So I'm taking the job in Ohio.

Now comes the bad part - moving.

I don't think I'm going to be able to do a DIY style move... Any recommendations or warnings on a moving company to use? I've been doing some thorough research the past few hours and I gotta be honest...it doesn't look good. EVERY company I research is riddled with horror stories.

I'm worried...

my guess is that workers tend to not care as much about your shit.

Congrats on the new job/new town.
Moving companies seem to be hit or miss, with no way to tell which way it'll go. My parents have moved four times in the last ten years (never more than 50 miles but still). My father is notorious for doing research before my any purchase but sometimes the moving company was great, other times it wasn't. The most recent time was a three man-crew, the business owner, one guy who'd been working with him for a decade and another guy who'd been there for a year or two. They were great. Two times before that, the crew was almost exclusively made up of recently released prisoners. My father (who worked in juvenile detention centers) actually knew one of the movers, a guy who had once stolen every bike in his neighborhood (literally dozens of bikes) and put them in his basement. Some unknown person had stolen his bike so he got pissed and stole everyone else's bike. Another of the twenty-something ex-con movers asked my teenage sister out on a date. Hiring ex-cons at a moving company in itself is not necessarily a bad thing (maybe), but these guys did actually wreck a few things. I don't know. Like I said, I think it's hit or miss.

Well, it's clear that this may be a roll of the dice. What I really want to be able to do is take all of the "warnings" on all these moving sites and put them in my contract so I can't get fucked.

One thing that I'm concerned and never knew about.

- I cannot pack any of my own shit, because if I do and something breaks, they are not liable because they didn't pack it. So basically I can pack all my stuff perfect, they can purposefully destroy it, and I have no legal recourse. WTF is that shit?

I should go rent a Penske van and find a couple of fucking illegal immigrants... They're prolly more trustworthy than whatever I'm gonna end up with.

When you look online, you have to keep in mind that people who had a good experience with the moving company are a lot less likely to post a review online than the people who had bad experiences.

Well, it's not just rating websites. There were 16,000 complaints to a government agency about fraud. And apparently it's getting worse. The feds have a list of things to look out for and even Mayflower, Atlas, United, and other prominent names are guilty of wrongdoing.

is your shit worth the moving costs and the potential of them being damaged and/or losed?

If not. Then fuck it..move and get new shit.

Have you looked into those P.O.D.S.? The containers they deliver, you pack up, then they move it to your new place and unload at your convenience.

I don't really think it's an option. My physical ability to move all of my stuff is severely limited due to my heart condition. And the only assistance I can really count on, in this sort of situation, is my girlfriend who will be of no help moving a 300 pound couch.

Unfortunately the vast majority of my furniture is of good to great quality... all of it. Coffee table, TV stand, the bed, dresser, I wouldn't trade my couch for the world, etc.

What a pain in the ass this is gonna be...

sell everything and find a furnished apartment

What's your avatar, LittleWing?

For NY companies that move, I have heard nothing but good things about Moishe's moving...not sure if they are upstate though.

Why, it just so happens that it is a tarot card!

have you considered consulting the tarot for guidance on this matter?

Ah yeah. I can see that now. On first glance I thought it was Randy Macho Man Savage wearing a WWF championship belt.

i like the "when all else falls short, hire illegal immigrants" mantra

For what it's worth, I've had my stuff moved from one coast to the other by movers twice. Both times was through a franchise of Atlas moving, and I only ever had one thing broken. It was a small mirror in the only box I packed up instead of them.