Citimove Blog

Face it- some moves are dreadful. A once quaint home can quickly transform into a deadly dust cloud, complete with strewn boxes and years worth of junk you’ve never even seen. It’s times like these you thank your lucky stars for movers, so you can sit back and marvel at the cat-like agility these men and women show as they maneuver through this newly created obstacle course. Many moves, however, a far less complicated- in fact, bribing a few good friends (well, not that good if you have to bribe them) and getting them to help you move is usually the most efficient means of relocating, especially if it’s a close move.

In cases like these, however, you will almost always need a way to transport your goods- after all, tying that 400 lb. armoire to your hood or walking a TV 8 blocks can really spoil your vehicle, not to mention your back. To avoid such mishaps, check out these trustworthy van and truck rental companies if you’re looking to move yourself out. (please select either “One-way” or “Local/ In-town” to begin the process, and note that each of these companies charges a (large) fully refundable deposit for all rentals!!)

Ryder: http://reservations.ryder.com/Reservation1cing.aspx
Ryder only has one location in NYC (Long Island City in Queens), and they operate from 7:30 – 5:00 pm every day but Sunday. They are somewhat pricey, but they charge $.59 per mile, which is great.

U-Haul: http://reservations.uhaul.com/(kegjtn55oq2mty3uo1koqh55)/Default.aspx U-Haul seems the cheapest, and with the additional boxes and rolls of tape they throw in with some of their rentals, they have offer a nice package. Be weary, however, of their outlandish mileage price- a whopping $1.69 per mile! Also, they default one dolly and 12 furniture pads when your checking out, so be sure to tick ‘0’ if you don’t want these (saving you an extra 17 bucks). Also, you cannot select a location from their site- “A local U-Haul representative will call you by 5pm tomorrow to schedule your equipment pickup at the most convenient location with available equipment,” so be sure you stick by a phone.

Penske: http://www.pensketruckrental.com/personal_rental/
Penske has a number of locations, especially in NYC, including Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn. They do not operate on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, which is a bit of a bummer, but their trucks are very well priced and their mileage rate is $.99, which is reasonable. They charge for every 6 hours, so be sure to get the truck back by the allotted time if you don’t want to be overcharged. They also have great customer service.

Budget: http://www.budgettruck.com/default.asp?txn_typ=LO
Like U-haul, Budget also has a hand truck and (2!) dozen furniture pads pre-selected, so be sure to tick these off if you don’t want/need them (which would save you $36 per day). They offer a side-by-side comparison of each of their trucks when you click on the “More info” link, which is pretty useful. They also provide you with a total estimated price, breaking down each of your charges in the process. Their trucks, however, are somewhat pricey and they charge $.79 per mile traveled.

A few years ago on New Years Eve, I paid $150 to get into a club called Guastavinos for all you can eat and all you can drink. The club overbooked the place. So we waited on line a mile long for 3 hours in the blistering cold to get in only 15 minutes before New Years. By the time we got in, there was no food left. And only 2 bars, each with 1 bartender serving well over 1000 people for all you can drink. I left by 12:30 to go home and put something on my girlfriend’s frostbitten feet.

When I went to Citysearch to submit my review the next day, they promptly removed it. You see, the way Citysearch handles review is with a nice little ‘Request removal of this review’ link. Dozens of other people submitted reviews of Guastavino’s that day, yet all of them were taken down. Fortunately for Citysearch, they were the only free restaurant review site around, so at the time they could do what they want and not risk losing a customer.

Now Citysearch does not have all positive reviews on their site, and I’m sure they don’t take down every review that is requested, but they don’t have a review policy posted on their site, and they sure didn’t have any explanation for taking down my review.

I won’t forget my experience at Guastavino’s, but in my mind Citysearch is somehow associated with this bad experience. Guastavino’s really did a terrible job, but to be honest I probably wouldn’t have gone back there regardless. Citysearch simply took down a review, but they are the real losers in this experience.

You see, like many New Yorkers I loved Citysearch and would’ve been one of their biggest users and would’ve visited the site every day, but now I go there only when menupages.com doesn’t have my restaurant or sheckys.com doesn’t have my bar.

As the webmaster of a site that focuses on service reviews, I keep this experience in mind.

Taking down that bad review means you are associated with that bad service provider…

A lot of people have asked about our Click2Call feature which is not surprising since it’s relatively new technology. Click2Call is based on voice over IP technology. You know- the feature on AIM or Yahoo Messenger that allows you to call that special someone you met on MySpace in Australia for free. This technology also allows us to use the internet to connect two people together through their mobile or land line phone. It’s pretty simple to use too. Just click on the mover you want to call, type in your own number, and then wait for it… wait… there! Your phone will begin to ring. As soon as you pick up, we call the mover and conference you two together. Pretty cool right?

But you might be wondering, why not just list mover numbers? Movers don’t pay monthly fees to be listed on Citimove so we use this charge them for the business we bring to them. We think it’s the most equitable way to charge for our services. Of course this feature is free for Citimove customers. Click2Call is being used by many sites to replace the Pay Per Click advertising model for service provider sites because it’s better at preventing fraud. In order to be charged, the movers have to answer the phone and they can tell if this is a bogus call. Well we hope that this helps to explain this new feature and why it is being used. As always, suggestions from both movers and customers are welcome because we want to make Citimove as intuitive as possible for our users.

When I began my internship with Citimove I knew next to nothing about movers and the industry in general. My prior experiences mainly involved a good group of buddies, a hot summer afternoon, and copious amounts of beer; that was the ideal moving day. Speaking of summer, I didn’t even know moving had a season, though looking back on my life, it makes perfect sense. Practically every person I have helped move out chose the summer to relocate, and despite the steady blast of heat and streaming sweat, each one has been- dare I say- quite fun.

So now we are in this busy moving season and I am an official member of the elite Citimove squad- got my badge and everything. But here comes the hard part- I have to learn the ins and outs of this industry to be the best damn coffee fetcher I can be (though I work at home, so I suppose the only person I fetch coffee for is myself). In all honesty, I was given a great amount of responsibility with this internship; many of you have seen my star-studded name on your emails or have communicated with me directly, so this job is definitely not a joke.

Before I began I never knew a site of this nature existed for movers; I had never heard the bidding concept applied to a service, and this innovation is exactly what sparked my interest. After I began I started to learn a great deal about the sites workings, and, quite frankly, I’m impressed. And no I’m not just saying that for the sake of my bosses (hi guys!). I had no idea that so much time has to go in creating a site of this nature; every single thing has to be developed, tested, retested, and modified. Then often re-modified.

Now, Citimove has been around since 2003, so I am only experiencing this with new features implemented (such as this wonderful blog); I simply can’t fathom how much effort went into crafting something like this. I had never heard of a service where individuals can call one another while keeping their information private; I didn’t realize that administrative tools had to be created for every aspect of a site; I had no idea how long it took to come up with a respectable blog entry (j/k). We have been working hard to give you a site that works, and this process is far from finished; as with any exceptional site, actually, this process should never finish. So please, if you feel something needs improvement, shoot us an email; we’re always open to new suggestions.

Now where did I put that dang coffee…?