxes left to fill up, but you may also have many more containers to pack up before you’re ready to move out.

There are various reasons why you may have fallen short, but mostly it comes down to poor time management. The problem is that getting ready to move out does not only include the arduous task of packing – no, you also have scores and scores of other important things to take care of such as securing the services of a top-rated mover, switching the home utilities, changing the postal address, obtaining medical records, transferring school records, taking your pet to see the vet, and so many more.

If you’re not done packing when your movers arrive, your hired men will almost certainly give you a hand, but it all means that your move will take longer than initially calculated and the extra labor will be included in the final bill. All in all, your movers will have no choice but to increase the final price because you couldn’t manage to finish packing on time.

Follow a detailed Moving Checklist to make sure you’re 100% ready before your movers appear on the doorstep.

Moving Checklist: The Greatest Moving Checklist of All Time

2. Some of your items need to be re-packed by movers

If you’ve opted for professional packing services, then you shouldn’t worry about a thing – the packers you hire will pack up your things in the safest way possible. That’s especially important when it comes to fragile items – ones that are made of glass or porcelain, or ones that are too delicate to survive the move without proper padding.

But if you’ve chosen to pack up your things all by yourself, then you have to be extra careful how you pack delicate items for moving, especially when it’s a long-distance move. Be sure to follow your mover’s packing requirements on how to protect extra-delicate things for the road ahead.

If there are no such requirements by your moving company, then do follow our guidelines (see below) on how to pack fragile items safely for moving.

Keep in mind that if your delicate items are not properly packed and adequately padded on Moving day, most moving companies will ask you to re-pack them (lost time) or they will do it themselves (extra packing labor).

Either way, you will most certainly be charged extra, especially if your movers need to pack your most delicate items their way.

How to Pack Fragile Items for Moving

3. You’ve decided to move more items than estimated originally

It’s important to understand that any extra item you add to the original inventory will increase the final price.

And this is exactly why it’s important to make the right decisions when sorting out your household items prior to packing them.

You must have already decided which items you’re moving with you and which ones you’re leaving behind… but sometimes you’re just not sure. The large couch and the dining table you were thinking of donating to charity may sometimes make the final cut at the last moment.

When moving locally, those two extra furniture items may not change the final price too much, but when moving across the country, you should expect a significant difference price-wise.

It’s the way interstate moves work – the price is calculated on the basis of move distance, the total weight of the shipment, and any extra services requested by the customer. Therefore, your cross-country mover will charge you for any items that you want to add and that didn’t exist on the original estimate.

Yes, any large and heavy things (furniture in most cases) you decide to move will add up quickly in additional costs.

What to Do With Furniture When Moving

4. You’re moving a specialty item you’ve failed to mention

While adding a piece of furniture to the original estimate will increase the final cost, particularly on cross-country moves, failing to inform your moving company that you’re moving a specialty item will definitely inflate the final bill and is likely to cause a number of problems because your movers won’t be prepared adequately to handle that specific specialty item.

In reality, such a scenario is unlikely to happen because any specialty items that you want to be moved to the new house will be the first to be shown and discussed with the pros. And yet, it could still happen that you simply fail to show the pros a piece that’s regarded as unique and that will require special packing and moving skills.

A piano is hard not to show movers, but a grandfather clock is perfectly normal to fail to list as a specialty item that requires extra packing and moving care. It’s somewhat unrealistic to fail to tell movers you’re also moving a pool table or a hot tub, but you can easily miss to inform them that you’re moving a heavy safe or a piece of antique furniture.

To avoid being charged extra by your movers, make sure you show them everything that you’re moving so that their cost estimate reflects correctly the final price.

5. You have forgotten to tell movers the elevator is broken

Another way movers can increase the final price legitimately is to charge you a stairs fee.

If you happen to live in an apartment building with no elevator (a walk-up) and you don’t live on the first floor, then you’re likely to get charged extra for the stairs the movers will have to go up and down during the entire move.

Or even worse – if you live on a high floor in a high-rise apartment building but the elevator is broken (non-functional) on the day of the move, then you will surely get charged more money than originally estimated for the lost time and extra effort of your hired men while they are carrying heavy stuff up and down the stairs.

You shouldn’t underestimate the stairs fee. How much do movers charge for stairs? Typically, movers will charge roughly $50 for every flight of stairs beyond the first flight if they are unable to use an elevator because it’s either non-functional at the time or it’s not been reserved specifically for them.

To avoid paying more money than you should, discuss the issue with your mover beforehand in the case of a broken elevator. If the elevator works fine, then remember to speak with the building manager in order to reserve it for your move.

6. You request extra stops along the way

You may happen to have some items that are located in places that are different than your main residence. Interestingly enough, you may need to pick a few items from a storage unit or from another location along the way – your parents’ house or a friend’s place, for instance. 

When moving locally, any extra stops along the route will increase the overall time needed to complete the intrastate move. Basically, this means that the local move will end up being more expensive since it’ll take longer to complete it.

When moving across the country, interstate movers will treat split pickup as an extra service, which in turn will increase the final price for you as a customer. Roughly speaking, you should expect to be charged around $100 for requesting an extra stop during a long-distance move, but the actual cost of the add-on service will depend on the distance between the primary residence and the location of the extra stop or stops along the way.

Remember to always inform your movers in advance about any extra stops you plan to make during the actual relocation.

How to Negotiate with Movers: Save Money With the Power of Smart Negotiation

7. Your items need to be placed in unexpected temporary storage

It’s really unusual to request temporary storage of your items after you’ve already instructed your movers where and when to deliver your items (especially on cross-country moves) but things can change in the blink of an eye and sometimes temporary storage cannot be avoided altogether.

Now, if your movers cannot deliver your items on the pre-arranged day and hour, they are likely to place your things in storage and charge you accordingly for each day your stuff remains at their warehouse. This way, the moving company will increase your final cost accordingly as temporary storage is, in fact, an add-on service that customers have to pay.

Unexpected things do happen during a house move so you should always try to be ready for a number of scenarios. And if, for some reason or another, your items do need to be placed in temporary storage, get a quote from your movers so that you know the extra cost way in advance.

What to Put in Storage and What NOT to Put in Storage When Moving

8. The moving truck can’t park close to your new home  

Sometimes it may turn out that the big moving truck that left your old home cannot park at the new residence for a number of reasons: narrow streets, low-hanging trees and branches, low-hanging power lines, sharp turns, and so on. If such a situation occurs, then a smaller vehicle called a shuttle van may have to be brought into the scene to complete the move.

Shuttle vans are not uncommon and usually, any shuttle fees are calculated into the quote in advance. However, special circumstances may force your movers to add a shuttle fee during a move which, undoubtedly, will increase the final moving bill.

Shuttle fees may end up being rather high depending on how big the move is. In reality, transferring all household items from the large truck to the small truck requires a lot of extra labor and can take hours to complete.

When the large moving truck can’t park right by the entrance of the new home but can do it just a small distance away, a smaller vehicle is not needed. Then, the movers should be able to transport the items to the new home, either by carrying them by hand or using moving dollies. In such cases, you should expect to be charged a long-carry fee which is substantially lower than a shuttle fee.

The Best Ways to Save on Additional Moving Services

9. You wish to receive your items faster

On long-distance moves, moving companies often consolidate various shipments so that they can lower transportation costs.

In fact, it is the most efficient way for movers to move household items from one location to another during a cross-country move.

However, if you wish to receive your items faster or want to be transported separately from other people’s belongings in order to get a guaranteed delivery day and not a delivery window, then you can opt for exclusive use of the moving vehicle by your movers.

But if you do, then you should expect movers to increase the final cost accordingly as you will be charged an extra fee for exclusive use of the moving vehicle. Of course, you are supposed to discuss all these details with the moving company ahead of time.  

10. Movers increase the cost due to force majeure circumstances

Regrettably, your movers can also increase the final cost of your move due to force majeure circumstances – circumstances that are beyond their control.

A typical example of that is when the price of fuel goes up – since moving trucks use fuel (a lot of fuel!) to operate, especially on cross-country moves, your moving company will increase their rates accordingly to compensate for the higher price of fuel.

Other scenarios where a moving company may decide to increase their moving rates is when the general cost of living goes up, when they have a serious shortage of staff, or when a lot of people are moving at the same time (especially on holidays). Let’s not forget that the COVID-19 pandemic has also affected movers’ rates negatively.

So, if your movers increase your final cost and you’re not sure why they did it, don’t automatically assume that they are trying to cheat you. Instead, contact them to understand the reason for the higher moving bill. When working with a reputable moving company, you will definitely get a satisfactory explanation from them about the increased cost.

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