How to avoid being a victim of Scams by Moving Companies

Dennis Norman

By: Dennis Norman

I want to start by saying this is not an attack on moving companies, many are honest and fair.  Unfortunately, like most industries, there are the few bad apples that can give the business a bad name and that is what this post is about and how to avoid falling victim to them.

Fortunately my last experience with a moving company was great.  In fact my last move was the smoothest I had experienced.  My wife chose Dodge Moving & Storage in St. Louis (a Mayflower agent) and we found them to be great in all aspects.

According to a release by Relocation.com this is not always the case though and they give information on three little-known moving scams and tips on how to avoid falling victim to them.  The scams are:

• The “Guaranteed” Moving Quote – Most people insist on getting a “binding estimate” which is often referred to as a “guaranteed moving quote.”  This estimate insures that the customer pays no more than the quoted amount, and can actually pay less if the estimate was too high. 

   The problem is that “guaranteed” quote is only good for the inventory that the moving company uses to come up with the estimate.  If the inventory is wrong, whether intentionally or not, the “guaranteed moving quote” becomes void and a new rate will need to be negotiated with the moving company (on moving day, no less)

How to avoid this: “After the moving estimator compiles the inventory during the in-home visual estimate, double-check the inventory to ensure that it includes everything you need to have moved,” says Sharon Asher, chairman and founder of  Relocation.com.  Asher goes on to say “Many people don’t even look at it (the inventory).”

• Packing Pratfalls

Many people chose to pack their belonging themselves to save money.  However, crafty moving companies may see this as an opportunity to add unnecessary charges on moving day.  There might be a few extra items that the moving company wants to go into boxes, or they insist that some of the boxes need extra tape that they charge much more for than the actual cost.

How to avoid this: Make sure the estimate details all the charges for extra packing material from the moving company.  Knowing the prices in advance may be extra motivation to make sure that every item that should be packed before moving day is indeed securely tape and packed.

• The Move Size: Cubic Feet or Weight?

When estimating the size of the move, some moving companies use cubic feet instead of weight.  For many consumers, trying to envision all their belongings in terms of cubic feet is often downright confusing.

Why do they use cubic feet instead of weight? For an estimate based on wight, the moving company must go to a certified weighing station to see how much the inventory weighs – and that scale doesn’t lie.  With cubic feet, the moving company measures the final move by the amount of space everything takes up in the truck.  This gives the moving company sizable “wiggle room” – literally – to load up the truck improperly, with lots of empty spaces.  The moving estimate becomes much higher because the estimated cubic foot load is much lower than the final load in the poorly packed truck.

How to avoid this: “Insist on a moving quote based on weight,” says Asher.  “And if the party being moved has concerns that there might be issues when the moving company weighs the load, tag along with the movers to the scales – consumers have the right to do this and should.”

 The information on the scams above as well as tips to avoid them are from Relocation.com.  You can visit their site for more useful tips and information on planning a move.

As for me, my advice for choosing a mover would be:

• Talk with and obtain quotes from at least 3 companies.  This will give you three different opinions of the weight of your move.  If all three are close I would find comfort in that.  If one is particularly lower or higher than the others I would address that with all the companies to find out why. 
• Don’t fall for a “low-ball” price.  I’m not saying don’t take the best price, but if one company is significantly lower than the others explore why and make sure it is not because they have underestimated the inventory as addressed in this post.
• Ask for a list of references from each company and call several of the people and talk with them.

Happy moving!

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5. Undercover Investigation Finds Fraud Common Among Mortgage Loan Modification Companies