Gina,

WHATEVER you do, do NOT go looking for a moving company on the internet. It is the worst place to look for a moving company. I speak from personal experience and I was told that by an investigator of the Federal Transportation Safety Board.

Have you ever seen the stories Dateline or 20/20 had where these so-called "moving companies" held people's possessions hostage on the moving truck and demanded more money or they wouldn't get their stuff?? I was one of those victims.

Well, that happened to me when I moved to Michigan. What started out as a $1,425 move from Connecticut to Michigan ended up costing me over $3,000!! I was supposed to get my stuff in 5-7 days. They took a month!! Me and my 6 cats lived in one bedroom in my SIL's apartment.

ALWAYS go with reputable companies. By law, they have to give you a book on your rights as a consumer (I didn't get one). They are also supposed to weigh the truck before loading and after loading. They didn't. I wanted to go with them to weigh the truck before they started loading it. They wouldn't let me. ALWAYS take out extra insurance on your own because the moving company is only responsible for 10 cents on the dollar value). I didn't and they lost and broke some very sentimental things that can never be replaced.

I had all my paperwork and tried suing them in small claims court. The clerk told me I was basically wasting my money because, even though I'd probably win, trying to get them to pay is impossible. They're like gypsies. They close down, move around and change names, setting up business somewhere else.

In my case, I was never able to recover any of it. This "moving company" was out of New York. The government told them to cease and desist doing business as Regal Moving and Storage. The crooks!!!!

I tear up everytime I think about how many of my mother's and grandmother's items they lost, stole or broke.

Suggestion: How about PODS??? They're pretty new. They are square "pods" that you can load your stuff in and the company will pick it up and move it to your new location, or store it in their warehouse. I looked into that when I wanted to move back here but they aren't available in Michigan.

I'm sorry this post is so long. But I wanted to let you know what I went through to save you the same trouble.