When moving couples who aren’t breaking up, there are always ways to get a sense of their usual dynamic, said Sven Wechsler, owner of Sven Moving. One person may show his true colors and “lose their crap completely,” he said, while the other becomes wide-eyed and embarrassed, wondering if she made a huge mistake.
“They think movers are like flies on the wall, so they don’t hesitate to have very open conversations with each other in front of you, so you kind of get a sense of their dynamic, of their relationship, like petty grievances or just weird stuff,” Mr. Wechsler said. “You see into their private lives in a weird way you wouldn’t normally see.”
An organized, well-packed apartment and a chaotic, filthy excuse for a move-out can both be reflections of a relationship. It can also be telling when only one person is present, Mr. Wechsler said. Once, when he arrived at a home to move out a woman, about five of her friends were there to help her pack her things in a “very rushed process.” He said it was obvious they were sneaking her out while the husband was away.
“We were asking: ‘What else should we take? The television?’” he said. “And she arbitrarily decided that we take the television, and we started worrying if we were robbing the place.”
Lou DeFabrizio, owner of Lou Moves You, said someone once made a habit of requesting a move after a breakup, but repeatedly canceled after making up with his partner. The third time it happened, Mr. DeFabrizio actually showed up, but was turned away and offered some money for his time. When the person requested a move a fourth time and Mr. DeFabrizio refused, the would-be customer left the company a nasty, one-star review on Yelp under the name Daniel.
“And then I realized what was happening,” Mr. DeFabrizio said. “Daniel and their partner would get into some sort of fight and it’s like, ‘I’m calling the movers!’ And they would always make up in the morning and not break up. And I’m like, Daniel, I can’t be a part of this, this toxic relationship.”