Moving Experience: Kaley’s Move with Safeway
Fact Checked by: After living in the Los Angeles area for several years, Kaley and her husband were ready to return to the Chicago suburbs of Lombard, Illinois, to be closer to family and friends.
When they first relocated to Venice, California, seven years earlier, Kaley’s employer at the time handled the moving details. While this certainly made things easy, Kaley was looking forward to calling the shots this time around.
rating
- GPS tracking en route
- Veteran-owned
- Dedicated move coordinator
- Flat-rate pricing
- Donates a portion of moves to charity
During her research, Kaley actually found moveBuddha after the Google Gemini AI tool recommended us as a helpful resource. After using moveBuddha to get quotes — and ultimately picking Safeway Moving — she decided to participate in our Better Moves Project in exchange for a $500 relocation stipend.
In this guide, she shares her experience with Safeway, our top pick for best interstate moving companies.
Move day takeaways for Safeway customers
- Communication: Safeway offered excellent communication throughout Kaley’s move. Their team was available by email, text, and phone, and proactively communicated before the move, on moving day, and in the lead-up to delivery. Communication could have been better during transportation, though.
- Pricing accuracy and transparency: Safeway was willing to price match after Kaley got a cheaper quote from Mayzlin Relocation.
- Professionalism: Safeway’s movers provided timely and courteous service, handling Kaley’s items with great care. She felt they treated her items better than she and her husband would have, using blankets, plastic wrap, and other materials to protect everything.
- Timeliness: Safeway’s movers arrived precisely during the time frame they gave her and everything was delivered on time after 10 days in transit.
- Loss and damage: Two picture frames were damaged and a set of salt and pepper shakers went missing. Otherwise, everything else arrived in perfect condition – including an electric bicycle, a big-screen TV, and a custom dining table.
- Would Kaley use Safeway again? Yes! Everything went smoothly and as advertised, giving Kaley and her husband an excellent experience from start to finish.
Kaley needed help moving from CA to IL
Kaley’s employer handled the couple’s move to California, taking the logistics and cost — but also choice of mover — out of their hands. For their move to Illinois, she was in charge of selecting the company, and she wanted to make sure her full-service mover would provide a good price and reasonable delivery timeline with the least amount of hassle.
To start her research, Kaley used the Google Gemini AI tool to ask “What are the best-rated moving companies for moving from LA to Chicago?” The top answer was Safeway Moving, but Gemini also recommended that she look at moveBuddha as a moving resource.
Kaley took the AI tool’s advice and checked out our information before using our moving cost calculator to gather multiple quotes.
Kaley’s move at a glance
| Move Date | August 22, 2024 |
| Moved From | Venice, CA |
| Moved To | Lombard, IL |
| Distance | 2,000 miles |
| Move Size | One-bedroom |
| Moving Company | Safeway Moving |
| Moving Quote | $5,895 |
| Actual Cost | $5,950 |
Kaley contacted three full-service moving companies
Using our site, Kaley reached out to Safeway Moving, Mayzlin Relocation, and Bravo Moving.
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She started getting responses less than an hour after submitting requests. Safeway contacted her first and after a 20-minute chat to go over her inventory and moving plans, the agent gave her an initial quote of $5,962. Kaley and her husband planned to pack boxes themselves.
The quote included:
- Moving labor
- Taxes
- Tolls
- Insurance coverage up to $10,000
Kaley then went through the same process with Mayzlin. Notably, their initial quote — $7,200 — was much higher. But after Kaley mentioned Safeway’s estimate, Mayzlin gave her a price-matched quote of $5,950.
Kaley preferred the customer service she got at Safeway, so she texted them the next day to ask if they would match the Mayzlin quote (what a smart cookie!). In response, Safeway cut their original estimate down to $5,895.
Bravo Moving texted her later that same day, but at that point she felt like her decision would come down to Safeway or Mayzlin.
| Company | Estimated Volume/Weight | Estimated Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Safeway Moving | 720 cubic feet → 800 cubic feet | $5,962 → $5,895 |
| Mayzlin Relocation | 800 cubic feet | $7,200 → $5,950 |
| Bravo Moving | N/A | N/A |
Kaley chose Safeway for their prompt and courteous service
There were a few factors that led Kaley to choose Safeway. She reached out to them initially because they were the top recommendation for best moving company in her Google search. But it was Safeway’s customer service that sealed the deal.
Kaley was pleased with how quickly Safeway reached out to her — after she requested a quote through moveBuddha and when she asked about price matching on her Mayzlin quote.
Kaley also thought Safeway’s sales representative was much more courteous than Mayzlin’s. The Safeway rep treated her like she was competent, which was very reassuring. Mayzlin’s representative, on the other hand, acted like she hadn’t done any research… even though she clearly had. Those initial interactions make a difference!
Moving day went great, with one minor hiccup
Safeway’s consistent communication gave Kaley and her husband peace of mind as they prepared for the move. Safeway called two days ahead of moving day to confirm the date, time, and final inventory.
They gave Kaley an estimated arrival time of 7–9 a.m. One hour before arrival, they called to let her know they were on their way, and they also sent a text when they were a few minutes away. The moving crew arrived at 7:55 a.m. – right in the middle of the estimated time frame.
Safeway provided a three-person crew to handle Kaley’s move. She and her husband were very impressed with how the movers treated their items, using lots of blankets, plastic wrap, and other materials as needed to ensure everything was fully protected. In fact, Kaley thought they treated her items better than she would have done herself!
It took about 3.5 hours to get everything loaded on the moving truck. While the movers loaded the truck, Kaley and her husband cleaned the apartment, packed their car, and offered some general supervision.
Moving day only had one very small hiccup – four wardrobe boxes that hadn’t been accounted for during the inventory process and some extra packing materials were needed. The movers had no issue packing these extra boxes, though this did slightly increase the total move cost.
Delivery went smoothly, despite less frequent communication
After the moving truck departed, it took 10 daysfor Kaley and her husband’s possessions to be delivered to their new home — right in line with Safeway’s initial timeline.
Despite this, Kaley felt that Safeway could have been a bit more proactive while their items were in transit. The movers contacted her the day before delivery to let her know when they’d arrive, but she would have appreciated more updates in between.
Once Safeway’s team arrived, the truck driver collected payment, then the crew got to work unloading. The moving foreman asked Kaley and her husband to direct movers as to which room they wanted each item. This allowed unloading to go quickly and with everything in the right place within the couple’s new three-bedroom home.
Kaley and her husband appreciated that kind of efficient work from Safeway’s team . They even rebuilt the couple’s bed and dining room table and offered to unroll rugs.
The care that went into loading was also evident after everything was unpacked. The only issues were two broken picture frames and a missing salt and pepper shaker set – items so minor, Kaley didn’t feel it was worth filing a claim. The couple’s e-bike, big screen TV, and custom dining table all arrived in perfect condition.
Our take on Kaley’s move
Thanks to the stellar work provided by Safeway Moving, Kaley’s move went exceptionally well – and she rated them quite high for their good work!
We have to say kudos to Kaley, though. She laid the groundwork for a successful move by researching her moving options in advance and getting quotes from multiple companies through our moving calculator.
We also love how expertly Kaley took advantage of competitors’ price-matching policies, and that she used multiple calls to Safeway and Mayzlin to get a better understanding of what each had to offer. We encourage our readers to ask about price matching and moving discounts, even if companies don’t advertise any. The worst they can tell you is no!
And since Kaley and her husband made themselves available during moving day and delivery, the movers were able to work efficiently at both ends of the move. Even though the movers did all the heavy lifting, having guidance from the homeowners helps the work go better for everyone.
Safeway’s proactive communication – especially their willingness to text – also took some stress out of Kaley’s move. While she thought those updates could have been more frequent while everything was in transit, she felt Safeway did a great job communicating during every other stage of the move.
Overall, Kaley said Safeway Moving delivered exactly the kind of experience she wanted, and she gets now why Google would recommend them as the top long-distance mover.
The verdict
Kaley loved how her move turned out. Despite a few very minor issues along the way,Safeway Moving was as advertised, ensuring Kaley had as stress-free a move as possible. She especially appreciated that Safeway handled a lot of communications via text, which was faster and better-suited to her communication preferences as a millennial!
Ultimately, Kaley felt she got her money’s worth from Safeway, thanks to hardworking crews and high-quality service they provided for a cross-country move. She would definitely recommend Safeway to anyone looking for long-distance moving services.
Here’s how Kaley rated Safeway on a scale of 1 to 5:
- Communication: 5
- Timeliness: 5
- Quote accuracy: 4
- Overall experience: 5
Do you have an upcoming move? Share your moving experience with the Better Moves Project to earn a $500 stipend. Sign up now.
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