Occasionally our movers are called upon to do tasks that they are not trained to do and / or are not safe to do and / or we are not insured to do. For the information of our customers the following is a list of the things that we cannot do on moving day.

 

These are things that should be arranged for through a third party service and accomplished prior to moving day. We suggest Household Movers Services to do some of these things but we ourselves cannot do them. Our Concierge and Coldwell Banker's Concierge Service have lists of other vendors who do some of these things and also Angie's List has a list of vendors for some of these services.

• Electrical: sometimes we are asked to dismantle and move chandeliers and/or ceiling fans and/or wall lamps from wired electrical connections in the ceiling or on the walls. We cannot do these kinds of tasks because they involve the risk of electrocution and our corporate insurance policy does not cover that. Customers should employ a licensed, trained electrician whenever dealing with wiring. We realize that at times the use of an electrician can be costly, but it is the only safe way to do these kinds of tasks.

• Plumbing: sometimes we are called upon to remove showerheads, to disconnect and move washing machines or to disconnect icemakers in refrigerators. These are tasks the customers should have done before moving day. We do not have the proper tools or know-how it do them correctly. Sometimes rusty connections stay open and cannot be turned off and can cause flooding or water damage to the residence. Therefore disconnecting waterlines should be done well before moving day in case a major problem like this should occur.

• Appliances: sometimes refrigerators are so big that they cannot get through a doorway or up / down a stairway without removing the doors. This is a complicated task and reassembly of the doors after the move is even worse. There are appliance repair services that will prepare a refrigerator for moving and will disassemble and reassemble it as necessary.

• Gas connections: recently the newspapers reported a severe natural gas explosion in a person's residence. The owner was killed and neighbor's homes were badly damaged. It was determined that this was caused by the owner of the home attempting to disconnect the gas connection attached to his stove. The news report stated that if the atmosphere in a room is contaminated by only five percent of natural gas, that any kind of a spark (including one generated by flicking a wall switch) could set off such an explosion. Under no circumstances will Burrows Moving Company personnel become involved in any disassembly or reassembly of natural gas connections because of this danger. It is recommended that customers contact the gas company to do this for them. They offer an inexpensive, safe service to consumers.

• Gasoline: many times on moves we are asked to move lawnmowers, small tractors, motorcycles, snow-blowers, propane tanks, etc. Burrows Moving Co. drivers do not have hazardous materials licensing nor will mover's insurances cover these flammables. We cannot transport anything with a gasoline or propane tanks, even if it is empty (because of explosive fumes). Customers need to make other arrangements to transport these articles.

• Firearms / fireworks: Burrows Moving Company moving personnel are forbidden to move or to carry customer's firearms or ammunition or fireworks of any kind in our trucks. Again we are not insured to transport hazardous materials and we don't have the necessary licenses for firearms or fireworks. Customers must make other arrangements to transport these items.

• Customer transport: we are not insured to transport customers in our moving vans. So we do not do so. Customers need to make arrangements to transport themselves in a timely fashion to each moving location.

• Garbage removal: occasionally a customer will request that we remove garbage from the residence for them. This is not a job that professional movers are supposed to be doing. We ask our customers to take care of this matter in some other way.

 

The following is a list of guidelines that we want our customers to follow when they are using Burrows Moving Company to do their move.

• Plastic bags / shopping bags: we do not move articles in plastic bags or shopping bags. They easily break open and spill their contents causing damages or dirtying the articles that were inside. If customers have things in plastic bags and they can not box them for some reason, then we will place them in our wardrobes (two, three or four bags at a time) to carry them. But, we won't carry them as is. The rule of thumb is that everything that the mover is not going to pad up should be packed in cardboard boxes that are taped and sealed.

• Open / unsealed boxes: all boxes must be sealed with tape. Open boxes cannot be stacked and must be carried inefficiently, one and a time. Open boxes also easily spill their contents causing damages. Boxes with flaps folded but not taped also easily spill their contents. We do not move open boxes or boxes that have not been sealed with tape. We will repack them or seal them with tape before moving them.

• Unpacked goods: when our crew arrives at a residence and there are unpacked items to be moved we will not move them unless they are packed up right then. Either we can immediately pack them using customer's materials or we can pack them using our materials (chargeable). If we have to call for materials to be brought to the job from our office, the delivery is chargeable. We assume that the customers who book with us will be completely packed on moving day or that they will have requested our packing services to be done before moving day.

• Bugs / rodents: when our crew arrives at a residence and we detect evidence that bugs or rodents are present within the residence we will not be able to do the job. People desiring to move to extract themselves from a dwelling infested by bugs or rodents should first get an exterminator to eliminate the pests. Attempting to box up goods and seal them to escape infestation rarely works. It is best to fully exterminate before attempting to move. We cannot move customers whose residences are infested because the bugs or rodents could get into our trucks and be passed on to other customers.

• Dirty / messy residences: If our crew arrives at a residence for a move that has been booked on the telephone without an estimator first eyeballing it, and that residence is filthy, dirty or extremely messy and unpacked, the crew will probably refuse to do the job. This is always true of residences where pet hair, urine or feces are present. We will not do moves under these circumstances.

• Pressboard furnishings: Because of the nature of the material, Burrows Moving Company will not take responsibility for moving furnishings made out of pressboard. Pressboard furnishings are typically purchased unassembled and then are assembled in the residence. Glue, nails and screws do not hold well in the pressboard material. Because of this, any moving pressures at all can cause them to become wobbly or unstable. Moving pressures can also can cause pop outs in the material itself near screws or nails. Pressboard is a very unstable material to move and we cannot take responsibility for it. We do use belts and taped padding to secure each piece and keep it as stable as possible in order to try to avoid these problems when we move furniture made of this material. But, even that is not always enough so we cannot take any responsibility for damages to these things. All movers in the Stste of Illinois disclaim damages to pressed board / particle board engineered wood furnishings.