My Florida to Tennesse Move with Bellhop

Better Moves Project · as told to moveBuddha

Parrish, FL → Chattanooga, TN

Madisen C.February 2024Bellhop

I was quoted
$3,600
Two bedrooms, an office, and a pottery studio

I actually paid
$2,200
After a $1,400 damage reimbursement

Distance
615 mi
Long-distance, interstate

• I compared four quotes before I hired Bellhop for my Florida to Tennessee move.
• My bill matched my $3,600 quote, and after I filed a damage claim, Bellhop reimbursed me $1,400, so I really only paid $2,200.
• I shared all of it, my quotes, my bills, and my ratings, as part of moveBuddha’s Better Moves Project.

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My move from Florida to Tennessee

I was a new mom looking for a fresh start somewhere younger and more affordable, so my husband and I decided to leave Parrish, Florida, for Chattanooga, Tennessee. We traded our 1,600-square-foot, two-bedroom loft for a 2,800-square-foot house, and I couldn’t wait to give everyone, including our six-month-old, some real elbow room.

With a baby in the house and a new home waiting on us, a rental truck was never really in the running. My husband and I agreed a full-service mover was the only realistic way to get our furniture, my pottery kiln, a large painting, and a very fragile plasma TV from one state to the other in one piece.

My Bellhop experience at a glance

Here’s the short version of how my move with Bellhop went, from booking to the final check.

Why I chose Bellhop

My move at a glance

Here’s how my Florida to Tennessee move broke down, from the date I moved to what I actually paid.

Quotes I compared

I searched Google and Yelp for reputable movers, but comparing companies on my own felt overwhelming until I found moveBuddha. The clear layout and honest Moving Experiences made it easy to put my options side by side.

After about a week of research, I narrowed my choices down to Bellhop, Mayzlin, Safeway, and Penske. I threw Penske into the mix out of curiosity, but once I saw everything the full-service movers included, I stopped considering a rental truck entirely.

Bellhop’s quote was $1,000 lower than the other full-service movers, and the reviews were great. That made the choice an easy one, especially once I factored in that Bellhop already knew Chattanooga.

Pickup day

I paid a 10% booking fee to hold my move date and paid the rest in full three days before moving day. That’s unusual. Most moving companies collect a deposit up front and then split the balance across moving day and delivery instead of asking for full payment early.

Bellhop sent me several emails and texts leading up to the big day, and I appreciated that proactive communication because it meant zero surprises. My loading team of one driver and four movers showed up on time at 8 a.m.

The communication was great, but I wasn’t as happy with the loading crew’s actual work. They took care with some items and were pretty haphazard with my couch and bed frames. Nobody wrapped my furniture in blankets, and the truck bed itself was covered in dirt.

I felt uncomfortable watching it happen, but I trusted that they knew what they were doing. I was busy loading my own car, moving small items out of the house, and keeping an eye on the baby, so I left the loading team to their own devices more than I would in hindsight.

It took four hours to disassemble my furniture and load everything onto the truck. Bellhop promised delivery the next day. I secretly expected it to take up to a week, so a one-day turnaround felt almost too good to be true. Some movers take up to 30 days to move belongings between states, so if you’re booking a long-distance move, ask your mover for a written delivery window rather than assuming it will be fast.

Delivery day

Bellhop pulled off the fast turnaround they promised and delivered my things the next day. The crew arrived about 15 minutes past our scheduled window and got straight to work.

Bellhop sent a different crew to unload than the one that had loaded me, and this new crew was visibly surprised at how everything had been packed. They pointed out damage to me as they carried items off the truck.

While the unloading crew did their best to work carefully, the loading crew’s earlier work had already damaged three couches, a fabric bed frame, a metal coffee table, a brand-new baby crib, and my dining room table.

I cared for the baby while the crew unloaded, and I’d put paper signs on each door so they’d know which room every box belonged in. The unloading crew put the furniture, including the damaged pieces, back together, though my husband and I ended up redoing the bed ourselves because it was too wobbly to sleep on.

Bellhop refused to reassemble the crib for liability reasons, which I understood, but the loading crew had also misplaced the screws and hardware, so I had to track those down myself before I could put it together.

Unloading took about three hours. Outside of the damage, moving into the new house was uneventful, and my pottery kiln arrived without a scratch, which was a huge relief.

There was enough damage that I filed a damage claim with Bellhop. They took $500 off the cost of my move as an apology and reimbursed me $900 more through my insurance claim. The whole process was fast, easy, and painless. I photographed everything and sent Bellhop links to the damaged items, and they sent my reimbursement within a few days.

The money was nice, but it didn’t fully cover what my higher-end furniture was worth. Everything was beyond reasonable repair, so I ended up selling it dirt cheap on Facebook Marketplace just to get it out of the house.

Final thoughts

Looking back, a lot of this move went right. Packing my boxes into the garage ahead of time meant I could point the crew straight there instead of sending them all over the house, which saved real time on both ends.

I also got a nearly unheard-of one-day delivery. I’ve since learned that timing helped: I moved in February, which is the slow season for movers, and you likely won’t see the same turnaround if you move during a busy month like July.

The damage is the part I can’t fully brush off. My loading crew’s work left a lot to be desired, but Bellhop’s response to my claim was excellent. They replied quickly, made things right, and cut the total cost of my move to apologize for the trouble, which is more than I expected after hearing how slow some movers are to resolve claims.

My ratings

More moving resources

Tips for future movers

These are the practical steps we recommend based on Madisen C.’s experience:

• Watch your loading crew work: if you see movers skipping blankets or padding they promised to use, say something on the spot instead of assuming it will be fine.
• Pack your boxes into one spot before moving day: staging everything in a garage or entryway lets the crew work faster instead of hunting through the house room by room.
• Ask for a written delivery window: some long-distance movers take up to 30 days for delivery, so don’t assume a fast turnaround, especially if you’re moving during a busy season like summer.
• Photograph your belongings before they’re loaded: clear photos make a damage claim faster and easier to resolve if something does go wrong.
• Track your own hardware: if a mover disassembles furniture like a crib, keep the screws and small parts yourself in case the crew can’t reassemble it for liability reasons.

Ryan Carrigan

Ryan Carrigan is the co-founder of moveBuddha and a leading voice in the moving industry, helping hundreds of thousands of Americans make smarter, safer relocation decisions each year. With more than a decade of experience analyzing moving companies, pricing trends, and industry regulations, Ryan brings hands-on industry knowledge and data-driven insight to every guide and review. His research has been featured in Forbes, Consumer Reports, The New York Times, and NBC News.