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• High End

  THE MOVER: White Glove Transportation Services

  Price: $3125, New York City to Cambridge , Mass. ($14.50 a mile)

  THE PITCH: Full service from a national hauler.

  NICEST TOUCH: Dropped off our unwanted clothes at Goodwill.

  WATCH OUT FOR: Smoking breaks.

  By THIS POINT, we were ready for a truly hassle-free move, and White Glove, a local affiliate of moving giant Bekins Van Lines, said they could deliver on our special requests – for a price. The estimate for our 200-mile move to Boston came to a whopping $4,600 at first, though our estimator immediately offered a 30% discount. A little more haggling and it was a further $230 off, making us wonder if we should have pushed for more.

  The company is relatively new to the “concierge” business, but they arrived like veterans in the upscale move wars wearing “White Glove” shirts and driving a freshly washed truck. The four-man team took their places immediately, mopping the floors, spackling painting holes, and wiping dust off furniture before packing it. A fellow named Edwin even repacked a box of china after noticing we'd done a bad job ourselves. They wouldn't prearrange our phone service, but told us they were looking out for us (protecting our privacy). “Don't forget to fax my boss to tell them how great I was,” one mover said.

  Without all these extras, the relocation might have cost us about half as much. But compared with our two other movers, White Glove actually charged the least when you factored in the distance – about $14.50 a mile. More important, though, the team left our house in pretty good shape – and invited us over for dinner anytime we want. Our clothes were folded, our shoes were lined up and the carpets were all vacuumed. And even though it was 90 degrees, thanks to the air conditioner our movers installed, we were sitting cool.

  •  Heather Won Tesorieto
  contributed to this article.