“You Know You are a Rogue Mover if…”

Our friends at Sterling Van Lines present…

“You Know You are a Rogue Mover if…”

1. You find yourself quoting customers in terms of cubic feet
2. You won’t guarantee anything in writing
3. Your price is 1/3 of REAL mover’s prices
4. You can’t name the tariff you use to quote with
5. You find yourself talking to your customer with your cigarette still in your mouth!
6. You find three times more stuff than your customer “told you over the phone”
7. You won’t let your customer witness the weighing of his goods
8. You demand cash at pick up!
9. Your credit card machine is “broken” or “down”
10. You don’t seem to know where your customers’ goods are!

All jokes aside, if you are moving this summer – please be aware of scam and rogue movers. We’ll have more helpful information on scam and rogue movers from Jay Clithero of Sterling Van Lines throughout the summer – subscribe to our RSS feed to stay up-to-date!

---

Sterling Van Lines, Inc. is a Los Angeles-based moving and storage company specializing in small moves. With over 50 years of combined moving experience, over 10,000 moves, and a reputation for quality in our industry, our goal is to customize our services to the needs of each customer — whether you’re moving your home or office, or just a few pieces, we’ll make your move worry free! Visit us at www.sterlingvanlines.com

---

How to Read a BBB Report – Part 2

This is part 2 of our series on how to read a BBB report.
To read part 1: How to Read a BBB Report – Part 1

What a complaint resolution really means:
Resolution of a complaint does not necessarily mean that the complaint was resolved. It only means that the company that received the complaint made an effort, no matter how slight, to resolve the complaint.

Let me explain. Let’s use the example from above. The company received several service issue complaints. Maybe a customer said that they were rude. For this to be resolved with the BBB, the company only has to acknowledge the complaint with the BBB and agree to work something out.

Now, if this customer does not respond back after a certain amount of time, the BBB automatically “resolves” this complaint. The customer may not even be happy… it doesn’t matter. In the eyes of the BBB, the complaint is resolved. Even if the customer doesn’t agree with the resolution the company proposed, after a certain amount of time, it too is resolved in the eyes of the BBB.

In both cases the customer may not feel that the case was resolved in any manner and still be ticked off. Doesn’t matter with the BBB; it is resolved.

Here are the actual definitions that one BBB uses for complaint resolution:

COMPLAINT CLOSURE TYPE DEFINITIONS

RESOLVED
Response from company addresses disputed issues. Consumer has verified (either orally or in writing) that the complaint has been settled to his/her satisfaction or consumer has not verified that the complaint has been settled, but has not contacted BBB again to indicate dissatisfaction or to request further assistance.

UNRESOLVED
Consumer indicates (either verbally or in writing) that the company’s response to the complaint does not settle the matter and the BBB believes that the company’s response does not adequately address all the issues or make a good faith effort to resolve the dispute.

ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSED
The BBB determined the company made a good faith and reasonable effort to resolve the issues, although the complainant was not always satisfied with the outcome.

NO RESPONSE
Company failed to respond to BBB after receiving the complaint.

Look at the second half of the “resolved” definition and the definition of “administratively closed” to see further clarification on my points above. Unfortunately, just because the company has “resolved” all of its complaints does not necessarily mean that it made the customer happy.

Averaging out the complaints with the size of the moving company:
In my example above I pointed out that this moving company had 11 complaints filed against them within the last 12 months. That is a lot of complaints. But what if this company is a large company, with a large volume of business? You should look at the number of complaints that a company gets against the size of the company (if available) for a better figure.

For example, a moving company that does 5 moves a month and gets 10 complaints a year versus a moving company that does 100 moves a month and gets 10 complaints a year. Which would you rather hire? I would go with the latter.

Every moving company is going to get a complaint at one time or another. It is inevitable. But look at the size of the business versus the amount of complaints, and that will give you a better determination of the quality and performance of the company that you are researching.

In the case with the moving company above; yes they are a larger moving company, but the number of complaints against them is still above industry norms.

Using the BBB to validate the mover’s address:
To be an accredited company with the BBB, you must provide your company’s information, such as the owner, address, phone numbers, and the amount of time that you have been in business. This is all very important stuff when looking at the moving company you may hire. A non-accredited business can provide this information to the BBB as well. This information is usually verified by the BBB for accuracy.

In the case of a moving company; if you find a company on the internet and they give a different address than what is listed with the BBB, this should raise a red flag. This is also useful information to have as you can then drive by the company you’re thinking about hiring and see how their premises look and the neighborhood they are in.

You may find that the company is in a bad part of town and would not feel safe going there, or you drive by and see that the building is in disrepair. Having that address prior to hiring the company is very useful. Most BBBs also have the address linked to both Google and Yahoo maps.

Conclusion
I believe in the BBB in general. I think it is a great organization. But don’t believe everything they have to say. There are flaws with their system, and it is open to corruption and manipulation. However, it has a lot of useful information like the BBB report, which if read correctly, can give you the story behind a company. Of course you can always call the BBB to get more information, and I have found them to be very helpful.

Use the BBB and its reports, but avoid making any decision about any moving company without thoroughly reading their BBB report and consulting others information sources.

Like G.I. Joe would say, “Know before you go. Because knowing is half the battle.”

---

Jae Burnham is a guest blogger for One Simple Move and a moving company insider. After creating one of the most successful moving companies in Michigan he now dedicates his time to provide free information to help you Hire Professional and Reliable Moving Help and to Spot and Avoid Moving Company Scams.

---

How to read a BBB Report – Part 1

The Better Business Bureau, better known as the BBB, is a non-profit organization that operates as a third party overseer of businesses. The BBB is supposed to protect you, the consumer, from frauds and scams. While you should always look to the BBB as a source of information when researching moving companies, it should not be regarded as the be-all end-all of any decision.

The BBB is far from perfect and there are flaws in its reporting system. However, if you know about these flaws you can better arm yourself against fraudulent moving companies out there. Knowing how to read a BBB report is your first tool. The BBB report is full of useful information that you can utilize to better understand a company’s performance and quality of service.

So let’s take at look at the BBB report.

What the report grade really means:

The letter grade is the first thing that you see when you look at the BBB report. Unfortunately, this is where many people stop their research. The letter grade simply means that the company has fulfilled its obligations to the BBB’s specifications. As you will see, an “A” rating does not necessarily mean you are looking at a good moving company.

The difference between accredited and non-accredited businesses

One of BBB’s qualifications is whether a company is accredited or non-accredited. Being an accredited company means that the company has a paid membership with the BBB. A non-accredited company means that it does not.

The BBB is completely voluntary. A moving company can elect to be a member or not. No company can be forced by the BBB to follow its standards or guidelines. Even if a non-accredited moving company chooses not to be a member, it still may follow BBB standards and guidelines if it so chooses. However, to get a better grade with the BBB you must be a member.

Different types of complaints (and which ones you should be concerned with):

There are many kinds of complaints that one can file with the BBB about a company. They can range from a company not fulfilling its warranties or being rude, to breaking things or outright theft and fraud.

Here is an example of complaints that one moving company has gotten within the last 12 months (They have an “A-” rating… you be the judge.)

• Billing and Collection Issues
• Customer Service Issues
• Delivery Issues
• Guarantee and Warranty Issues
• Selling Practices
• Service Issues

This particular company has had 11 complaints in the last 12 months, 6 of which were “Customer Service” and “Service Issues”.

This means 6 people have objected to the way they had been treated by this company to the point where they felt it was necessary to complain to the BBB. That is significant. You should be aware of this. It does not look like this company treats its customers very well.

They only had 1 incident with “Selling Practices”. That could mean that this company sold this particular customer a little too hard, or it could mean that they fraudulently misrepresented themselves. The BBB does not tell us this, but based on the above complaints I would not be surprised if it was the latter.

Look at all the complaints together and then make a decision on whether this moving company is a good company or not.

Continue to Part 2: How to Read a BBB Report – Part 2

---

Jae Burnham is a guest blogger for One Simple Move and a moving company insider. After creating one of the most successful moving companies in Michigan he now dedicates his time to provide free information to help you Hire Professional and Reliable Moving Help and to Spot and Avoid Moving Company Scams.

---

Moving Scams – NJ Warehousemen’s Association Video

Check out this video from the NJ Warehousemen’s Association:

Moving Day: “My Life is on that Truck!”

While the clip is a bit reminiscent of middle school health videos from the 80′s, it has some solid advice that’s still applicable today.

We don’t have any relation with the New Jersey Warehousemen’s association (…yet), but Associations are usually a good place to start when looking for a mover. While no association can guarantee the quality of their moving companies, there is very little chance you will find a scam or rogue mover in their ranks.

Avoid Online Brokers

Online Brokers are companies that will find a moving company to service your move. Usually they’ll get your details over the phone or the internet, then let moving companies bid for your move. Online Brokers can be the start of a nightmare move, so always insist on talking to moving companies directly when shopping for a mover.

The issues boiled down:

1. Many times, online brokers will try to make you think they are a moving company to get your business.
2. Brokers sometimes charge “deposits” which are usually just extra fees.
3. Brokers might give you an estimate over the phone based on what you tell them you are moving. Phone estimates are usually red flags for scam/rogue movers.
4. Brokers do not have the incentive or responsibility to make sure your estimate is accurate, since they won’t be the ones moving your stuff.
5. Brokers do not have an incentive to make sure your move goes to the highest quality moving company.

Check out this Article from ABC News that explains some more dangers of using online brokers.

---

Note: One Simple Move is not an Internet Brokerage or Lead Generation website. One Simple Move allows users to contact moving companies directly and anonymously, pre-screens any moving company in our network, and does not charge moving companies “lead fees.”

---

Moving Scams & Rogue Movers – Part 3

Part 1: What’s the Scam?

Part 2: Why is this Happening?

Part 3: The Role of the Internet

Part 3 of this series discusses the role the Internet has played in making the issue of Moving Scams and Rogue Movers so widespread and prevalent.

___________

Most people would agree that the Internet has made their lives better – but ask the same question to anybody in the moving industry, and you might get a different answer. Why? Because the Internet has played a key role in tarnishing the reputation of this industry over the past decade.

When the Internet became a mainstream part of business in the 90′s, it made sense for moving companies to get quote requests (estimates) from their customers through a website.  Some websites went a step further and gathered moving companies and people together so a customer could go to one website and find many movers.  The information age had come to the moving industry – yay!

Unfortunately, this also happened to coincide with a time when the moving industry was being deregulated (see Part 2 for more on this) and many companies were entering the market.  Some of these companies were just inexperienced, but others were full-on scam companies (see Part 1 for more on this) that were ready to take advantage of loose regulations to dupe customers.

The Internet made it very easy for these questionable moving companies to get quotes and business from customers just by having a pretty (and sometimes not so pretty) website.  It also began to change customers’ expectations in working with a moving company from a detailed, hands-on, direct contact approach to “instant quotes.”

So what’s the solution? Consumers should be aware of the issues when shopping for movers online, even if it is a reputable third-party website. Consumers should also be aware that getting an accurate moving estimate is never “instant” and takes good, direct communication with a mover, along with (in most cases) an in-home survey.

For information on other issues regarding finding a moving company on the internet, please see our articles on:

Lead Generation Websites

Internet Brokerages

---

Note: One Simple Move is not an Internet Brokerage or Lead Generation website. One Simple Move allows users to contact moving companies directly and anonymously, pre-screens any moving company in our network, and does not charge moving companies “lead fees.”

---

How not to find a moving company: Lead Generation Websites

Finding a moving company is easy.  Just type in “moving companies” in any search engine and millions of websites will appear.  Unfortunately only a few of them will actually be moving companies.  Some will be brokers (I’ll discuss these in a future blog post) and many will be “Lead Generation” websites.

They typically rank among the top listings with most search engines when searching for moving companies and related keywords.  They collect information about you and your move and sell it to moving companies enlisted in their services as a customer lead.

They are the websites that claim you can “get moving quotes now” or “get free moving quotes”.  Truth is you never actually get moving quotes now from any website and that moving quotes are always free.  The problem is that they are not a good way to find a moving company and can make the process of finding a quality moving company and having a stress free move more difficult than it needs to be.

The good. These websites are nice because they are quick and easy.  You fill in a few fields and hit submit.  Then moving companies contact you.  You have to do little to no searching to find them and they do all the legwork in contacting you.

The bad. Spam, sales calls and questionable moving companies.  First of all, because you have to give up your privacy in the form of your contact information, these moving companies can just email or call you at their convenience.  Second, typically you don’t know what moving companies have been given your information.  This is pretty scary because you don’t know who has your contact information and you don’t know anything about the quality of the moving companies.  And because you don’t know who the moving companies are, you can’t research them until they call you and you give you their company name and if they don’t call you at all it was just a waste of time.

Another issue with classic lead generation websites is that occasionally illegally operating or “rogue” movers purchase leads through these sites and can cause absolute nightmare moves (see our series on moving scams & rogue movers).  However, these sites are successful for a reason and their general ease of use makes them an enticing option.

Below are some links to past experiences from one of the more popular lead generation websites.

http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=58081

http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=33032

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/291/RipOff0291367.htm

www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=280&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45

On the other hand, One Simple Move is different and is not a typical lead generation website.  But I’m not just trying to plug the site and I’m not going to say it’s better.  Ultimately, our users will decide that for us.

At One Simple Move you create an account and receive access to a directory of qualified, licensed moving companies that can service your needs.  You then research and contact movers and can contact them anonymously through our site until you feel comfortable giving up your contact information.

The good. You are empowered as a consumer with a list of licensed and qualified movers who you can now research and contact on your own time, at your speed and without giving up your privacy through our unique anonymous communication interface until you feel comfortable giving up your contact information.  You can also review your moving company post-move to help future users.

The bad. Well I guess the worst par is that you have to create an account and have to do the legwork of contacting the moving companies.  But we work with some of the best moving companies, inform you about the industry and make connecting with moving companies as easy as possible by giving you one place to track all of your contacts.