[vigsom]

Introduction

Job movements take us far and wide, and with job changes comes relocation woes. The next few posts aim at helping us all plan our move well and hopefully keep relocation woes at bay.

How did this thread take shape?

We, in the family, have been relocating all our life this far - both intercity and intracity. Here are some stats:

1. Intercity relocation - eight times
2. Intracity relocation (change of residence) - fourteen times in four cities
3. Logistics required - two 3 Ton trucks each of the first four times (when Dad, Mom and us moved), and one Eicher load for each of the other four times (this was luggage that I'd accumulated in my career)

We went through some torrid times during these relocation experiences and thought it would be appropriate to pen them and some good actions down so that these could benefit all those who have to go through the experience of relocating.

[vigsom]

The first four intercity relocations with me as an assistant

These were in the 70s to 80s on account of transfers, and across the country. While I functioned at best as a Jr. Assistant here with Dad and Mom taking on the major role of shifting, here are some observations that I made:

1. Most of our belongings used to get into strong steel trunks, some of which would need two loadmen to lift. Large items like a 165 liter refrigerator (Leonard at that time), a large wooden cupboard, a dining room sideboard, a Bajaj 150 scooter, and a sofa set would all be packed with sack type material with biodegradable packing inside). We, and others around would wonder why we had so much luggage but that is something we never realize until it is too late.

2. The luggage would require two 3 Ton trucks (the large sized ones of today) to transfer to the goods yard and moved into a railway wagon

3. In one such transfer, the railway wagon had derailed and Dad had to go to the location and sort the transfer into another wagon. Fortunately, the stuff was all undamaged

We were kind of relieved when the last such intercity transfer happened in the early 80s - however this wasn't the end of our woes as we ended up moving three houses in that city before finally moving to our own over 30 years ago.

[vigsom]

The next four intercity relocations (with my accumulated luggage) after I started my career

These were relatively much easier; learning from my early years, I took a conscious decision not to accumulate too much stuff. In fact, I continue to keep a tight leash on accumulation, much to my better half's chagrin, but having seen difficult times in shifting, it is better to be as light as possible.

Actions required before moving intercity

Let's mark D-Day as the day for transfer of luggage

1. D-Day minus 15 days : Go through all the belongings and ruthlessly set aside what needs to be discarded. I have realized that stuff stored deep inside wardrobes and box beds (box beds are the best rubbish dump that one can create for oneself) are things that we seldom even look at. Examples: an old headlamp assembly, a pack of old wax polish, old electronic items, telecom cables, floppy disks, CDs to name a few). It will be hard to chuck items that have a lot of sentimental value eg. an old Compact Hi-Fi audio system, an old computer, an old cupboard etc.

2. Unless necessary, boxes for stuff like a TV, a mixer grinder must be discarded as soon as the item is unboxed. Else these add to the junk.

3. D-Day minus 7 days : Finalise the agency that one would want to engage for packing and transportation. Selecting the right transporter is a tricky part. I once ended up shifting some of my effects as "part load" and received a bent CPU case, a shattered printer glass, and some badly damaged side tables.

4. D-Day minus 5 days : Make arrangements to shift or cancel the internet connection, and get the termination closure in writing, including receipt of the modem etc. We never believed in annual plans and would at best stick to quarterly ones

5. D-Day minus 2 days : Surrender the LPG cylinders, pressure regulator to the gas distributor and obtain a receipt for the same

6. D-Day minus 1 day:

6a. Get a professional to remove the split ACs or window ACs. When removing split ACs from rented accommodation, have them removed as cleanly as possible with minimum damage to the walls. I've seen technicians in some friends' houses using a punch and whacking the indoor unit plate off, leaving huge holes in the wall

6b. Shut the refrigerator down at least 15 hours before the packers' ETA and leave the freezer and refrigerator compartment doors full open. This is to ensure that all the ice on the evaporator coil has thawed and condensate has drained out.

Removing the split AC indoor unit panel by unscrewing the screws


Transporting the car

I've got the car transported once through one of those massive car carriers from outside the Hyundai Plant. Although the car reached me undamaged, a lot of fuel was used up (apparently by the drivers who'd have put the AC on and idled away), plus the battery had also been removed for jump starting some other car. Post that one experience, I've always chosen to drive, and taking along some important baggage in the process.

[vigsom]

D-Day aka Day of packing

This day is sure to drain one of all energy, so rest well the night before. It is a good idea to ask friends to come in and help. Three or four heads work better than one or two, and some delegation of work eases the pressure off the man and wife.

1. Work room by room. Shift stuff from one wardrobe first into cardboard cartons, and mark them suitably using a permanent marker, then move to the next wardrobe and so on. This way, it becomes easy when unpacking and arranging at the destination. The cartons coming out of Bedroom1 could be marked suitably eg. BR1 - Clothes
2. DO NOT try packing and carrying left over cooking oil/ any other liquid as one spill in the process of shifting can cause 10x damage to surrounding stuff. Please hand these over to a household help or someone else who'll use this gladly
3. Pack all bathroom items in the respective buckets and seal them off using clingwrap or equivalent
4. Delicate glass/crockery is best wrapped in newspaper and bubble wrapped and the carton is marked GLASS.
5. Furniture with glass on them should be packed well using corrugated sheets/styrofoam to protect the glass from impact
6. Storage bins that contain powdery stuff eg. Atta, shikakai powder and the like - such lids should be sealed well using tape
7. When dismantling beds, please make sure to mark the segments for easy matching when re-asembling at the destination. Also it is a good idea to put bolts back in their slots rather than pack them loose/separate
8. Ensure that the split AC outdoor unit valves are protected by tape and the entire unit is packed well in corrugated sheets; ditto for the indoor units
9. Office chairs' armrests are best dismantled before shifting; the armrests can break if they shift during transportation and see load on them
10. Ensure that mattresses are covered with clingwrap to protect them from gathering dust enroute

Loading the truck

This is best left to the loaders as they know their job, but there must be someone watching them while they're on the job. Once the stuff is loaded, it is a good gesture to tip them generously.

Sample of mess created during packing


Part luggage lined up for loading

[vigsom]

At the destination

1. Before the luggage arrives, one must plan on which cartons should go where and here's where the indexing/numbering would help eg. BR1 cartons would go to Bedroom1, K cartons would go to the kitchen and so on.
2. Please figure out where the ACs would need to be positioned, and check if a 1.5" dia hole is available for the Split AC piping to be laid (or a window frame is available for installation of a window AC). I ended up having to do core cutting in one of the walls to create this neat opening


Luggage arrives

1. Again, try to get help of friends, and have the packages diverted to the right rooms so that they can be unpacked without moving them again.

Don't get bogged down by seeing something like this when the luggage arrives and is being unpacked





Key points

1. The house will be in a mess during packing and during unpacking; please do not get bogged down
2. Once the luggage has been packed and removed at source, please take some time to clean the house and hand it over to the owner in good shape. Note down the energy meter reading and settle the prospective bill against adjustment of the deposit amount.
2. Once the luggage is all unloaded at the destination, take your time to unpack and arrange; no hurry absolutely
3. Arrange for internet, gas connections, and other allied jobs within the first 2 days of arrival so that one could settle down quickly and get on with more important stuff eg. joining a new place
4. Schooling - getting a transfer certificate out of the source school and evaluating and fixing a school at destination is an important part of the plan. We fortunately had no issues moving school to school in our student days but it is a huuuuge challenge now.

Please chip in with something that I might have missed out so that this thread becomes an aide-memoire for anyone having to go through this experience! Thank You!

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[catchjyoti]

This is a very useful thread vigsom. I will be using this within the next six months when I foresee making a intra-city movement.

[callmeneo]

Hi. As someone who moved cities once and intra city 4 times, i can chip in a bit.
I have been a fan of Agarwal packers and movers as they just take care of everything.
Take out the valuables the previous night and then sort out the costly items and clothes into a suitcase to carry on.
Then wait for them to come on early next morning and see the magic happen(for the lazy ones like me at least ).
Every item category has a special packing material designated to it.
The mattresses have covers and sealed well.

All the items are insured. And the insurance works as I have claimed them a couple of times. Its swift too.
But make sure the damages are noted in the sheet that goes back with them after unloading.



I had in fact stored our goods in their warehouse for 4 months when I had to move out of the rented house I was in and then immediately move out of the country for a couple of months as it was easier and cheaper to store them in their warehouse than renting a house and shifting it.

Cons are:
They are pricier but worth every penny.
Many dupes on the market with the same name. Some even use the same packing material as them.

[Chhanda Das]

Oh, this thread brought back memories of nightmares. My late husband was a gazetted officer in the service of the Government of Assam and was transferred 14 times during his 18-year career

One particular transfer in the 90s from Biswanath Chariali in Upper Assam to an undisclosed location in lower Assam in the early days of his career was a particularly harrowing experience. It was the heydays of militancy in Assam with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) regularly beating or shooting and killing government officials in front of their families after tying them to street lamp posts. The Indian Army along with Assam Rifles had just launched Operation Bajrang against those militants. Shutdowns called by the militants and curfews imposed by the Indian Army were a regular affair. The situation was very charged, to say the least. This was when the transfer order arrived like a bolt out of the blue at 4:00 in the evening after getting delayed in the post. There were only 2 days left for my husband to join at his new station. This was also the time when we actively kept our 1986 petrol Ambassador parked at home and always chose to travel on my husband's Yamaha RX100 motorcycle. This motorcycle was the infamous choice of vehicle for all the nefarious elements due to its quick acceleration while an official-looking vehicle like an Ambassador would be an obvious target for the militants even though my Ambassador was not a government vehicle. The RX100 became so infamous that at one point, the Government of India even considered banning it. Anyway, I am digressing too much.

After somewhat recovering from the shock of the transfer letter, I started packing immediately while my husband went to consult the Commandant at the nearest Indian Army base. My son was born just two weeks ago, so you can imagine my condition. Upon his return, my husband told me that he had tried to postpone his transfer by talking to his superiors including the then Chief Secretary of Assam but was unsuccessful because the replacement officer for my husband had already taken his release from the other end. Upon hearing this the Commandant had apparently assured my husband of arranging for transportation and asked him to complete packing and be ready as soon as possible. The Commandant asked my husband to keep our car inside his post for the time being since an Ambassador on the streets at such times would be an obvious trouble magnet. My husband could later come back and get it when the situation cooled down.

That night we were packed and ready to move before dinner. Just after we had finished dinner, some Indian Army personnel knocked on our door. They had been able to find a Sikh truck driver who was brave enough to drive through such troubled areas. I am very thankful to those Indian Army personnel for helping to load everything onto the Tata 1210 truck. They finished loading everything within 9:50 pm. When I noticed and alluded to the fact that there would not be any Army escort vehicle for us at such short notice, the Sikh driver pulled out his approximately 3 feet sword (Kirpan) and proudly declared that he was more than enough to defend us. This was very scary and comforting at the same time. My husband also had his service weapon with him. Unbeknownst to us, the Indian Army personnel had also kept a 12kg carton of baby milk formula for my son in the truck's cabin that we found later.

We were on our way in the truck's cabin including my baby son by 10 pm. The roads were completely deserted apart from the occasional Army checkpoint. That Sikh driver had kept his personal sleeping quarters inside the cabin open for us the entire time. His assistant was on overwatch on the roof of the cabin for the entire trip. The broken asphalt roads used to be so pathetic that I had to frequently ask him to slow down. But we couldn't stop since we would be sitting ducks on the empty roads. We stopped only once for a washroom break before we reached Guwahati and too at an Army checkpoint. After that washroom break, we were followed for some kilometres by two people on a motorcycle after which they dropped chase. Thankfully, we reached Guwahati the next morning without any further incident. Since we couldn't sleep a wink, he regaled us the entire night with stories and anecdotes from his village in Punjab, his adventures while driving, etc.

Upon reaching our destination later in the afternoon and unloading the truck, we asked our Sikh driver about how much we had to pay. He flatly refused to accept any payment saying that he refused to accept payment for helping people in times of need. But we were adamant too and refused to let him go without accepting payment. It took quite a bit of convincing and he accepted payment only for the diesel consumed on this trip but that too with great reluctance. He was visibly tired and just wanted to sleep. We asked him and his assistant to sleep in our quarters but they politely refused. We tried to manipulate them by saying that if we could sleep on their beds then why couldn't they sleep on ours ? To that, they simply replied that they faced difficulty in sleeping on new beds and were about to go to a Dhaba to eat. But I made them stay and quickly cooked up a meal of khichdi with clarified butter and some omelette. We ate together in our quarter and then they went into their truck to sleep. A few hours later they woke up and we served them some tea and snacks.

That Sikh driver left us that day with his contact details and the words that if we ever needed any help then we should not hesitate to ask him. That is the day when I gained a Sikh brother. In summary, transfers can be quite an excruciating experience but the right people at the right time can lessen the blow

[pandey.jai]

Timely thread! I have to move out at the end of Feb within the city (house owner wants to increase the rent by 40%).

Any tips or advice on intra-city move? In my case, I live alone in this city with no friends, so I’ve to do everything myself. Considering I won’t be moving more than a 5 km radius, do any of the strategies with respect to packing change?

[MotoBlip]

This bring backs a lot of memories. Being an army brat, we moved around a lot. 11 cities and god knows how many homes was our relocation tally before he retired.

Ironically we both loathed and relished this biennial task, almost sort of felt like routine. We never had proper furniture, my father being the precocious individual he is, instead opted for a modular variety. Almost all furniture could me dismantled and assembled in a few minutes. This helped us save a lot of cargo space, which meant a lower volumetric payload and thus savings on transportation costs. And since our allowances were fixed, any money we saved, we could pocket that and we did. Vehicle was usually transported through road by a hired driver/regiment driver after a bad incident involving our Maruti 800 falling into a ditch from a loaded truck(go figure how ), result being a cracked windshield and frontal damage.

Moving was especially hard for us kids, since it meant new schools, new friends and a lot of drama. If it were a mid session transfer, than that would mean catching up with months of syllabus in a couple of weeks, meanwhile also preparing for exams if any. But we were diligent kids and managed nevertheless, it was our way of relieving some weight off of our parents' shoulder.

One key takeaway from the entire exercise IMO was Labelling. Keep a permanent marker handy and label literally everything, saves a ton of headache(and arguments) during unpacking and helps prioritise essential items first.

[edunata]

Originally Posted by pandey.jai

Any tips or advice on intra-city move?

Just hire some 'thelawala', assign them the job. They are the best VFM for such short distance shifting.

[catchjyoti]

Originally Posted by callmeneo

Hi. As someone who moved cities once and intra city 4 times, i can chip in a bit.
I have been a fan of Agarwal packers and movers as they just take care of everything.
------------------
Cons are:
They are pricier but worth every penny.
Many dupes on the market with the same name. Some even use the same packing material as them.

Can you please give the website of the Agarwal Packers that you used? Since there are many on the web.

[cdrajeevkumar]

Thanks for this thread! My 2 cents on the packers and movers !
We moved part household stuff from Delhi to Mumbai in Dec 2022 (Part household as we were staying at FILs home in Delhi and relocated to our rental accommodation in Mumbai) we sought quotes form Agarwal Packers and Leo Packers.
Leo Packers were quite expensive and hence went with Agarwal

Experience:
Loading : Agarwal packers seemed professional as they arrived on time and went about packing. After 30 mins they increased the pace and went about dumping all stuff that wasn’t meant for packing (like wall paintings, kitchen utensils ). My spouse was held up overseeing the packing of our TV and in this lean moment they threw all souvenirs in a carton box and falsely claimed that proper packing was done. The ETA was 7 days and on 6th day after packing we got a call stating our goods had arrived
Unloading : 4 workers with a supervisor visited our home at the said time and unloaded all the items (boxes). They were courteous and my spouse wanted to tip them Rs 200 each but they were adamant in seeking Rs 700 each. We were short on hard cash and they promptly showed their UPI code and forced us to transfer Rs 3500. Upon opening the boxes

Souvenirs : all broken as they weren’t packed properly. No cushioning as all items were just dumped
Oven/Toaster/grill : had a dent on the top surface and front glass had a scratch
TV : scratch on the panel
Clothes : mixed worn utensils and not properly packed
Utensils : some of them were dented and some of them were of my in-laws which was packed without consultation
Paintings : 2 wall paintings that wasn’t meant to be transported also arrived.

Compared this to Leo who transported our goods in 2015 for BOM-BLR - very courteous and assembled all items at home. Removed trash and swept the floor clean and refused tip. On insisting they accepted Rs 200 per person

For our international movement BOM-BKK-DEL we had assigned this to HK Transpack who are par excellence! We shipped white goods (TV, Washing Machine, Fridge, Computer) along with all household items in a 20 feet container and all of these came in extremely sophisticated packing that all our items were unscathed! HK Transpack also took care of customs formality and ensured that I didn’t have to visit customs house for clearance formalities

Purpose behind this long story : to make our BHPians aware that they need to be cautious of Agarwal Packers as I found them to be a tad unprofessional!

Originally Posted by catchjyoti

Can you please give the website of the Agarwal Packers that you used? Since there are many on the web.

We used the services of below provided link

https://www.agarwalpackers.com/packe...SAAEgKArfD_BwE

Caution: you may want to check out Leo Packers too as my experience with them was quite awful

[ninjatalli]

Agarwal Packers - there are two good organisations (owned by brothers who split the company up). Do note there are numerous duplicates.

AMPL - https://www.agarwalpackers.com/
DRS Group - https://www.agarwalpackers.in/

Have had good experiences with both of them over the years.