‘That’s half-a-year’s rent’: Woman says moving company quoted her $10,000 to move her belongings
Moving is a stressful, and expensive, experience. One can try their best to carefully pack up their items, only to arrive at their new home with their goods damaged beyond repair—or, they can simply go through the hassle of loading their items into a truck and bringing it to their new destination, then face issues trying to return the moving vehicle.
TikTok user Valarie (@valuhrina) is currently dealing with similar stresses. In a video with over 348,000 views, Valarie explains that she’s moving from Denver, Colorado to Kansas City, Missouri. The drive between these two cities takes approximately 9 hours, covering anywhere from 600 to 650 miles of distance depending on the route taken.
The apartment from which Valarie is currently moving only has about “one bedroom and a half of things to move” (“The biggest thing I have is a sectional couch and a queen size bed,” she explains). However, she says, “Where I'm going I don't really have anybody to help me like get everything into the fourth floor of what I'm living in.”
As a result, she decided to call a moving company to see how much they would quote her for the move. The result shocked her.
“To move from Denver to Kansas City, $10,000,” she states. “You heard me right, $10,000.”
“Who the hell is paying that? Like who the entire hell is paying $10,000 to move a one bedroom apartment?” she continues. “That's like, what? That's half a year's rent, almost half a year's rent just to move.”
This quote differs wildly from her expectations of “1,000, 1,500 bucks.”
“Moving companies, I don't know who the hell is like paying that kind of money,” she says. “I really don't—like who hires movers at that kind of price?”
According to the caption, Valarie had asked for a quote from the moving company Two Men and a Truck. Per the company’s website, the price of “long distance moving” is determined by “the belongings you’re moving and the miles it will take to travel to your new location.”
“The more you move—and the longer the drive is—the more it’s going to cost,” the website reads.
In a follow-up video, Valarie says she made the video to figure out who was actually paying $10,000 to move. One commenter suggested that these exorbitant costs were being covered by companies who offer employees relocation packages—a response Valarie found satisfactory.
In the comments section of the original video, users shared ideas on how Valarie could bring her moving costs down.
@valuhrina Two men and a truck just called me peasant poor
♬ original sound - valarie ✨
“Rent a uhaul, then pay someone local in the new place to help move the stuff in?” said a user.
“I hired movers just to load the truck I rented in one state, I drove it to new state and hired them in that town to unload,” offered another. “It saved me SO much money!”
“Moved from Mass to Colorado in 2021, house to house. bought cargo trailer for $8000, sold the trailer in CO for $8400,” detailed a third. “Basically moved for free.”
Others simply suggested starting the new living space from scratch.
“Sell everything and buy new. I just learned half of my stuff doesn’t fit in my new place,” said a commenter.
“When you move out of state, sell everything and buy new again,” echoed a second.
In an Instagram direct message conversation with the Daily Dot, Valarie said many in the comments thought the quoted price was too expensive.
Now, she says, she's "going the U-haul route," though she notes that she's "still considering my options when it comes to help packing and unloading, since I’m still figuring out which large pieces to bring with me and which to sell."
"If I sell the big pieces, I will likely take my friends up on their offers to help in each city. My ideal goal was to keep the burden of the move on my own shoulders, which is why I wanted to see what pro movers would cost, but it cost more than I can afford right now," she writes. "If I keep the big pieces, I will look into hiring a couple movers in KC to help unload the truck. Loading the truck in Denver won’t be an issue, as I have help and it’s an easier job."
@valuhrina Replying to @rightsaid matt ♬ original sound - valarie ✨
She explained that she had "never hired professional movers" before—however, upon learning more about it, she's questioning the idea in the first place. To that end, she claims that "many people spoke about their items being held hostage by the movers to demand a higher price."
"Overall, through the comments I’ve seen that many people have had something like this happen—or at the very least, terribly unprofessional people showing up to do the job and their belongings showing up damaged or missing," she writes. "That’s all wild to me and makes me want to do it myself even more."
The Daily Dot has reached out to Two Men and a Truck via website contact form.
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