Our Story

How It Started

It Started With One Truck

Elliott did not start Mantis Moving with a fleet of trucks and a warehouse. He started with a U-Haul, a work ethic that would not quit, and the belief that if you show up on time and treat people right, the business will follow. The first jobs were small. The standards were not.

What set Mantis apart from the beginning was not equipment or marketing. It was reliability. In an industry where no-shows and last-minute cancellations are common enough that people warn each other about them, Elliott built a company with a 100 percent show rate. Every job booked. Every job completed. No exceptions, no excuses.

Over time the right people found their way onto the crew. Not just strong backs, but people with good attitudes, careful hands, and the kind of professionalism that shows up in the details. A piano that gets wrapped before it moves. A doorframe that gets padded before anyone carries anything through it. A final walkthrough before the crew leaves so the customer knows everything is exactly where it should be.

100%

Show Rate

500+

Moves Completed

5.0

Star Rating

Pricing Philosophy

Why We Charge by the Hour

Most moving companies charge a flat rate. Elliott decided early on that flat rate pricing is the wrong model for customers. A flat rate has to account for worst-case scenarios to protect the company’s margin. That padding comes out of the customer’s pocket whether the move needs it or not.

Hourly pricing is honest. A well-prepared household that moves efficiently pays less than a complicated one. The crew has every incentive to work with purpose because the customer is watching the clock right alongside them. The final bill reflects what the job actually took. That is the only way Elliott was willing to run a moving company.

The Preparation Advantage

Because Mantis charges by the hour, your preparation is your best cost-control tool. Every box packed before we arrive, every path cleared, every piece of furniture you have already broken down, all of it lowers your final total. A well-prepared home can easily finish an hour or two faster. That time difference is real money saved.

Our Standards

What Every Mantis Move Looks Like

Four things that are true on every single job we take, regardless of size, distance, or complexity.

We Show Up

100 percent show rate. Every job booked is every job completed. There is no circumstance under which we cancel on a customer who is counting on us.

We Protect What Matters

Every piece of furniture wrapped before it leaves the room. Every doorframe padded. Every floor protected. This is not optional on a Mantis job.

We Price It Honestly

Hourly billing. No flat rate padding. No fuel surcharges after the truck is loaded. Your bill reflects your actual move, not a worst-case estimate built to protect our margin.

We Finish Strong

Final walkthrough on every job before the crew leaves. If something needs to move it gets moved right then, at no extra charge. You approve the result before we wrap up.

The Team

The Crew Behind Every Move

The Mantis crew is the company. Elliott built it person by person, choosing for attitude and care as much as physical ability. The names that show up in customer reviews, Demetrius, Chris, Airon, Josh, Jay, Brady, are the same names that show up job after job because this crew does not have a revolving door.

When you book Mantis Moving you get the same standard of care every time because the people delivering it take genuine pride in the work. They wrap every piece of furniture. They pad every door. They do the final walkthrough because they want the customer to be happy, not just because the checklist says to.

Based in Royal Oak. Serving all of Southeast Michigan. Available Monday through Sunday, 8am to 8pm. You will see their faces in the van when it pulls up, and you will recognize their names in the reviews when the job is done.