Lots of people in lots of cases when relocating decide to save time and trouble and hire a moving company to carry out their relocation. If you are among them, read further to know what should be considered more seriously when you are about to use a full-service moving company.

When using a full moving service, the moving company will arrange and carry out your entire relocation; this usually includes packing and unpacking. This service is usually expensive, but if you manage to find the right moving company, the money is worth the quality and speed of the service.

The right moving company
Good moving companies are largely praised in forums in the Internet, so it's a good idea to search the Web for, say 10, moving companies in your area, and then read the feedback on them. If you have friends and relatives who have moved in the past 2 years, ask them about the company they used, too. It would be best if you have at least two highly positive responses for a given company, before approaching it personally. Pay attention, and don't let the price of the service be the crucial factor, because in the case of moving services, higher price often represents higher quality.

Negotiate the terms
After you have already chosen "your" moving company, you should set all the details of the move and sign the moving contract. One good way to begin the negotiations is the moving list. If you prepare a moving list, you and the company representative can obtain a real picture of the scale of the job. Normally, bigger - those are longer and/or more difficult - relocations are charged at a higher rate. When working on the moving list, emphasize any item needing special attention - of big dimensions, fragile and breakable, valuable, etc., because it's important for the moving company representative to know about them - he or she will instruct the movers and, of course, include any specific tasks in the price.

Detailed cost estimation
To avoid any future unpleasant surprises, make sure you get a detailed cost estimation in advance. It should contain every single service and the cost for it. After carefully reading it, you can get a pretty good idea of the price-effort ratio. The cost estimation, after being agreed upon, has to be signed by both parties. Before signing it, make sure you have the company representative visit both your previous and future residence and estimate any possible additional services needed and include them in it.

Payment agreement
Don't forget to agree on the payment method in advance, i.e. before signing the moving contract - do you have to pay in advance? Right after the relocation? On moving day? Or later, upon receiving the bill?

Liability
Remember the following: the moving company bears the liability for every bit of damage inccurred during the moving process, except when the damage occurred under circumstances that could not be predicted and when the damage would have happened even under the highest possible precautions. A clear example of the latter situation is natural disasters, but lots of other circumstances fall into the grey area of interpretation. So carefully read the clauses about the liability for damages in the moving contract, and don't hesitate to ask for additional explanation and even to demand an additional clause regarding a specific item or circumstance. But bear in mind that no company will take the liability for anything they haven't packed, as well for pets, jewelry, and sometimes for plants.

Finally, a few quick pieces of advice:
1)    make sure you are present during the entire moving process
2)    be aware of what's going on and watch for small damages on the items (scratches, for instance)
3)    when noticing any damage, have the company representative write it down and sign the paper
4)    if you notice something odd or outside the agreed- upon moving plan, ask for an explanation immediately

Although you watched carefully, some internal damages on items are hard to notice - don't let the company pressure you into sigh the final protocol - take your time and check everything thoroughly after you moved in.