Moving and Storing With PODS

Have you ever seen PODS traveling around town or ever wonder about the large containers parked in front of homes across the country? Word on the street is these “PODS” are the cheapest way to store and move your stuff from home to home if you live close to one of their service locations in 20,000 cities across 58 states, provinces, and territories throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia. PODS isn’t available in every city across the nation but with their wide span they are worth looking into for your move and/ or storage needs. Their service location doesn’t need to be in the town you move to, just within an 80-mile drive.

PODS is unique because they offer both the storage unit as well as driving the unit to and from your homes. The unique advantage that PODS offers consumers is the ability to pack and store your belongings at your own pace. You can take your time loading the container at the convenience of your home and if your move gets pushed back or you decide you don’t want to unload your belongings you can just store your items with them at any time during the moving process. Their goal is to always offer a convenient timeline for your move. Moving can be very unpredictable. Closing dates change, houses fall through, contractors overpromise and the list of unpredictable hiccups continues so containers are available to store belongings on-site at your new home, old home, or at one of their 230 Secure Storage Centers nationwide. The only catch is you pay for the rental at a monthly rate. This doesn’t mean you have to keep it at your home for an entire month, but by reserving it for an entire month you can get it delivered, picked up, or stored whenever you want. If you choose to use your container as a long term storage container you can pay for additional months at a discounted rate.

PODS brings the storage/shipping container to you and leaves it at your home so you can personally pack and store anything you need to at your own pace. Depending on your needs you can rent a 7’ by 7’ foot container, 8’ by 12’ container or an 8’ by 16’ container. The 7’ POD is ideal for a small apartment or condo. The container is about the size of one parking space which makes it easy for almost any apartment complex. The 8’ by 12’ is ideal for 2 to 3 rooms of furniture and the 8’ by 16’ is best for 3 to 4 rooms of furniture. The containers are steel-framed and weather-resistant with steel locking latches. Upon delivery PODS lasts a short platform down to protect your driveway while still allowing a ground level, ramp-free loading, and unloading entry. If you need or want assistance physically moving and packing your items, PODS recommends Moving Staffers, Hire a Helper and Pack and Load for assistance. Once your container is packed PODS will come to pick up the storage container and move it to your desired destination. The move isn’t guaranteed to be free of bumps but PODS proudly has patented a lift system that is designed to keep the container, and all your belongings level while being loaded and unloaded.

Moving companies are known to have hidden fees and with PODS offering only customized moving prices, it is hard to predict if there will be hidden fees. PODS won’t give you an estimate without a specific start and ending zipcodes because the prices vary from each location. To give you an idea of an average you might expect to pay when using PODs is about $800 or less for a local move or over $800 for distance moves. There is typically a base rate of about 500 for the pick-up and drop off of the container and about $100 every 50 miles driven. So if you move 800 miles from Denver to Dallas you can expect to pay around $2000- $2500. Quotes will vary constantly so it is best to reserve a container early on to lock in the current price. As moving day approaches you can request an updated quote and if it is less than your quote they will honor it and if it happens to be higher you will still receive your initial estimate; it’s a win-win. Prices for PODS are known to increase in the summer months so be sure to factor in the season you move as well.

Most moving companies offer of 2% of a consumer's damage claims while PODS offers $10,000 Contents Protection for your belongings in the container. With PODS there is also typically less risk of damaging your items in the first place because you are the one moving the items and know best how to care for them. Packing allows you to minimize risk as well as the haunting blame game that is so easy to play when other people are involved.

It is difficult to find a moving company that has positive and consistent reviews across the country, in fact it is almost impossible. Consumer Affairs reviews have given PODS a 4.5 out of 5 stars with almost 1000 reviews. Because PODS puts the moving power in the consumer's hands, they are able to take care of the logistics really well. The main time you will work with someone with PODS will be over the phone with a representative from their headquarters and with the driver who delivers and picks up your container and statistically the interactions are positive. “When searching for my moving needs I did extensive research on all companies and no one could match the convenience, price, or professionalism that PODS offered! The experience from beginning to end was nothing but positive! I would use it again and highly recommend it!!!”