Moving house advice

One of our friends recently moved back to Malaysia after completing his studies. The small community of Malaysians here all came over and helped moved their stuff which they had spent packing literally over the past month onto the 40 footer container. Even with all the guys, it took almost all morning to get the stuff loaded on and finally we were done.

However, sometimes it is better to use the professionals. I once helped my sister-in-law move house when we realised that there was no way we could dismantle their sofa or bring it down their narrow winding stairs. In the end they called a local mover and it was amazing watching them take the sofa through the window through a system of pulleys down to the guys waiting below. The guy in charge told me that they had carried much heavier items including pianos similarly.

I guess it is best to call in the professionals if you can afford it. For example, another friend was moving house and these guys came in a big truck and had packed up and cleared the house in half a day. Later on my friends told me that none of the furnitures had even a scratch.

However the question is how to find and hire general help for moving. And you are of course concerned - Are they reliable? Are they accountable? I have heard so many horror stories about getting day movers that sometimes risking a slipped disk sounds like a better option.