Moving APT 2024 Review

Moving APT offers almost every moving service you could want, from full-service moving to storage to auto transportation. As a brokerage company, Moving APT connects its customers with a network of movers and transporters to find the best fit from multiple bids.

While Moving APT has a decent customer track record, it’s important to understand you’re oftentimes not working directly with Moving APT. Plainly, if you’re not prepared for how the broker process works, it can make for a confusing customer service experience and difficult conflict resolution.

All in all, with average pre-discount pricing and a few small customer service red flags, Moving APT is not our first choice for long-distance movers.

Keep reading to learn more about Moving APT’s pricing, services, and customer service.

Moving APT has a nationwide network and is available across the U.S., aside from Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

Moving APT is a moving broker, and being aware of what that means upfront should help you better understand what kind of questions to ask and where to find help when problems arise, as they often do in moving, regardless of the company.

Moving APT operates as a booking agent. When you call Moving APT, customer service doesn’t answer the phone as Moving APT. They answer as Moving Services, which is a bit confusing but tells you that you could interface with more than just a single company—rather an entire network of companies.

When you request a quote on Moving APT’s website, be ready to receive calls and emails from Moving APT’s network. Then you correspond with multiple moving companies in the network, fill out an inventory for each, and decide which agent you want to coordinate your move. The one you choose connects you with a moving carrier—the company with the actual labor and trucks.

While Moving APT doesn’t specifically state that it partners with other brokers on its website, I know based on my experience secret shopping Moving APT that it does, as both Adams Van Lines and Pricing Van Lines reached out to me during my initial quote process with Moving APT. Moving APT, Pricing Van Lines, and Adam Van Lines are middlemen who can arrange your move and connect you to the carrier.

Moving APT has an in-house department dedicated solely to speaking to customers while the carrier is present. The broker acts as a liaison to ensure everyone is on the same page and speaking the same language.

Moving APT allows you to request a different carrier as many times as you like, at no additional charge. It’s important to ask your booking agent if you can know the carrier ahead of your moving day. That way you have plenty of time to do your own research on the carrier.

Moving APT has worked with more than 350 carriers. We learned that carriers can receive only one job at a time for the first five jobs. Once the first job is complete and the customer has confirmed it satisfactory, the carrier may receive a second job, and so on, until five have been completed via the same process.

Moving APT also informed us they have a three strikes policy. The company has a rating system for carriers based on any complaint it receives. After the third warning, the carrier is terminated.

For more information, take a look at what qualifications Moving APT considers when working with carriers, and check out its YouTube reviews, which mention a few different carriers.

• 0–500 miles: 1–7 business days
• 501–1,200 miles: 2–14 business days
• 1,201–3,300 miles: 3–21 business days

Moving APT provided us with a rough estimate for the carrier delivery timeline. If you’re moving across the country, it can take up to 21 days.

It’s also important to note that Moving APT handles claims, not the carrier. It has a dedicated customer service department that assists the customer in filling out paperwork, obtaining any documentation from the carrier the customer may no longer have, or anything else they may need to get their claim completed and processed. Once a customer’s claim has been processed, Moving APT compensates them. It also employs a “good faith” account with courtesy compensation for anything that may not be included in a standard claim.

We looked at a variety of positive and negative customer reviews from several sites, assessing trends and calculating an average of all reviews. Moving APT has an overall 3.8/5 customer review score, which is pretty high for a moving broker.

Some positive trends we see across reviews include praise for Moving APT’s carriers:

• Flexibility around scheduling
• Professional, diligent, careful, and efficient work efforts
• Communicative about important updates

A trend in some reviews tells us that many customers realize that they aren’t working directly with Moving APT a little too late. They feel duped for not recognizing the carrier and broker relationship and seem unsure of how or where to direct their feedback.

We think it’s worth mentioning that we see how active Moving APT is in responding to reviews. It does what it can to address and resolve negative reviews. 

Every legitimate moving company has to be registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), a government agency that ensures moving companies are trustworthy. The FMCSA collects customer complaints against moving companies for hidden fees, broken household goods, and deceitful business practices.

In 2022, the company had 12 consumer complaints on FMCSA. Seven complaints were hostage situations (movers held onto consumers’ belongings). And eight complaints depicted “deceptive business practices.” Complaints included things like:

• Brokers misrepresenting themselves as movers
• Broker failing to provide list of carriers they use
• False advertising by a mover

While these numbers represent less than a tiny fraction of Moving APT’s yearly customers, we think that these comments are worth mentioning because it is echoed in other reviews aside from FMCSA’s.

Moving APT had 30 complaints in 2021, so it’s relieving to see the company cut the complaint total in half last year. That’s a big deal.

After you request a quote and fill out your moving inventory, Moving APT will send you a binding moving estimate. Do not sign anything until you feel confident about your inventory. While Moving APT will lower your price on moving day if you have fewer boxes or belongings than you originally estimated, it will certainly hit you up for the items you missed on your inventory.

Curious to know how much your move would cost with Moving APT?

If you’re looking for a rough range for how much your move will cost, check out Moving APT’s moving pricing guidance on its website. You can refer to its general moving costs for different home sizes and distances.

You can also get a ballpark range by plugging your home size, origin and destination zip codes, and service needs into the moving cost calculator.

I wanted to know how much a four-bedroom home move from Aurora, Illinois to Charlotte, North Carolina would cost. According to the calculator, roughly $7,935–$14,535.

I then requested a full-service moving quote from Moving APT. They and a few other brokers in their network called and emailed me, inquiring about my moving date, distance, and service needs, and asked me to fill out an inventory.

Moving APT sent me an estimate based on my inventory that was roughly $12,757.

For a bigger picture, refer to my inventory to understand how they were able to estimate the weight and cubic feet of my shipment.

Moving APT offers a pretty decent discount if you’re flexible on your pick-up date. For example, my moving date was April 24th, but I agreed to be available for pick-up from the 24th through the 26th. This flexibility took off nearly $5,000 off my total estimate.

This full-service moving estimate included:

• Loading and unloading of standard furniture
• Transportation
• Disassembly and reassembly of standard furniture pieces
• Blanket wrapping of furniture
• Tolls, fuel, taxes, and mileage
• Furniture placement in designated rooms
• Moving of the items up to 75 feet from my residence
• Basic limited liability protection of $0.60 per lb. per article
• One flight of stairs at origin and destination
• 1-month storage if needed

The pricing didn’t account for bulky item fees and handling fees for things like custom-built furniture, pressboard, particle board furniture, or heavy objects (ex: safes) or unusually large or awkward/odd shaped items.

Moving APT’s estimate informed me of the price for the Platinum Full Packing Service if I wanted to add it: $4,365.60. This package included:

• Packing materials: tape, bubble wrap, boxes, shrink wrap, and packing white paper
• Crating for items too large to fit in a box
• Crating of breakable items like TV, mirrors, pictures, and glass
• Packing service and boxing of items such as dishes, clothes, books, children toys, mattresses, etc.

Note: Unpacking is a separate charge from the full packing package.

Full Value Protection (FVP) was available for me to purchase on moving day. Using an estimated value of $130,968.00, including Full Value Protection with a $0 deductible, the estimate of my move with FVP was $16,031.25.

Moving APT’s estimate is well within the average cost of a long-distance move. This is also before price-matching and discounts. It’s worth reaching out to other established movers, getting quotes, and seeing what Moving APT can match.

Want to see how much you could save with Moving APT?

It’s worth mentioning that I had a few misunderstandings about certain items when filling out the inventory Moving APT sent me.

I learned from another broker in Moving APT’s network, Adams Van Lines, that the way I was thinking about storage was not how moving companies classified it. I thought of storage as the belongings I stowed away on my property, not belongings in an offsite unit. Plus, I overcalculated how much storage I actually had. Whoops.

While Moving APT did not follow up about the inventory I submitted before sending me a binding estimate, Adams Van Lines did. Here’s what my inventory looked like after I worked through it with a rep from Adams Van Lines:

While I had more items on my inventory after working through it with a rep, it was more accurate. And cheaper by nearly $4,000. Overall, Adams Van Lines’ rates track pretty closely with standard moving industry rates.

It was helpful to see the handling fees for my bulky items listed in the inventory. While Moving APT was good about itemizing its quote in a comprehensive way, it would have been useful to see those fees broken down like in Adams Van Lines’ invoice.

I also appreciated that Adams Van Lines told me how much I would owe and when. Here’s how they broke up the payment schedule:

Deposit: $3,167.64

Pick-up: $2,815.68

Delivery: $2,815.68

Letting me know how much I owe and when certainly helps to eliminate any confusion and awkwardness during the move. Always be sure to ask about deposit amounts, payment schedules, and payment type.

Adams Van Lines gave me a different estimate for Full Value Protection too if I wanted to add it. Using an estimated value of $80,370.00, including Full Value Protection with a $0 deductible, the estimate for my move would be $10,888.62.

You can lower your quote from Moving APT if you qualify for one of their discounts:

• Military discounts
• Senior citizen discounts
• Early reservation discounts

Moving APT has customer review scores that are in line with other moving companies. It also charges an average deposit and has discounts:

Moving APT is one of the better moving brokers. It has a user-friendly website with helpful pricing info and a calculator to help give you a basic understanding of costs. We don’t care for the always present, scripted chat, though.

Moving APT ranks higher than average among customers, and that’s saying something in an industry full of negative reviews. It actively works to resolve issues with reviewers and has lessened its number of complaints with the FMCSA over time. Moving APT’s rates are around average, and it offers price-matching, which can help you save on your move.

We do think the brand could be more upfront on the phone about how the process works. Most people are wary of brokers, so transparency at the beginning and some introductory education would go a long way in building customer trust.

Our advice: Take your time on your inventory, scope out companies in Moving APT’s network that reach out to you, ask about the carriers you’ll be working with on moving day, and compare rates, offerings, and customer service quality to some of the top moving companies.

Want to see how much your move costs with Moving APT?

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