I would recommend NorthStar to my own parents. That’s how great they were with a $3,100 one bedroom apartment move across the country. Our stuff traveled more than 2,700 miles and not one item was broken, severely damaged, or lost. Amazing!
My NorthStar experience first began with a phone call with Ted. I had some basic questions and he was friendly and helpful. A few days later, Ilan D. came to our apartment with his laptop handy and made a quick assessment/inventory list of our belongings. He was calm, friendly, helpful and not pushy at all. Ilan seemed like a nice typical dad (in his early forties?) We had other companies also come out to do an in-house estimate, which I highly recommend. The guy from a company that contracts with North American was a bit annoying and pushy, so we are glad we went with NorthStar instead. Ilan immediately emailed us a flat rate/not-to-exceed estimate which we accepted and signed a few days later.
We painstakingly packed and labeled our items (everything except furniture) ourselves. I had my own secret labeling system. NorthStar sent three, young, nice, respectful, and thin men to us for the pick up. The guys were surprisingly strong and were extremely careful about disassembling our furniture. They took our heavy boxes and furniture down our treacherous stairs to their truck without incident. One kindly asked us if he could play music from his phone, which we all appreciated. It helped break the silence. We had cold bottled water, juices, and some energy/cereal bars for them.
They took our belongings to their storage facility in Chatsworth since we didn’t know the exact address of our new place yet. Finally, when we picked a new place I called NorthStar to give them the address. He recommended I email the info to their general email address. Unfortunately, the email was never read or the guy never entered it into their system. When I called a couple days later, they had no idea we were ready for pickup. But the second guy, Adam D., worked really hard to get the delivery going.
9th – Called NorthStar and emailed them that we were ready for delivery
13th – Called NorthStar for a delivery update and they had no idea we were ready for delivery
13th – Adam D. emailed me back and said our belongings would be delivered sometime between the 13th & 25th (13 day window)
27th – Actual delivery day. 18 days after I initially called. 14 days after my second call. Pretty good considering our building only allows moving in/out M-F during business hours.
Delivery was fine. It was three young (Russian?) guys who worked fast. I feel like the delivery guys had an easier time because they don’t have to be as careful putting together the furniture as the guys who take it apart. The guys who take it apart upon pick up have to spend a lot of time wrapping the furniture pieces and not lose little screws and bolts.
Our total move cost was approximately $3,100. It was approximately $400 over the original estimate because we used a few extra weeks of storage beyond the first free month ($130+), elevator at the destination ($50 ish), two “long carry” charges ($150 ish), and an additional 3% charge for using a credit card to pay.
Tips for moving:
Have several companies do an in-house estimate.
Buy moving insurance. http://Moveinsure.com was easy. Glad nothing happened to our stuff, but if it had caught on fire we would’ve been okay. Devastated, but okay.
Finish your packing before the movers arrive. They told me that we would be surprised by how many people aren’t finished packing their stuff when they arrive to take it away. It took me much longer than I thought.
If you’re doing a self pack like we did, make your own labeling system and keep a list of all the boxes and their contents handy upon pick up and delivery. Check off boxes/furniture items as they arrive at your new place. That way when the delivery guys are done, you can say, “Thanks, we have all our stuff” fairly quickly.
Have cold water bottles, gatorade, packaged snacks, etc. ready for the movers. It doesn’t cost much and they usually appreciate the gesture.
Tip. I don’t know how much the moving guys get paid, but a tip is usually appreciated by the guys. Actually, no matter how much they get paid they are working really hard to move your lazy ass’ heavy ass belongings.
Call the company several times leading up to the pick up date. Confirm that they are coming.
Call and email NorthStar several times about the delivery and get updates from them. I called to notify them that we were ready for delivery, but the guy who answered did not actually enter it into their computer system. Several days later, I called and they had no idea I was ready for delivery. Don’t hesitate to call them!
Review your moving company on yelp, google, transportreviews, etc. 🙂
Really great moving company.
Jessica at the main office was excellent at explaining rates-what’s covered per hour, and what the additional costs might be. She even verified it by email. She suggested a yelp coupon to save $ . She re-confirmed time + date + rates a few days before the move. Another good point is they always answer their phones in a professional manner.
The 3 man crew showed up on time and were eager to move. They were polite and respectful of my belongings and the building property. I was impressed how strong they were and how quickly they moved.
They finished earlier than we had expected which is unusual in a moving company that books by the hour.
I found their rates competitive. Some movers advertise low hourly rates but have other hidden costs which makes the job more expensive later—unfortuntately common w/ a few other moving companies . Some places claim longer driving times, go very slow to increase the bill, or just don’t care about how they’re carrying your boxes.
NorthStar is not like that. They were reliable and fair.
North Star was/is terrific! Someone came out before the move and gave us a dollar amount and promised it would not exceed this. Not only didn’t it not exceed the amount, but it ended up being like $800. less. The guys were on time and were all super nice. We had a unique move situation and they rolled with it all with good humor and care. I highly recommend North Star and would use them again for sure! They even put down plastic on our newly cleaned carpets so as not to stain them and removed their shoes when they had to step off the plastic. So thoughtful. I just recommended them to a friend. Truly, finding a moving company that you can trust is stressful. It’s nice to know that there is a company that takes all the stress out. Yay!
NorthStar was referred to me by a friend. I moved up to San Jose this week from LA. Ilan was our estimator and he was on time and thorough. Even after bothering him numerous times about re-vising my estimate, he would gladly and promptly take care of the revision. The movers were very professional. I am really happy with the price and service.
Ana Cardona and Jessica Flores are exemplary representative of your company. Both seemed highly organized and always courteous and polite. Ms. Cardona and Ms. Flores are a real credit to your company, in particular always following through whatever the concern was. Made our move a comfortable experience.
Sharon and Terry Chiapee
Alvaro Pena (forman), Antonio, and Jose were GREAT!
They did a fantastic job. They were on time, they were helpful in moving all of my furniture and boxes, they put together a lot of my furniture for me, and they cleared out all of the trash. Hooray! Stress free moving at its finest!
I have used Northstar 3 different times now, and I have enjoyed all of my experiences. They seem to do a great job and have discounts online most of the time too.
Highly recommended! 🙂
I had to move a lot of my stuff into storage, but I could only afford the smallest storage space and was really nervous about fitting everything. I even brought my car to store the extra stuff, which was going to be a huge pain. NorthStar was amazing! They worked so hard to use every inch of the space like a giant jigsaw puzzle and were able to fit everything! I was so grateful and it saved me a huge amount of hassle. I would highly recommend them to anyone!
Definitely a great company to work with for a commonly stressful task. Alice, Ilan, Adam, Sam and Wendy were all great customer service providers, and the movers at my origin in California were fast and professional. They wrapped everything up very tightly, and you could tell that they were experienced. Things were not quite as smooth on delivery, including one lost item, but the staff worked to quickly compensate me above and beyond what was required. I used a Yelp deal as well and found the cost for an out-of-state move to be significantly less than other competitors. They also ship every day and could provide me with an exact pick-up day, which is also rare.
Northstar came to the rescue at the last minute when I was moving recently. I literally called on Thursday evening for a Saturday move over the Memorial Day weekend. I talked to Stefy and she was fantastic! She was really calm and helpful (especially with a stressed out customer like me). She even reminded me to purchase the yelp deal (thank you!!).
They really helped me get my stuff to my new place very quickly (I needed them even though it was only a mile away). I had 3 guys come with a large moving truck and they were extremely efficient. Very professional and the move was neatly done. None of my items were damaged and they were very careful about moving my furniture so as to not scratch the new walls or floors.
Additionally, the price was much lower than I expected, so I gave them a nice tip for their hard work (I also have annoying stairs to deal with). It was worth every cent! I definitely recommend them to anyone in LA that needs a stress-less move.
Oh and did I mention that they bring 10 wardrobe boxes? It was awesome!
I did a TON of research before making my move from San Francisco to Florida and I am very happy with the service NorthStar provided.
I was only moving about 1 bedroom’s worth of stuff and didn’t want to break the bank on this move. The “big” companies gave me quotes around $3600, which was more than my stuff was worth! The sketchy companies that give you quotes from the internet (DON’T USE THEM) gave me quotes under $1000. NorthStar quoted me around 2,500 and the offered me a flat-rate quote (I could have done one based off of weight if I wanted).
My estimator, JC, was friendly but very honest. Example — At one point, he told me that one item I wanted to move was not worth it — he explained that it would cost a lot, because it was heavy AND it was the kind of thing that breaks in cross-country moves. He didn’t have to say this, and his company would have made extra money if we’d tried to move the item.
JC stuck with me for the entire pre-moving process. I asked him about a million annoying questions and pestered him endlessly. I even changed my inventory multiple times at the last minute. In hindsight, I was probably a pain in the ass to deal with. Still, every request was responded to promptly and accurately.
On move-out day, the crew of guys arrived (Augustine and the two Joses) and got right to work. My apartment had a CRAZY-NARROW stairwell, and the guys managed to get my large and awkward furniture out without messing up the building’s paint job. They packed and wrapped all of my furniture really well and we very courteous and professional.
I had asked the guys at NorthStar to hold my belongings in storage for about 20 days before sending them out so that I’d have time to find an apartment. They agreed and gave me a 10 day delivery window (the way these guys move your stuff cheaply is to pack it into a huge 18-wheeler with other people’s moves — so the truck doesn’t leave until it’s full…hence the window).
The only bump in the process came with the delivery of the items. I was under the impression that I’d get a call one week prior to delivery. Once the middle of the window rolled around, I called in to the company and found out that I would actually only get a ONE DAY warning before my stuff arrived. This was less than ideal. The next day, before my new apartment was ready, I got a call from the truck driver saying he was ready to deliver THAT EVENING. Luckily, he was very nice and was able to hold off for two days and I had enough time to get everything ready.
The truck that arrived was from a moving company that NorthStar had contracted with to complete the transportation of my stuff. I have heard that sometimes this is where problems pop up, but I had no such issues. The guys were able to back the HUGE truck into a really tight spot and then very quickly and carefully unloaded everything.
Overall, I had a very good experience and would not hesitate to use NorthStar if I’m ever moving within Northern California again.
I wish to express my appreciation for the team of movers who moved my storage items yesterday from Los Angeles to San Diego.
Mike, Rafael, and Carlos did a wonderful job. They were fast and efficient, and took
great care of my things.
Rafael made an extra effort to arrange the items in categories in the new storage unit, as had not been done before, and I certainly appreciate this; it will make it much easier for
me to sort through these things from now on.
Please put my words of praise for each of these men in their personnel folders; I am very glad they were sent to help me.
Best Regards,
Loraine Schacher

I’ve used NorthStar three times in eight years and they are amazing. Lynn is very nice and well organized in coordinating the logistics, she’ll take good care of you. The teams show up on time, move fast, move efficiently and take care of items. Plus, they’re pretty reasonable on price, especially with the coupon you can buy on Yelp. Highly recommend these guys if you need a mover.
NorthStar Moving was fantastic. They were friendly and informative when I inquired about their services. When I told them I was a yelper they made sure I knew about the coupon. NorthStar confirmed my reservation 2 days before my move and made sure I had everything I needed for packing.
On moving day, Felipe and his team showed up with friendly faces and moved everything from my one bedroom apartment to my other apartment in just 4 hours. They were timely, friendly, and cost effective. They completed the job without anything being damaged or broken. My landlord had new wood floors installed and they took that into consideration when moving things around. I would definitely recommend NorthStar to anyone. And when I move again I know who to call.
Thank you for getting me to Point A to B!

Great movers! First time we caved and got movers and will definitely call North Star again. Though it took twice as long as we expected, it is not from lack of trying. The 3 guys who came seriously hauled butt…we just tons of junk! There was even a small dent in a cheapo Ikea side table, and they discounted our supplies cost a bunch to compensate for it. Pretty sure the discount was more than the table was worth. Even had a follow up call a few weeks after we moved to make sure we hadn’t found any other damage or problems now that we were more settled. Honest, reliable, and fast.
INCREDIBLE!!! These guys rocked…Lonnie lead a team of three to move us from our 2 bed/2bath duplex to our new place. In the three hour move, we witnessed nothing but hustle! We never questioned their time management and they took the best care when wrapping our furniture and packing our hanging clothes! We will absolutely recommend them to anyone and of course will use them in our next move!!
I used NorthStar to move from LA to Colorado and everything was great from start to finish. The estimator, Ilan, gave me a comprehensive overview of the process and the pricing and scheduled my move. On the day of the move, the movers loaded up my apartment in record time, and did a great job wrapping up and packaging all the little stuff I hadn’t managed to get into a box. Everything showed up in Colorado in great shape and the movers happily carried it up three flights of stairs on one of the hottest day of the year. Thanks to NorthStar for making things as painless and convenient as possible!
My name is Jay Abraham; I am the president of the Abraham group. We’re in
Torrance, California. But I am probably known better not for my business but
for my work, by the way I teach people, how to operate their businesses at the
highest strata of integrity and ethos. I stand for ethics, integrity and
highest and best conduct and respectful conduct to your clientele. When I put
my reputation and my integrity and my international track record on the line
to tell you that you should be using NorthStar Moving, it should tell you, we are
exhilarated, with the treatment we got. We are monumentally impressed with
their professionalism and their people and staff are exquisite, you will be
very very gratified that you chose them. I had the good fortune in my career
to experience world class people, average people, mediocre people and out right
poor performing people. I am sitting in front of a camera today to urge you if
you have a move coming up to deal with only extraordinary people and there is an
extraordinary organization that we used for our move to our office and they are
outright exceptional, in fact, exceptional is probably an understatement and I
am very loath to overstate anything. It’s NorthStar Moving, they are based in the
northern part of Los Angeles, they serve a board base of clientele, they are
exceptional in literally everything they do, except they are not exceptionally
high priced. It’s rather remarkable that they can be world class in their
service, world class in their attention to detail, world class in their
understanding of what it is like to be in a position of moving, whether you
are moving up or down, moving sideways, moving out of the area, and they have
empathy, they have professionalism in a level that I don’t think I have ever
seen before and they have the ability to make your move as painless, as problem
free and as pleasant, and positive as is humanely possible. More importantly, the people
behind it are extraordinary in their commitment to really make the experience
something very very positively memorable. They dedicate enormous amount of
staff, enormous amount of support, enormous amount of pre moving
involvement, making certain that the transition you make from house to a
house, from a house to an apartment, from an apartment to a house, a house to another
part of the country, is the least traumatic and the least stressful it can be.
Something that really impresses me about them and it should impress you
too is that your peers, other men and woman, in similar situation, who have
moved, from all over Los Angeles and have checked out the entire scope of
options, alternatives and providers have nominated them as the ultimate,
they won more awards, more distinctions, and to peer to peer, judgment which
is Yelp, they are runaway, the highest rated, probably more genuine
testimonials, more video endorsement, more lavish praise for everything
except their prices because their prices are omni competitive. They’re not the
premium price provider, but they are the premium provider, in what you want.
Attention, concern, support, respect for you, your situation, your furniture,
your attitude, your children, your dogs, they have service providers that can
take care, everything- they even have dog taken care of, children taken care
of, dinner ready, refrigerator restocked, they are rather incredible people. If
you don’t seriously, not just check them out, but talk to people who used them,
you will be very very sorry, you’ll be sorry because a lot of moves can be traumatic, a lot of
moves can be very frustrating, a lot of movers don’t do what they say, come
when they say, respect you or your property like they say and the end result
is a trauma that lives with you for a long time. I rarely do any kind of
testimonial endorsement for anybody, not paid to do this. The only
motivation behind me doing this is the urge to help make certain that you
make the right decision for yourself, your family, your furniture, your future
and your physiological well being. I couldn’t encourage you enough to favor
NorthStar Moving with your move. It will be the wisest decision you make in
beginning with the new phase of your life. Whether it is here, whether it is
out of town, they are exceptional, they are someone that you can absolutely
trust. What they say they do. Their reputation is unimpeachable and they are
people that you will be very very very comfortable having entrusted your move to. It’s
about all I can say, except, honestly talk to them, invite them to come out
and look at your situation, talk to people who have already been blessed to
chose them, don’t make a decision, based on saving a few dollars, don’t make a
decision based on spending a lot more money. Make the decision on the criteria that
is the wisest, basic purpose of choice: what other like minded people, large and
small, moving up or down on the continuum have had to say they are not lying
, they are not gaming the system, you can’t game the system when you have four or
five hundred video testimonials, you can’t game the system when you have
dozens and dozens of awards. You can’t game the system when the most discriminating and
publicly exposed organization use you as their designated mover. You should
use them too. Thank you.
This communication is intended to describe our brilliant experience with Northstar Moving.
In June, the expected (even if unwelcome) announcement was made that our office space had been sold to new owners. Lucky for them, goodbye ocean-view for us. And then, there was the move itself, to arrange.
As if on cue, Ram Katalan and Northstar Moving made our acquaintance. We had a walk-thru for an estimate to move our approximately 1,500 SF space, with typical office components and accessories: desks, computers, file cabinets, couches, tables, chairs, printers, copiers, faxes, paintings, coffee-maker, mugs, doodads, tchotchkes…it was endless.
And who doesn’t remember packing up their first, small space or office, thinking that setting aside a few boxes and a couple hours “ought-a do it.” AND, your friend with an F-150 owed you a favor. Then, “reality” materialized. Probably several days, dozens of hours and that haunting, self-loathing (for discovering six reams of unused legal paper and a case of coffee stirrers), have left an indelible scar on your psyche.
Such was the frame of mind. Ram was most nonplussed.
“We’ll do that. We’ll do that. We’ll do that,” was his refrain to every gesture towards an unwieldy object or over-stuffed cabinet. And they DID.
The crew came, assessed, packed and moved it all in a day. No muss, no fuss, and best of all, no damage. Just like they said.
All the while, I kept expecting an unwelcome surprise, an unexpected complication – didn’t happen.
Having been the veteran of a number of personal and professional moves, I’m qualified to say that Northstar Moving has been the best experience I’ve had.
With gratitude to Ram Katalan and his crew,
Maureen Ruiz
The Abraham Group

Every step of my move from CA to NC was so easy. Your workers were efficient and very courteous. Not enough room on this evaluation form to say all that was so right! My furniture was handled with the utmost of care.
Thank you all!
Both the loading and unloading service crews were extremely professional, friendly, and efficient!
I have used Northstar to move twice. Both times the teams were prompt and professional. They took great care of my belongings and managed relatively tough moves (into a 3 story walk-up the first time and out of it the 2nd) in the minimum time (3 hours). (For comparison’s sake, it was a 1-person, small 1 bedroom move with no large appliances.) When I called to book the movers, a Northstar employee directed me to their Yelp coupon, which she didn’t have to do, as I was already using their service. Would highly recommend them to anyone.
These guys (and gals) are the real deal. They are more expensive, but in retrospect the difference was well worth it.
Moving from Los Angeles to Austin, I had originally arranged to work w/ a more “budget”-oriented moving company. The salesman was perfectly friendly, but after sending my deposit, the very next conversation I had was with an unpleasant, almost hostile dispatcher who seemed to be working out of her Santa Monica apartments. There were various other sketchy warning signs that I won’t bother to recount. I ended up canceling my “non-refundable” deposit by revoking the payment through Visa.
I was set to move the next day, so I called Northstar in a panic. Ted Tindall was extremely helpful yet consummately professional, and he found a way to accommodate us (not to say they can always do next-day moves, but at least he didn’t turn me down on policy grounds).
Moving crews on both ends were very professional. Various odd-shaped and large items were packed with no problem. It’s been a month since the move, and nothing has turned up missing or broken to my knowledge (we’re probably 90% unpacked).
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Northstar or use them again. It is NOT worth risking dealing with sketchy/unprofessional movers to save a few hundred dollars–and that’s assuming that it would’ve even saved money. (Final cost of Northstar was consistent with their estimates, whereas other companies were clearly low-balling on price in preparation for sticking you in the back end.)
First time I’ve ever used a moving company. I’m grateful I found these guys. What could have been a horror story was smooth sailing. Cheers to Northstar for being excellent at what they do.
The people at North Star are so amazing! I absolutely love them.
We booked them about two weeks ahead of time and they called us the night before to confirm.
That Saturday morning and they were suppose to come between 8am and 10am. They called us at 7:30am to give us a heads up that they would be coming closer to 8am. Felipe Salamanca and his team of two other guys rolled up at 7:50am. I seriously LOVED that they were there early.
We had put all of our boxes in the living room, so they got right to work carrying all the boxes down to the truck. While two of them were taking the boxes down, Felipe starting wrapping all our furniture in plastic wrap and blankets. They also dissembled our bed and some of our bookcases, so that they would be easier to move. The side tables and coffee table in our living room have glass tops, which they removed and then wrapped in TONS of blankets to protect them. They also took the clothes that were hanging in our closet and put them in wardrobe boxes that we were able to use during the move (free of charge). They also did a great job of labeling the wardrobe boxes which made it really easy to figure out where the contents of each wardrobe box should go in our new home.
They also moved our massive couch, mattress, refrigerator, washing machine and dryer around some sharp corners and down a flight of stairs. If we hadn’t hired them, I have no idea how we would have gotten them downstairs ourselves.
Felipe and his guys got all of our items safely to our new home (about 30 minutes away) no problem. They do charge double drive time (but so does every other moving company as I believe it is CA law).
They unloaded all of our items safely and carefully. They put plastic wrap down on our new carpet to help keep it clean. They also made sure to ask us where we wanted things and then placed them in each room accordingly. They even made suggestions like putting some of the boxes in the garage, so that we would have space to move around in the rooms that were already full of boxes. Those types of suggestions made me notice how thoughtful they were about our move.
All three of the guys were very polite, well dressed and friendly. It was a bit hot on the day of the move, but all three guys really hustled the whole time.
Now that I have had time to unbox my kitchen and fragile items, I can safely say that all of our items made it through the move in perfect condition. I would 100% recommend NorthStar and will definitely use them again in the future.
Here is the breakdown of our move:
Loading = 3 hours (majority of the time was getting the big appliances around corners and down the stairs)
Drive Time= 30 mins X 2 = 1 hour
Unloading= 2 hours (this time includes reassembling all of our furniture that they had taken apart in order to move it– yes, our bed too)
Total Time= 6 hours X $115 per hour = $690
Materials (Plastic wrap, tape, etc) = $69
Total= $759
$50 for $100 Voucher= -$50
Total price after voucher= $709
We also gave them a 20% tip on top of that (because they SERIOUSLY deserved it).
Just as a side note, when we were paying the bill at the end of the move, I tried to use the $100 for $50 voucher that I had purchased earlier, but I hadn’t printed out the actual voucher. I only had the confirmation number. They charged us the full price ($759) on the day of the move. Later that week, once I printed the voucher to pdf, I called the northstar office (talked to Ashley Cole), emailed her the pdf and they refunded me the $100. I thought it would be a total hassle, but it wasn’t at all. Ashley was super nice and she emailed me back very quickly with a copy of the refunded amount. No hassle at all.
So, yeah, to sum it up, I love Northstar.
Three years later and I’m still using Northstar, which says a lot right there. For a moving company to offer not only excellent service but also timeliness is practically unheard of, but with Northstar that’s what you’ll get each and every time.
Just made another move last month and again had the pleasure of working with Ted in the office. Booking process was again very easy, as well as price quote and confirmation. Super professional and friendly, which is just what I needed when dealing with yet another stressful move…
Once again the movers showed up precisely on time (actually 10 minutes early), totally rocked the joint and got everything out well under the estimated timeline. What pleased me the most was the absolute CARE they took of everything they moved – unlike other companies I’ve used that just throw the stuff in the van hoping for the best, these guys really go out of their way to take expert care of your furnishings.
Ted, looks like we’ll be doing another move in April of next year – I’ll be giving you a call! THANK YOU AND YOUR STAFF FOR EVERYTHING!