As a country with a foreign population of nearly 30%, Singapore has a large number of foreigners who need to rent housing, and renting naturally involves the problem of moving. Many people move once or twice at least, and some even move once a year, which can be quite a hassle.
Due to job changes and children changing schools, I has been lucky enough to move three times in four years. After trying various moving methods and encountering different problems, the author has written this Singapore moving guide to help others avoid common pitfalls.
In general, there are three types of companies in the Singaporean market that provide moving services: emerging internet freight platforms, traditional logistics companies, and specialized moving companies. The following will introduce the strengths and weaknesses of the three types of companies and their respective pitfalls.
1. Internet Freight Platforms
Let's start with the internet freight platform that the author used for the first time. At that time, as a new immigrant who had just arrived from China, the author had a lot of trust in the internet model, and therefore chose the well-known LaLaMov* in Singapore. These platforms rely on the internet concept to integrate offline scattered freight resources, concentrate orders and dispatch them centrally. You can get an instant quote by inputting both addresses, and each additional item is almost transparently priced, which seems very attractive. The author chose to order online without hesitation, but ended up falling into many pitfalls.
First of all, let's talk about the price. The starting price for a 14-foot truck on the platform was only slightly over S$100 after the per-kilometer fee was added, which was a great deal compared to all the moving companies. Excited, the author continued to place the order, only to discover that the charges were all hidden.
First, this price is only for ordinary trucks. If you need to switch to an enclosed truck, you have to pay extra.
Second, if you need a truck with an electric lifting platform to load and unload furniture, you have to pay extra.
Third, this price is only for one driver. If you need the driver to help with moving things, you have to pay extra. But the problem is, even if the driver helps to move, the author can't handle it alone, so an additional worker and driver had to be hired, which required further payment.
Fourth, this price only includes two hours of moving time. If it exceeds the time limit, you need to pay extra.
Fifth, the author knew that their English level was limited and specifically emphasized when placing the order that they needed workers who could speak Chinese, but the company still dispatched Indian drivers and workers, making communication very difficult.
Finally, when there were only two or three suitcases left, the driver said that he could not fit them in. If they were forcefully squeezed in and fell off the truck during transportation, they would not be responsible. In the end, the author had to take a taxi to transport the remaining two suitcases.
The comprehensive cost of the entire operation was two to three times the original amount, leaving a very bad moving experience.
2. Traditional Logistics Companies
After my first moving experience, I decided to find a moving company through a local BBS forum for my second move. I found that some logistics companies offered cheaper prices compared to specialized moving companies. These logistics companies primarily focus on freight logistics and take on some additional orders online to increase their vehicle utilization when they have less work.
The advantage of these companies is that they offer cheaper prices because they already have vehicles and workers. They have a part-time vibe to them. I thought that moving was not a particularly high-tech job, and as long as the workers were careful with moving the items, it would be fine. Why spend more money on a specialized moving company? After making a few phone calls and comparisons, I chose a logistics company.
I didn't expect that this experience would be even worse than the first time. Looking back now, these logistics companies are not specialized in moving, and the main problem is that they lack specialized moving equipment and experience. Their need to build a moving brand and reputation is also not particularly strong. Specifically for the company I used, the main problems were as follows:
There were only two pallets in the truck to move large furniture from the house to the truck, which meant that the furniture had to be frequently moved up and down the pallets, resulting in bumps and scratches on the furniture.
The vehicle did not have a lift, so the furniture had to be manually lifted up and down from the ground, causing additional damage.
The workers lacked experience in moving and securing precision furniture and appliances, especially pianos. They caused unnecessary damage to the furniture. My sofa lost one of its legs during the move, and I had to pay for a piano tuner to correct the sound of the piano.
The biggest problem came later. Having moved once before, I knew that two hours were not enough, so I negotiated for four hours this time, thinking that it would be enough. However, it still took over five hours, resulting in overtime fees. The driver only had two pallets to use, which meant that he had to move the furniture up and down repeatedly. He only took one or two pieces of furniture down each time, resulting in a lot of time wasted. Also, the distance was less than five kilometers, but the driver took more than half an hour to get there because he got lost. Furthermore, when the driver entered the entrance of the apartment complex, he accidentally scraped the truck against a pillar in a flower bed, causing the pillar to tilt. The management of the apartment complex withheld my deposit for the move, which was about four months' rent, until the moving company's insurance compensated for the damage.
3. Professional Moving Company
After experiencing two unsuccessful moves, the author of this article without hesitation chose a professional moving company for the third move. After experiencing the service, the author found that professional moving companies have their advantages, such as:
Having professional moving equipment, especially closed trucks, to avoid furniture being exposed to the sun and rain. All of these vehicles are equipped with automatic elevators, allowing furniture to be transported from the ground to the carriage without vibration or collision.
Using one-to-one tray binding for all furniture throughout the entire moving process. When the moving company arrives, they usually bring at least 10 trays. From the moment the furniture is placed on the tray, it is always bound to the tray until it is unloaded in the new home. Therefore, there is no collision problem during the entire move.
All furniture is wrapped in layers of protective film, especially for furniture such as sofas, mattresses, and refrigerators that do not have their original packaging. This protects furniture safety and cleanliness to the fullest extent, and for delicate furniture such as pianos, extra felt is used to provide additional protection and shock resistance to reduce damage.
Professional moving companies generally do not charge based on the number of workers and moving time, but give a fixed price based on the amount of customer furniture, which is relatively more worry-free.
However, a fixed price does not necessarily mean the final price, as market competition intensifies, especially with other types of freight companies entering the moving market and causing price confusion. Many professional moving companies have to attract customers with low prices, but generate additional charges later, which results in a poor customer experience.
4. Standardizing Moving Business through Service Online Platforms
To solve these problems, the Service Online Platform has collaborated with several mainstream moving companies in the Singapore market to develop a standardized set of moving service content and operational procedures. This helps you to save money and worry and obtain high-quality moving services, avoiding pitfalls.
In simple terms, we have established fixed package prices based on the size of the vehicle, such as $220 for a 10-foot truck that is fully loaded and used for moving to/from HDB, regardless of the number of workers or the number of hours worked, so clients no longer have to worry about overtime.
At the same time, we promise 9 standard services and 6 standard SOP processes for every move, allowing clients to clearly understand our service content and standards, especially how we protect clients' furniture and minimize damage.
Finally, we provide a free apartment moving deposit, so clients no longer have to worry about the problem of the moving company deducting the deposit if the apartment facilities are damaged. Additionally, the payment for moving fees is temporarily frozen by the platform, and the moving company can only receive payment after the job is completed to the satisfaction of the client. If any issues arise, the platform will coordinate and resolve them, ensuring clients can feel completely at ease.
