There is a Moving Truck and Movers in my way! What do I do?!

By bloGGer  | April 26, 2012 |  Community, Fun Times, Moving Tips, On the Trucks, Rhode Island Moving Company  |  Comments

We’ve all been in this jam before. You are running late for work. You get two steps out your front door, only to realize you left your keys inside. You blast back inside the house, look frantically for your keys while keeping a close eye on the clock. Each second that passes means another decibel higher your boss will scream at you.

Found the keys! You sail out the door, sprint to your car. What the heck!?! Why is there a big, dumb moving truck blocking you in!?!?!?!?! To your dismay, permits were put up, and a notice was left on your car, but still, what the darn heck!?!

Because Gentle Giant has been on the receiving end of a few tongue lashings prompted by scenarios just like this one, we have decided to put together a few pointers to help get you (and your vehicle) out of this predicament in the best possible way.

1.) Breathe and realize it could have been worse – To work in cities like Boston, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Washington DC, Charlotte, and Providence, professional movers like Gentle Giant have to procure permits for their moving trucks. This means that if our moving truck shows up and there are cars in the permitted spots, we reserve the right to get the car towed. Because Gentle Giant is in the business of relieving stress, not providing it, we take the approach of either working around the car, or calling the police to contact the vehicle’s owner to move it, instead of just having it towed. Just remember, we all have jobs to do, and the movers are not blocking you on purpose, rather we are simply trying to help our clients move.

2.) Check the back of the truck – If a moving truck is blocking you, the best thing you can do is check the back of the truck. At Gentle Giant, we run the boxes and furniture out the truck, so we are constantly going between the house and the truck. When you do see a mover, simply ask if you can get your car out. We are in the service industry, and we live to serve. It is in our nature to bend over backwards to help people. The folks that lay into us with threats and cursing aren’t doing themselves any favors. As the old saying goes, murder us with kindness.

3.) Call the company – If the truck blocking you doesn’t seem to have anybody around it, look at the driver or passenger side door. Licensed and insured companies usually put at least a phone number on the door for circumstances like this one. Get the number, call, and explain the situation. If the company is like Gentle Giant, a dispatcher will then find out who the driver on the job is, then contact them to move the truck. This process usually takes about 5 minutes. At Gentle Giant, if we are blocking a car and will not be at the truck regularly, we leave a note with the driver’s number on the car’s windshield so that this phone call process can be expedited.

If you follow these easy steps, you’ll be unblocked in no time and on your way to work. Also, you now have a terrific excuse for being late :-)

“Giant Innovations” that Changed the Moving Industry – Part 2

By bloGGer  | April 23, 2012 |  Community, Fun Times, Massachusetts Moving Company, On the Trucks  |  Comments

As we mentioned the other week, Gentle Giant has been able to secure our place as a moving industry leader by constantly innovating and pushing ourselves to find ways to better satisfy our customers.

One of the most exciting innovations we are putting the final touches on is a Bike Moves Program, which will be kicking into gear (pun alert!) this summer in Boston.

Essentially, the Bike Moves program will allow our customers moving locally in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville to go Green and save a few dollars at the same time.

The Boston Globe on Monday April 23, 2012 reported that Bike Deliveries are the wave of the future, and added this about Gentle Giant:

One of the more unusual adaptations of bicycle delivery is by Gentle Giant Moving Co., which is testing it for people moving into one- or two-bedroom apartments in the same neighborhood. Cargo bikes and trailers, designed to carry up to 500 pounds, will cut the number of expensive, diesel-burning trucks rumbling through the streets, said founder Larry O’Toole.

The company estimates two apartment moves and deliveries of cardboard boxes by bike would save about 10 gallons of diesel fuel a week.

The bicycle experiment costs clients about half the $140-an-hour they would pay for two men in a truck, although it will eventually be about the same price, O’Toole said. Bicycle moves require more people but less time, with each bike taking off as soon as it’s loaded – picking up a couch, taking it to the location, and returning for a new load.

“Until you’ve actually seen it, you would think it’s kind of crazy,’’ said O’Toole, who is trying the concept in Boston before taking it to Gentle Giant’s 19 locations around the country.

If you are interested in learning more about our Bike Moves Program, give us a call at 1-800-442-6863.

How Moving Furniture Can Save Families in Need

By bloGGer  | April 19, 2012 |  Community, New York Moving Company, On the Trucks  |  Comments

Gentle Giant Moving Company has been able to grow consistently over the past three decades by safely and quickly moving every piece of furniture they have ever been faced with. We have moved antique, incredibly fragile pieces, as well as large steel pieces that we could’ve sworn weighed more than a Buick LeSabre. You name it, we’ve moved it successfully. We’ve even moved a Buick LeSabre…

For us, furniture is our livelihood, so we have a certain respect for it (even the furniture that refuses to fit out a doorway). Without furniture, our jobs would be easier, if not unnecessary. Our customers, however, sometimes have a much different relationship with furniture. Either a particular furniture piece will be their most valued possession and will request Gentle Giant treat it like a delicate newborn baby, or they will hate a piece of furniture like it was their arch nemesis and will request Gentle Giant to drop it off the back of the truck while we cruise down the highway.

Of course, we would never do this, but in the past, if ever a customer wants us to “get rid of” a piece of furniture for them, we would take it back to our warehouse and find it a good home. While this worked, it was a long process lacking organization, which is why Gentle Giant New York has teamed up with the Furniture Sharehouse, a fabulous organization that takes unwanted furniture and allows families in need to come “shop” through their Sharehouse, for free.

Gentle Giant recently visited the Furniture Sharehouse in Westchester County, and we were blown away by the volume of different furniture items they have carefully organized and inventoried. We are very happy to start contributing even more to this great organization. Gentle Giant will be communicating with our New York customers, letting them know that any unwanted furniture furniture can easily be donated to a family in dire need of a livable home.

For more information, please visit http://www.furnituresharehouse.org/how-you-can-help

How Your Magnificently Messy Garage Can Benefit You!

By bloGGer  | April 12, 2012 |  Charlotte Moving Company, Community, Fun Times, Real Estate  |  Comments

In all the years Gentle Giant Moving Company has been relocating people and their families, we have seen some Magnificently Messy Garages. We’re talking about piles of deformed, mildewed boxes with old newspapers haphazardly tossed in them, rusted and busted swingsets stacked on top of jagged treadmill motor parts, and pallets of photo albums from the family that lived in the home four decades ago.

If this sounds like your garage, you could win a FULL Garage Makeover from the fun folks at Simplicity Organizers, Carolina Custom Garages, and Rubbish Works. That’s right, the 2012 Messiest Garage Contest has begun with the intention of Getting Your Garage in Gear!

Charlotte-Metro residents looking to take back their garage with style (for free) can send in a photo of their messy garage along with a note as to why their garage deserves a makeover. Photos will be posted on the 2012 Messiest Garage Contest website and can be voted on from April 27th through May 2nd. The winner will be announced May 7th.

Please visit www.simplicity-organizers.com for official contest rules and details on how to enter to win!

Win or lose, Gentle Giant in Charlotte has never shied away from an intimidatingly messy garage. So if you are looking to move, but are afraid of packing up and organizing your garage, give us a call; we’d love to help. 1-800-442-6863 or Request an Estimate Online.