Moving Arcade Games. Anyone ever try PODS ?

[mike boss]

I'm not moving yet, but the wife and I have talked about.
When I bought my house with my wife we both were moving from our parents home.
And we FILLED the truck. At that time I had NO arcade games.
Now the collection is 6 full size machines, two bar tops, and a foosball table.

If we had to move I dont think I'd hire movers. I think I would call the bro's and the bud's as I did prior.
I'm thinking now with a kid and a full house I'd easily fill the truck, even without the arcades.

I thought about looking into a POD. Anyone ever used one before ?
Pricing good, are they a major target of thieves ?

Any thoughts welcome.

Thank you

http://www.pods.com/

[Cobolisdead]

I guess it would depend on how far you are moving. Are you willing to make multiple trips?  Could you rent multiple truck and have the wife or friend drive the second one? I would look into those options before I tried a PODs.

[mike boss]

I guess it would depend on how far you are moving. Are you willing to make multiple trips?  Could you rent multiple truck and have the wife or friend drive the second one? I would look into those options before I tried a PODs.

Good points !
I've only ever moved the one time.
As I said at that time I had not even close to the amount of stuff I now have.
I know one of the things about PODs that people liked is you keep it as long as needed.
So you load it at your own pace.
Knowing some shady type people I always second guess things.
I think these things would be a great thing to break into.
Someone sees you could always say you are the mover, etc.
Anyway............................

I think dollars and cents wise the multiple trips make the most sense.
Even paying for the extra gas would not be too big a cost.

Trying to pull from when I bought my house I just remember everyone being sooooooooo tired.
Mind you I'd do my part trying to reduce the cabinets weight as much as I could.

[HaRuMaN]

Last time the wife and I moved, we did all the small stuff ourselves and hired movers for the furniture / arcade games only. 

Best money I spent.  Especially considering they moved my arcade games up to the second floor of the new house.   

[Vigo]

I just moved, and I looked into pods, they looked like a good deal until I saw one the neighbor had and I realized how small they are. I ended up just taking multiple trips with the movin truck, but luckily I was only moving 10 minutes away.

[pbj]

Having only given them cursory glances, I think PODS are too small to make it worthwhile. 

You "I have never moved" folks blow my mind.

[mike boss]

When (If) I do move it will be close.
I'd suspect no more than 45 minutes away (at worst).
I just wanted to get some opinions, options for moving.

I think multiple trips makes sense (and saves dollars).....
Perhaps trying to get the machines outside in advance as people do get tired.

Thanks

[pbj]

Having moved homes more times than is healthy, my advice is to move the games FIRST.  They shove very easily into the corner of a garage and they'll be out of the way until everything else is set up.  If you can do it a few days prior to the rest of the move, all the better.

[yotsuya]

I've lived in the same house since I got married 18 years ago. I didn't have to call my bros and buds.

[HaRuMaN]

In the last 18 years, moved around 6 times I think...

[Slippyblade]

Friend of the family recently moved from Tucson to Phoenix (about 120 miles) via a PODS move.  They box itself may seem a little small, but they packed it top to bottom, front to back.  The PODS folks showed up, loaded the box, and hauled it to their storage lot.  About a month later after the friend got settled they called the PODS folks who then delivered the box to the driveway of the new house.  It's been there a few weeks now as my friend s-l-o-w-l-y unloads it.  Overall, it was a pretty smooth and worthwhile experience.

[mike boss]

A buddy of mine moved from a rental house to his new house early this year.
He had about 16 games. Just the thought of moving 16 games up and down, in and out!
It is a sh*t ton of work !!!!!
Getting them into the basement, OMG...........hectic!

I recall when I bought my house just being tired.
I think like many people I try to save money where I can, and having friends help me move (paying for the beer and pizza) was an easy option. But I think to be fair moving 300lb arcade games around me be asking a lil much.

My buddy was lucky enuff that the builder let him load the games into the garage of his new place a lil early. So he got some buddies together, rented a UHAUL and made the move.

Wife and I are "talking" about a move, getting a larger place.
It just prompted me to think about options.

The POD option seems good, but paying for storage not so good an option.
Perhaps two trips makes the most sense, only issue is tired buddies !

Ah well, I guess no need to sweat it now !

Thanks all for the input.

[Wired203]

I used one for a cross country move,  overall a great experience.  It was dropped right where I wanted it at both locations and I filled it to the brim.  Everything showed up undamaged about a week after it was picked up and emptied it out in 2 days and then it was picked up and gone.

[myntik1]

rent the biggest truck you can drive with your licence.

hire movers

I have moved several times over the last few years and I've come to the conclusion if I can't hire movers I can't move.

Last time I moved (2) 2 bedroom apartments into 1 house over Thanksgiving.  I also moved 6 vids, 1 juke, 3 bounce houses among other things.  Trust me, hire movers.

[knave]

Having moved enough times in the past I always see the value in movers.

But...I think that I am still within the amount of stuff where it is feasible to rent a truck and take a few trips. As long as the move is within 30 miles.

In any move movers or not its all about the prep time. Boxing stuff up and making it portable. Cabs are not a hard thing to move because they are already portable...big and heavy but portable.

If the pod helps you get the prep time then it might be worth it especially if you have to be out of the old house in a limited amount of time. Because you can load it days/weeks ahead of time.

But if you have two weeks to move...Just rent a truck get your buddies buy some pizza and beer and have at it...as long as you also have everything ready to go come move day including dollies/hand trucks for your heavy stuff.

[pbj]

Man, the last set of movers we hired were something else.  I was at the townhouse in San Antonio, wife was in Houston at the new place.  They loaded up the truck, I tipped them, and said my wife is waiting for you at the destination.

Well, they disappeared off the face of the earth for about 14 hours, it's getting to the point where the moving company is pondering contacting the police, and they FINALLY showed up at 2am (it's a 4 hour drive).  Any item I had been specifically asked about while they were loading I never saw again, but they apparently made a big show out of making my wife confirm that the truck was fully unloaded.  And it wasn't anything particularly valuable, either - bundle of unused boxes, a broom, a few random items from the garage.  Then they told my wife I hadn't tipped them (she knew better).

One of them mentioned his daughter was a student at Prairie View, so we were 99% sure they decided to take a detour.  Guess she needed some boxes and a broom.

Time before that, we had a box opened and crystal stolen.  Parents just had all their silver stolen on their last move.  Those guys are all masters of filching.

[SavannahLion]

Man, the last set of movers we hired were something else.  I was at the townhouse in San Antonio, wife was in Houston at the new place.  They loaded up the truck, I tipped them, and said my wife is waiting for you at the destination.

Well, they disappeared off the face of the earth for about 14 hours, it's getting to the point where the moving company is pondering contacting the police, and they FINALLY showed up at 2am (it's a 4 hour drive).  Any item I had been specifically asked about while they were loading I never saw again, but they apparently made a big show out of making my wife confirm that the truck was fully unloaded.  And it wasn't anything particularly valuable, either - bundle of unused boxes, a broom, a few random items from the garage.  Then they told my wife I hadn't tipped them (she knew better).

One of them mentioned his daughter was a student at Prairie View, so we were 99% sure they decided to take a detour.  Guess she needed some boxes and a broom.

Time before that, we had a box opened and crystal stolen.  Parents just had all their silver stolen on their last move.  Those guys are all masters of filching.

I've heard similar stories before. It's so bad that a local news station set up a mock move to catch them in the act. The movers hid the trailer, showed up at the destination and demanded an exorbitant haul fee to "recover" the missing trailer. When the camera crews popped out and demanded answers, the ---uvulas--- jumped into their tractor truck and hauled ass out of there never to be seen by the news crew again. Even went so far as to disconnect their business number. Dumbasses should've called the police before popping out with their cameras but whatever.

It's precisely the reason I'm not too crazy about professional movers. PODS are marginally better but hands down, I'd rather use my own truck or rent a uHaul and pay the extra day fees if I need to.

[mike boss]

I'm not a wealthy guy, but I have some nice "things" that I own.
I like the idea of having my buddies help me, and feel even at 38 (and suspect I'd move again by the time I'm 40)
we (friends and I) can still do it. But I know from moving in the past, or helping people move things up/down stairs you get tired. I think about making the most of the time with the help. So I've learned move the heavy stuff first, as you are fresh, etc etc.

When I hear these tales of theft, or fees, etc it freaks me out.
I've had buddies who have told me they get a quote, go so far as to count the amount of stairs the movers will have to go up and down and then still get told it is extra.

[pbj]

I haven't really had the upsell issue, but I've gone with well known companies and insisted they give me a walkthrough and fixed quote first.  I was really surprised how difficult it was to get someone to do a San Antonio -> Houston move.  Companies generally either do across state lines or within one city, I learned.


Anyway, it's just stuff.  You can always buy more.

[thomas_surles]

Moving sucks I just moved today. 3rd time this year

[ChadTower]

Glad I haven't really had to do this.  I used to move every 3 months when in college.  Internships, transfers, apts, dorms, etc.  Back then everything I owned was moved with two trips of my car.

Moved into an apt when I got married.  Everything I owned and everything my wife owned was moved in 3 trips of my car.

Moved into a house three years later.  That took two trips of a medium sized uhaul truck.

That was more than a decade ago.  Now my house is so full of stuff I feel like I'd be better off burning the place to the ground than trying to figure out how to move it someplace else.

[Slippyblade]

Now my house is so full of stuff I feel like I'd be better off burning the place to the ground...

I wanna be part of THAT moving party!!! 

Seriously though, moving is the worst.  I live in Phoenix and, due to some quirk of fate, have always had to move in the summer.  That means 110F+.  I've come to the decision that instead of death row, we need to make those guys move people.  And the only tool they are allowed is a dolly with a flat tire and an old brown diesel Rabbit.