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Born in 2005, College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving is one of the youngest companies we reviewed. The mover is unique in that it also does storage unit cleanouts, trash removal and donation pickups, but its relatively limited interstate operations and its franchise model, which makes for inconsistent pricing policies and service offerings among locations, can make things less predictable for consumers.
on College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving's website
Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving is a full-service mover, meaning it does more than load, drive and unload the truck. The company is a franchisor, which means its locations are actually independently run businesses that can set their own prices and decide which services they do and don’t offer. As a result, the quotes and services you get from one College Hunks location might not be what you get from another. Nonetheless, here are some of the company’s major offerings and what we think you should know.
College Hunks loads, transports and unloads moves people doing cross-town, interstate and cross-country moves. But it’s probably a better option for local moves, because its interstate moving options are pretty limited, and the company essentially accepts your business but then hands shipments off to third-party shippers to do the actual transportation.
College Hunks does not do international moves.
College Hunks does not offer storage, though it will clean out storage units for you or deliver things to a storage unit you designate.
This can be one of the worst parts of the moving process, so if you can afford to pay extra for some help here, it’s worth considering.
When you have the movers pack, they show up with the boxes and packing materials, wrap and pack everything and then label the boxes.
Unpacking involves opening the boxes, removing the packing materials, arranging your things according to your instructions and then taking away the packing materials and empty boxes.
Each College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving franchisee sets its own packing rates and costs of packing supplies. Generally, packing services are charged at an hourly rate, according to the company.
College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving does not offer car and vehicle shipping.
Junk removal. We like that if you have stuff that just needs to go – especially heavy, awkward or large items – you can just ask the movers to deal with it. The cost depends on the franchisee, your location, the size of the object and whether there are local disposal or donation fees involved. The prices are often based on whether the items will take up an eighth of a truckload, a half truckload or a full truckload. They’ll move:
Appliances
Carpets
Construction debris
Electronics
Exercise equipment
Furniture
Hot tubs
Paint disposal
Pianos
Mattresses
Scrap metal
Storage sheds
Trash pickup
TV disposal
Yard waste
Moving furniture and other heavy objects. This can be helpful for staging a home to sell it, cleaning out a garage, emptying a storage unit or similar tasks.
Donation runs. We like this a lot about College Hunks, because people who are moving often have heavy objects to donate and no way to get them to the charity. College Hunks will bring back a receipt from the charity for your donation, and if you don’t have a specific charity in mind, it has a partnership with Goodwill, Pickupmydonation.com, and Habitat for Humanity. The company will also pick up donations from storage units.
Donating old furniture and other items may be tax-deductible. Here’s how the tax deduction works.
College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving scored below average on the customer ratings portion of our rubric. We evaluate customer service based on Better Business Bureau rating for the company and the number of complaints per 100 vehicles to the BBB and Department of Transportation. This company had a high complaint ratio relative to other companies we reviewed.
Like most moving companies, College Hunks doesn’t provide price quotes online. And like most moving companies, the reason is that the quote depends on several specific-to-you factors, such as:
How much stuff you have.
What kind of stuff you have.
Where your stuff is going.
How accessible the locations are.
When you want to move.
For local moves (often fewer than 50 miles), quotes are usually based on hours, number of movers and truck size. Prices for moves beyond 50 miles, the franchisee will likely also factor in mileage. Volume, tolls, lodging for the movers and moving insurance can also affect the price. Also, the company is inconsistent in its messaging about whether weight is a factor in pricing.
In general, moving companies provide two kinds of price quotes for moving.
Nonbinding estimates give you an approximate cost. They can be great for getting a quick, ballpark sense of cost, but the downside is that they can change by a lot. The final cost comes when the mover weighs the shipment.
Binding quotes guarantee you won’t be changed more than the estimate. They can be great for giving you certainty and peace of mind, but the downside is that the quote process might take longer and the mover can charge for a binding quote.
Whether College Hunks will give you a binding quote is, again, dependent on which franchisee you call. However, the pricing does have three main components:
Moving truck and travel fees. These cover the time and fuel it takes for the movers to go from their office to your home, as well as the time it takes the movers to go from your destination back to their office.
Hourly rate. This covers the time to perform the actual moving tasks. There is a two- or three-hour minimum, depending on the franchisee.
Fees for add-on services. This is the cost of additional services you choose, such as packing, junk removal, furniture arranging or other services. The franchisee might also charge you more if elevators, stairs or “excessive additional items” are involved.
There’s a lot we wish was better about College Hunks in this area. First, the company told us its franchisees require an upfront deposit “more often than not,” which is unusual in the moving industry. The company also said that whether you pay a credit card fee is up to the specific franchisee.
Beware of websites that claim to tell you how much your move is going to cost. None of the full-service moving companies we reviewed provide price quotes online. Virtually every moving company requires contact with a salesperson and a visual survey of your belongings in order to provide a reliable cost estimate.
College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving doesn’t provide any way for customers to track the real-time location of their shipments. This can be a problem for people who need confirmation that their delivery is arriving, need to be sure they arrive at the destination before the moving truck does or who just want to keep tabs on their things.
Moving companies are liable for loss or damage to your stuff during transportation. But the extent of that liability depends on which kind of liability coverage you choose. Federal law requires movers to offer you two liability options:
Released Value. This protection is free but only pays 60 cents per pound. So if the movers ruin your 300-pound couch, you only get $180, even if the couch was expensive.
Full Value Protection. Under this option, the mover is liable for the replacement value of items that it loses, damages or destroys. You have to pay extra for this option (the mover sets the price), but unless you explicitly choose the Released Value option, movers must automatically move your stuff under the Full Value Protection level of liability. In this scenario, if the movers ruin your 300-pound couch, they have to repair the couch or pay the replacement value of the couch.
Another option is to get third-party insurance for your move. Your homeowners insurance might (or might not) provide some coverage.
Liability coverage isn’t the same thing as insurance, so state insurance laws don’t apply to the coverage movers provide.
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