Moving with a mouse click

Moving is stressful. At least it used to be. But increasingly, digital tools are making the move much more relaxed. It starts with choosing the right moving company, calculating the number of moving boxes, and ends with registering your new address. We talk to Patrick Cuesta from the moving portal Movinga about the future of moving.

Will robots be hauling my moving boxes in the future?

That wouldn't be so good with today's technology. Humans are still irreplaceable when moving house because it requires a good eye for detail, a lot of anticipation, and sometimes quick reactions.

They offer online moving services with just a few clicks. It starts with a comparison of providers. But I also get advertising flyers from moving companies in my mailbox every day. Why not use them?

It's about trust. With so many flyers, it's hard to tell the difference. Are they all equally good? Why does one cost so little and another so much? Without recommendations from acquaintances or friends, it's difficult to decide which company is right for you. Don't forget: it's about your belongings. And not just financial assets, but also the preservation of things you're attached to or that hold personal significance. Loss or damage can be extremely painful. That's why we exist. Because all the service providers we work with are vetted. This is one of our company's most important principles. Through close collaboration with our partners, we also have the opportunity to collect and compare a wealth of statistical data. For example, if a moving company has already completed 10,000 moves, we can use the statistics to see if damage occurred particularly frequently or infrequently during those moves. Furthermore, all our partners receive comprehensive training at the Movinga Academy at the outset.

And what criteria do you use to choose your partners?

This happens during the so-called "onboarding" process. The first step involves requesting legal documents so that the potential moving partner can prove they are authorized to carry out removals. The next step involves questioning the partner about various circumstances and behaviors, and then assessing their suitability.

If a partner meets our quality standards, we allow them to conduct "test moves," during which they are evaluated not only by us but also by the customer. Once a partner has passed all these tests, they can officially call themselves a Movinga partner. To ensure quality is maintained beyond the initial move, we contact our customers by email or phone after each move to discuss their experience. If a moving company fails to meet our quality guidelines, we exclude them from our program and cease working with them.

Even with insurance, problems can arise when something happens. It's not uncommon for insurance companies to try to assign partial blame to the injured party. How does your portal handle this?

By law, every move is covered by basic liability insurance. However, this basic liability only applies to damage caused by belongings packed by the moving company. Furthermore, only the current market value of the belongings is insured. Since this insurance is insufficient for our needs, we offer our customers extended insurance coverage that applies to belongings packed by the moving company and insures the current market value of the goods. We recommend: If you want to be on the safe side, let us handle all the packing, unpacking, assembly, and disassembly

You can currently find them in all major German metropolitan areas. What's it like in rural areas?

Thanks to our extensive network of partners, this is now possible. Since we want to avoid empty trips, we first check which moving companies are currently operating in which region. For example, if one of our partners is working in Saarbrücken and we receive a job in a village in that region, we also commission that partner. We always have an overview of which moving company is currently located where.

How spontaneously can a move be planned with you, for example, if a customer wants to move tomorrow?

We are completely flexible with our timing. So it's possible to arrange a move even at very short notice.

Moving also involves annoying things like changing your electricity provider. Wouldn't that be something you could take off people's hands?

We are currently expanding our services in this area as well. This includes handling official paperwork, final cleaning after tradespeople have finished their work, and even trips to the hardware store. Customers can practically leave everything to us and don't have to worry about a thing.

Photo: Haveseen