Holding a Masters in Human Resource Development & Management from the NMIMS, Devaray boasts of a three decades long career, during which he has worked with NELCO, Siemens Information Systems and Infrasoft Technologies, prior to joining AGS in 2011.

Packers and Movers are people who take responsibility to pack your goods, relocate wherever you want and then unpack those goods. Relocation services may be long distance or nearby, National or Inter-national transfer, and depending upon that, you choose the company who helps you move.

So, why do we need professional packers and movers? Shifting from one place to another is a big challenge considering wrapping-up everything that is currently arranged in the cur-rent location, and then getting them packed, followed by transportation, and most importantly, laying them back in place at the new location. Believe me, it is a stressful job. It is very difficult to shift with zero-stress. Every activity has its own challenges, be it packing everything or ensuring transportation without any damage, which is a very tiresome task. It is even more tedious when you have to unload everything and rearrange the goods at your new office or house. Time plays an important role as well when it comes to shifting, since you have to manage at both ends ­ place you are vacating and the place where you move in to. If you don't have enough time, then the professional services can make your work easier and hassle-free.

Factors to Keep in Mind While Using a Professional Packers & Movers' Services
1. Verify if it is a licensed company:
This is the first question you should ask potential movers. Do you have proper documents to prove that your business is legitimate? An established moving company will anyways come to your place with all these documents, references and testimonials to distinguish themselves from their peer. But if they don't, then ask for valid documents to establish the fact that there is a genuine business and that you are not dealing with an individual freelancer service provider. These documents might be trade license, GST details, or their personal identification proofs such as voter IDs, pan cards, or any other documents.

2. Check about their past customer or customer feedback: Ask them if they can provide a list of past customers who have hired them for home or office shifting, and found their service to be great? If you look at any website of movers and packers, you will find logo of various MNCs while scrolling up and down; but that does not establish the fact that they have actually worked with them.

3. Check their back ground; since how long they are in the business: The number of years they have worked will be directly proportional to the quality of service you can expect from them. A reputed movers and packers will be happy to give you the details. This is just to know what to expect from them and obviously it will have an impact on their rates for shifting services.

4. Check the ways to contact them: Today, we have so many channels to communicate, from telephone and email to mobile and Whatsapp. They will happily pick your calls and communicate with you properly; the problem starts after you strike a deal with them and pay them in advance. They might not show the same intima-cy after that. Hence, you should clarify all of the details and have alternate contact details in place.

Time plays an important role when it comes to shifting, since you have to manage at both ends ­ the place you are vacating, and the place where you move into

5. Check if they're doing the work themselves or subcontracting it: At times, Packers and Movers will simply subcontract the work to other movers. It is a very important question that you should be asking to them, as they often employee subcontractors who will be doing the unloading part. When you receive your goods at your new location, they might act in a to-tally different manner, and hence you should know the entire process in advance, how they are going to provide their service to you.

6. Check if they have liability insurance in case of any accident or mishap: This is one of the most important questions to ask when hiring movers in India. Moving companies in India offer two different types of insurance, transit and full liability. Tran-sit insurance is cheaper and it covers damages in transportation. But liability insurance is one that is offered by moving companies themselves. So ask them about the kind of insurance they are offering, charges and obviously the protection it offers to your goods. Ask them to show the proof of Insurance.

Also at times, they send it in their own truck, and at other times, they have to send it through a different movers and packers who are sending a truck in that route. You should ask this question in the very beginning so that later they cannot claim anything in case of any mishap in the hands of the subcontractors.

7. Check their payment terms: Payment term is one more critical things and it matters. Do they have a flexible payment term or not? Obviously they need some advance before sending the good, but insist on giving advance on the date of packing and remaining payment after delivery of goods. To whom do I write the cheque to? What are the remedies in case they do not deliver as per schedule

8. Check their company's specialization area: Like specialization in car transportation, for warehousing service, moving huge containers, and custom clearance for foreign goods, you should work with the specialists. How they pack? Are they using card-board boxes to pack clothes, crockery, utensil and other items, as using old carton is not a good practice. Usually they do this to save money on packing materials. Unless, you are on a tight budget, there is no point using old and used boxes. Always insist on using new and fresh packing materials like cartons and wraps to ensure your goods will remain safe.

9. Check if they have their own vehicles, or do they rent it: This is also an important question to ask when hiring movers for interstate shifting. There are moving companies who have their own fleet and there are others who just rent on-demand trucks as and when needed. But when a mover has its own fleet, you know that they are established, and also the cost of transportation could be comparatively better.

10. Check if they can offer temporary storage: Usually, movers are expected to pack and move your goods on door-to-door basis. But what if your new house is not ready for some reason by the time your goods reach its destination? Naturally, you have to store your goods in a warehouse for a week or two, no? What would be the costs for such storage service?