If you are planning to do a home shifting, and have decided to hire a moving company to move your household stuff, then they would probably conduct an in-house survey of all your household goods to give you a proper estimate. In-house survey or physical survey of goods is a crucial process, which is conducted by Moving companies in India to get an actual view of the goods which are to be packed and transported. Before giving you a final estimates for packing and moving, a moving company would always insist on conducting a free in-house survey of your goods. It helps them to determine the actual efforts in packing and handling, and also gives them a fair idea of other costs such as the costs of packing materials, size of the van/truck that will be needed for transportation, and so on.
So basically, an in-house survey is a process of inspecting all the goods which are to be packed and moved, so that an accurate cost and estimate for packing and shifting could be calculated or obtained. Physical survey or in-house survey is conducted by relocation companies, and it’s a free services. If you are planning to hire a movers and packers service provider for home shifting services, get a free in-house survey conducted first to find out the overall costs of shifting.
Getting a free in-house survey of household goods and furniture is a crucial decision because, unless they look at all your goods and appliances, there maybe some dispute while moving forward regarding finalizing the costs. The one and only way to get most accurate estimate for shifting is by letting them see what exactly you will be moving. There is no excuse for not getting a free physical survey conducted before hiring a mover in India.
Movers offers free in-house survey in India
You don’t have to do any special preparations for a physical survey, because it’s the moving company who will be evaluating everything. But from your side, you should have a list prepared so that you can show them all the goods, that you want to move. Don’t even leave or exclude the smaller items assuming that it’s not going to make a difference, because everything will be counted. Moving forward when they find that there are more stuff than what they surveyed/estimated, then there may be issues related to costs.
Movers and packers service provider who is conducting this survey may ask you certain things, and you should answer them properly. Basically, the idea is to see the goods and calculate other costs. There are many factors like distance, size of the goods, elevator, floor, lift access, distance between your house and parking area, where they will be parking their trucks and so on.
There are many parameters based on which, the overall costs of packing and shifting is estimated by movers and packers companies. So, tell them everything and let them prepare a detailed estimate. After surveying, a mover will be able to calculate the costs of packing, handling, transporting and etc, and then give you a detailed itemized quotation which will be more accurate.
Questions to be asked to mover during surrvey
Movers and packers companies (moving companies) can offer complete home shifting and relocation services. When they submit their estimates, they will talk about each and every cost heads. But still, there are certain things that should be clarified before you take a decision and commit a mover. Ask them clearly about any hidden costs, which are not mentioned in the quotation. This is important, and you should always insist on getting consolidated cost of packing and shifting.
Also there are a few value added services that movers and packers may offer, like disassembling and reassembling service for large size furniture. Ask them if that is included in the costs or not. If it’s not included, then let them specify the cost for such value added services.
Some of the movers and packers companies also offer free storage services for a week or so, especially in case of long distance move. Ask them to confirm if it’s available or not. The idea is to get a fair idea of overall costs including taxes, and toll charges so that you can make a budget according to your move.
To conclude
All that I can say is that, this free in-house survey of household goods by movers and packers is really important. It gives you the opportunity to get accurate estimate and for movers, it will help them asses the efforts and overall costing. When they come over to your home to conduct in-house survey, you’ll also get an opportunity to meet them face to face, and that way you can evaluate them correctly. So, always ask the packers and movers to conduct a survey before deciding the cost of the entire process.
Do you ask potential home shifting service providers to conduct free in-house survey during home shifting? If yes, then share your experience. And if no, then always ask them to do so for getting better estimates.
