Why you should use a small moving company and not the faceless corporations
Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 10:07AM Moving in New York City is a delicate, annoying, painful and expensive process. The large companies have popped up like crazy over the years with random large men entering your living room and handling your fragiles - well not so fragiley. I had the good fortune of having a company recommended to me that I am now recommending to you. They are reasonable, personable and make the horrid experience of moving a downright not-so-bad day. I interviewed Lenny Sass from Rainbow Movers about what it is like to move in NYC today.
Q :How have you managed to stay successful as a small moving company?
A: The key for us has been building on and maintaining relationships.
Business training would have been helpful, but I had none, so learning how to do my job was (and is) a work in progress. With my wife answering the phones and me on the truck with friends, we all learned from experience, from each other, and from like-minded friends we made in the business. Our then 4 year old daughter named the company. She liked rainbows. We are still married, and we now have many decade-long employees, long time suppliers and service people. We have also built relationships with our customers. Many of them have used us many times, as have their now adult children, who have had children and are themselves using us for the second or third time. Those relationships are built on trust, and I like to think the trust is contagious and attractive.
Q: What the average move in the city cost now-a-days?
There really is no such thing as average in New York. That's what makes it interesting and fun. Simply put, the cost of a move depends on the man/hours it will take to do it, and the cost of the materials that will be used. The contents of a studio apartment moving from one elevator building to another, will be moved faster than a two bedroom apartment going from 3 flights to 2 flights; and in order to not shorten the lifespan of the movers, we would want more men to be working in that case. So, depending on how much stuff there is to be moved, what the access is like at the various locations, we will determine a sensible plan. Most people would like the job to go as quickly as possible. We agree.
Q: What separates your business from the large companies that keep popping up?
A: We have a history of giving more personal service, more personal attention to our customers. People call us expecting to speak to the people they talked to when they last moved, and might request the same movers. We and our customers find comfort in that familiarity, and the ease of doing our work professionally, in an already established atmosphere of trust.
Q: What is the difference now in the moving experience from say 30 years ago when you first started?
A: For our customers and for us, there is a big increase in paperwork. Buildings are much more demanding in qualifying residents. Costs to purchase or rent have increased dramatically. Issues related to insurance filings, costs, and procedures are much more involved. Many more moves take us out of Manhattan to the other boroughs (hooray Brooklyn!) and surrounding suburbs. For us too, the regulations have become more time consuming and costly to satisfy. Taxes, and especially parking tickets, have become a burdensome cost of doing business.
Q: What advice can you give people moving to the city?
A: Enjoy it and enjoy each other! There is so much to offer, a lot of it for free or low cost. Free concerts happen all summer. Check out what's happening at the colleges. Check out neighborhood papers, links to neighborhood associations that tell of the city happenings, city people. Walk around the neighborhoods. Check out the jazz clubs. Watch the sun rise.
Q: How much longer do you think Rainbow Movers will keep going?
We'll keep doing it till furniture is digitized. I'll try to find someone of like mind to take over when I want to stop, but for now running Rainbow Movers remains rewarding and challenging.
For more info:info@howtorentinnyc.com, www.RainbowMoversny.com,
Who, the landlord or the tenant, is responsible in the event something breaks or is damaged in the unit.
This all goes back to your lease and how well you read through it! Your lease will govern responsibility with regards to repairs in the unit. If it is silent, then damage that is caused outside of the tenant’s control (i.e. damage to pipes in the building or damage from a neighbor upstairs) is the responsibility of the landlord. Note however that if the upstairs tenant caused the damage, the landlord will also have recourse against that individual. This is the exact reason why people are advised to obtain renter’s insurance … you make a claim under your insurance who will in turn go after the landlord or possibly directly against the neighbor upstairs.