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Simple Moving Labor is a moving company that connects you to local companies to handle packing and loading. This labor-only moving company is based in Texas, but it operates nationwide.
Locations | Pricing | Service options | Contact info | Methodology
| Our rating: Simple Moving Labor | |
|---|---|
| Overall | 3.3 |
| Value | 3 |
| Customer experience | 3 |
| Credibility | 3 |
| Reliability | 4 |
Bottom line: Simple Moving Labor makes it easy to book loading and unloading help. But your experience will depend on which local company Simple Moving Labor connects you with. You might be better off booking directly with a great labor-only moving company, like Little Guys Movers.
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Simple Moving Labor: In-depth breakdown
Value
📊 Our rating: 3/5
- Labor-only moving
- Few services
- Hourly rates
Simple Moving Labor (SML) is a labor-only moving company. That means its crew handles loading and unloading trucks or moving containers, but not the actual transportation.
Labor-only companies are much cheaper than full-service moving providers that handle the transportation. But you’ll have to transport your belongings yourself, which can take time and money. You might have to pay to rent a truck or a container. And even if you can borrow a truck for free, you’ll still have to pay for gas, tolls, food, and lodging for long-distance moves.
We got a quote for loading and unloading a truck for an SML move in the Albuquerque area. Simple Moving Labor gave us an estimate of $790 for truck loading ($157.50 an hour for three movers) and $685 for unloading ($105 per hour for two movers). Those rates are high for a local move, according to HomeAdvisor’s data on the national moving costs.
Our quote included only labor. We’d still need to rent a truck, which could cost $50-2,000 depending on the move distance. And Simple Moving Labor doesn’t include furniture wrap, tie-downs, blankets, or any of the other protective materials you get from full-service movers. With all those extra costs, it might be cheaper to just go with a full-service mover, especially for long-distance moves. Keep that in mind as you calculate your Simple Moving Labor cost.
Customer experience
📊 Our rating: 3/5
- Mixed customer reviews
- Experience varies by contracted crew
- Lots of damage complaints
- Late or no-show crews
Customer experiences with Simple Moving Labor vary quite a bit. On Google, the company earns 4.4 out of 5 stars ― but on Yelp, it gets just 1.5 stars. The conflicting Simple Moving Labor reviews make sense. The company contracts work out to local moving crews, so the experience won’t be the same across the country.
Positive reviews say that Simple Moving Labor made booking easy. Many people got professional, fast, and careful moving crews. The negative reviews complain about damage to both belongings and homes. There were also quite a few complaints about crews showing up late or canceling at the last minute.
Your experience will depend on which local moving crew Simple Moving pairs you with. We recommend looking up reviews for your specific area before booking. Even then, remember that you’re not guaranteed to get the same crew as other people in your area.
Credibility
📊 Our rating: 3/5
- An A Better Business Bureau rating
- Background-checked network
- Unclear carrier status
Simple Moving Labor is a legitimate labor-only moving company with an A rating from the Better Business Bureau. But the company contracts work out to other crews who do the actual labor, and we can’t verify all of those teams. There are also some inconsistencies about the company’s official status as a carrier.
Simple Moving Labor’s website claims it offers full-service moving, including long-distance moving. It also has authorization from the U.S. Department of Transportation to act as a carrier. But when we called for a quote, the rep said the company doesn’t offer any full-service moving.
Also, the company isn’t authorized to move belongings across state borders. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem because Simple Moving Labor customers transport their things themselves. But it’s confusing if the company really does offer full-service and long-distance moving.
Simple Moving Labor connects customers to local moving crews. So you won’t know much about the credibility of the team actually doing the loading or unloading. But Simple Moving Labor does perform background checks on its moving partners.
That might make you feel more confident than simply hiring someone off TaskRabbit. Still, you won’t get the kind of thorough vetting and drug testing some moving carriers require their employees to have.
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Get startedReliability
📊 Our rating: 4/5
- Broker with no fleet
- Two-week advance notice
- Potential next-day moves
- Online or phone booking
Simple Moving Labor doesn’t have a fleet of its own. It partners with other movers, so it can usually find crews to take on your move at any time. And because Simple Moving Labor does labor-only moves, you don’t have to worry about truck availability.
Book your SML move at least two weeks out to get your ideal move date. But if you need to move sooner, you may be in luck. More than one Simple Moving Labor review mentioned booking a next-day move.
Simple Moving Labor lets you book moves both on the phone and on its website. So you don’t even have to talk to a rep to get a quote and book your labor-only move.
About Simple Moving Labor
Locations
Simple Moving Labor is based in Irving, Texas, but it’s available in most metropolitan areas nationwide.
Pricing
| Labor-only loading | $157.50/hr. (3 movers) |
| Labor-only unloading | $105/hr. (2 movers) |
Service options
- Labor-only moving
- Furniture disassembly/assembly
- Packing
Contact
| Phone | (888) 522-6710 |
| Website | www.simplemovinglabor.com |
Methodology
Value
Our question: Is this moving company worth it?
We start assessing value by requesting a quote from the mover. A quote gives us a breakdown of the company’s fees (hourly rates, truck fees, etc.) and tells us how costs compare to the local and national average.
If a company’s costs are drastically higher than these averages, we can recommend more affordable movers that we’ve also thoroughly vetted. A detailed quote also gives us insight into any additional fees. For example, is packing included, or do you have to pay extra?
Customer Experience
Our question: What’s the common user experience for this service?
We look up the mover’s average rating on popular review sites like Yelp, Trustpilot, and Google. Then we read as many reviews as possible to verify the rating and see if any positive or negative themes stand out.
If we notice potential red flags, like lots of damage complaints, we reach out to the customers to see if there’s a cause for concern.
There are also companies who pay people to leave positive reviews. So, if the reviews are glowing, we reach out to reviewers to see if they’re real customers.
Credibility
Our question: Is this company a legitimate business?
Unfortunately, moving scams are fairly common. Lots of people have experienced losing their deposit, movers never showing up, and companies outright stealing their personal items.
To check a company’s credibility, we look for things like Department of Transportation registration, active insurance, and licensing with the appropriate state authorities.
Then we look at sites like the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to check the mover’s accreditation, rating, and any unresolved formal complaints against them.
If all the credibility signals check out, then we give the business a high credibility rating. If something seems off, we reach out to the company and former customers for comment.
Reliability
Our question: How bookable is this moving service?
To check if the company can typically accommodate a customer’s desired moving date, we ask the company how soon we’d be able to move. Then we ask if the date is flexible.
We also comb Department of Transportation records to see how many trucks and drivers the mover has. A small fleet is a sign that the mover has limited capacity. The company might not be able to handle lots of moves during a busy season.
