Dolly Movers: A Complete Review

Value | Customer Experience | Credibility | About Dolly Movers | How We Researched | FAQ

Dolly is a help-for-hire website and app that connects customers with local labor and truck owners. It offers on-demand apartment and furniture moving services in 45 U.S. cities. We did a deep dive to see how it stacks up against other similar options.

Overall Score: 4.3/10

• Value: 8/10 — Dolly pricing is more affordable than national averages. Moving rates depend on your apartment size, with higher rates for large equipment or long distances.
• Customer experience: 3/10 — Dolly has mixed ratings across third-party sites. And it has several official Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaints about damaged goods.
• Credibility: 2/10 — Dolly movers are independent contractors, not employees. This makes it impossible to check each worker’s credibility or reliability.

Bottom line: Dolly movers are best for customers moving a few boxes or furniture across town. Positive reviews focus on its low cost, transparent pricing, and easy booking process. But it’s difficult to verify the individual local movers, and the BBB complaints make it a risky pick.

We recommend using a legitimate moving company that has the proper license and registration.

Alternatives to Dolly Movers

Dolly Movers: In-depth Breakdown

Value

Our research suggests that hiring moving help through Dolly offers great value. For a three-bedroom apartment move across Chicago, Dolly quoted $660. That’s much less than $1,717, the average cost of a Chicago move (according to HomeAdvisor).

The actual cost of Dolly movers will depend on how many helpers you need, plus the size of your apartment. All apartment moving quotes include damage protection of up to $1,000 and a pickup truck with tarps.

When we requested a quote, we discovered you can pay extra for a larger vehicle, such as a cargo van or box truck. The cost will also increase if you need to move heavy or bulky items like exercise equipment or appliances. They also charge more if the move distance is more than 20 miles.

Customer Experience

Dolly is a help-for-hire platform, not a moving company. It works similarly to Taskrabbit movers. Customers don’t get to choose their helpers, so the experience may vary drastically depending on the location and independent contractor who takes the assignment.

The experience might also depend on the location, because the ratings vary depending on the city.

City	Avg. rating
Chicago	3.5
Seattle	3.5
Los Angeles	2
Boston	2

On Facebook, Dolly earned a 4.6 out of 5 across its locations.

Positive reviews focus on how affordable and easy it is to book Dolly movers. But in the last three years, the company has received 135 official complaints on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) site. The BBB even issued an alert to emphasize a “pattern of complaints” about damaged stuff and a lack of help from Dolly customer service.

Also, Dolly is only licensed for full moving services in some of its 45 locations. For instance, we tried getting a quote for an apartment move in Seattle and found out you can only book “No Truck, Labor Only” services in Washington state.

Credibility

Like Uber drivers or Taskrabbit movers, Dolly movers are all independent contractors. The reliability and professionalism of each worker may vary. But Dolly does require all helpers to pass a background check, according to the website. Drivers must also hold a valid U.S. driver’s license and auto insurance.

We typically score brand credibility based on U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) registration, insurance status, and accident history. That isn’t possible with Dolly. The company is not a licensed household goods carrier. And there’s no evidence that Dolly tracks its contractors’ accident history.

We can’t confidently say that you’ll get a reliable mover with Dolly.

About Dolly

Dolly is a work-for-hire platform that connects customers with moving and delivery contractors in 45 cities. Dolly moving services cover only apartment moves, and furniture pickup and delivery.

How We Researched

We looked at customer feedback, considered BBB records, and reviewed other publicly available info to learn more about Dolly moving services.

Then we compared the Dolly data we gathered to info on other moving companies to score value, customer experience, and credibility.

Learn more about Home Bay’s editorial policy.

FAQ

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