DR Jane - Sometimes those "by phone" estimates can work in the mover's favor. I remember when Steve moved a couple of years ago, he was moving from one apartment to his new condo. They based his rate on the number of rooms he had in his old place. Of course, what they didn't count on was the fact that he quite the library of books, sheet music and recordings. The moving company honored their estimate, but even one of the guys on the crew said they probably would have charged him more had they done a in-person, on-site estimate. -I think on-site estimates are truly the exception now rather than the rule.