Arizona moving scam exposed by state department

Moving scams happen all the time.  With the number of moves that occur every year .  Granted, they do represent a very small percentage of the total moves every year it’s still likely that someone is being scammed right now.  Unfortunately many of the scammers are never caught but recently I came across this article from Phoenix news station KPHO Channel 5 regarding an instance of catching the foes in the act and a saved consumer.

The Arizona Department of Weights and Measures in conjunction with authorities in Kennewick Washington foiled a scam involving three different moving companies working together to pull a scam involving hidden charges and other violations.   Of course there was a moving broker involved which doesn’t surprise any of us here as you know we feel about them (check our article on moving brokers and tips for hiring a mover).

Struggling economy leads to price wars and dangerous moves in Chicago

The tough economic times have taken quite a toll on the moving industry.  The Chicago Tribune recently published this article about the effect of the economy on movers in Illinois.  The effect appears to be doubled for moving companies since not only have home sales and thus the overall need for moving services declined but the decline of needs for other services has lead to a  poaching of sorts of household moving jobs.  This is evidenced here by the case of the carpenter posting his availability for moving services.

Opportunities abound for the extremely price conscious looking to save a buck and willing risk their belongings.  “What’s a matter with saving money?” you may ask.  There’s always a cost and in this case it’s the gamble that your move will go well.  Here are the top three reasons to be concerned about hiring unlicensed movers for your next move.

No insurance – Even if you don’t pay for additional insurance, in most states and for all interstate moves, licensed moving companies must insure your belongings for some minimal value, typically $.60 per pound.  It’s not much but at least it’s something.  Furthermore, a licensed mover will inform you about this and supplemental coverage that provides more adequate reimbursement.

No experience – Hey, if I had a truck and maybe a trailer I could move your stuff too, but it might not arrive at your new home looking like it did when you left your old home.  At least some of the staff at a licensed moving company will have many years of experience and most larger van lines require fairly substantial training regarding proper packing and loading to ensure protection of your valuables.

No reputation and no concern about reputation – Fly by night operators won’t have a reputation to fall back on and they aren’t looking to build one.  They’re main concern is getting the next job and they’ll entice new customers with prices substantially lower than those of licensed movers.  They may change names as necessary to escape a reputation that has gotten so bad as to garner publicity.

The main point to all this should come as no surprise…buyer beware.

Tips for finding quality movers

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, the more you know as a consumer the more you can protect yourself from having a tragic move or getting scammed by a moving company.  If you’re in a rush and don’t think you have the time to review all of our previously written advice about how to help choose your moving company take a look at these great moving tips written by Rachelle Chong of the PUC and published at Asian Weekly.

Most of these tips we’ve included in past blog articles but it’s good to see our recommendations reinforced by someone in the industry.  She also adds one crucial step that we might not have mentioned before about visiting the moving companies place of business which will help protect against fly by night operations and allows you to get a feel for the type of company you’ll be working with.  And there are a few essential reminders that are worth repeating like not accepting over the phone estimates and making sure you get a “not to exceed” price.

For more helpful information on how to find quality movers in your area open an account at onesimplemove.com.

Cheap moving companies cost more in the long run

We’ve written before about how trying to cut costs on moving by hiring the cheapest moving company can turn out to be a bad idea and unfortunately it’s happened again.  In this article from KTVK Channel 3 News posted on azfamily.com we here about a bad move in Arizona where a Phoenix / Mesa  area family thought they were getting the most for their money but ended up getting even less than they bargained for.

It’s disheartening but it seems to be even more true now than ever during these tight economic times that poor quality, low balling movers can succeed in drumming up business while leaving families with even more to worry about.  Just another reminder that although it may seem like a good idea to bargain shop when looking for a moving company you may get what you pay for.  So do your research, search the web for reviews, check the BBB and ask for references.  Or just go to onesimplemove.com where we’ve done the work for you and you can find some of the best movers in your area.

How not to find a moving company: Moving Brokers

You’ve probably heard that hiring a moving broker is not a good idea and can lead to very rough if not tragic move.  As we’ve written about before in our article about avoiding moving brokers we recommend that you do not use moving brokers.   It’s not just us, you can also read this article by the Washington Post and this article on White Fence.  Or just Google “moving broker” and see the wonderful list of articles that appears.

The real question is how can you tell a moving broker from a moving company.  Unfortunately it’s not that easy but I do have a couple of tips to help you if you’re looking at a website and trying to find out if the company is strictly a broker.

1. Does the company appear faceless?  In other words, are there any pictures of employees, the office, their trucks or anything else that “personalizes” the company?  And I don’t mean stock photos of moving trucks or employees.  Seeing real pictures makes it very likely it is not a broker.

2. Is the company an agent of a major van line?  If you see any signs on the site that the company is an agent of United, Atlas, Allied, National, Global, Mayflower, North American, Paul Arpin, Bekins, Stevens, Joyce or any of the other major lines that I happen to be leaving out here it’s likely that it is not just a broker.

3. Does the company provide you with a history of the business?  For example: when it was founded, if it’s a family business, how it started etc.  If there’s any type of history provided it’s most likely not a broker.

4. Do they have a physical address listed on their website?  This is not a for sure but most moving companies will list a physical address and most brokers will not.

Determining whether the company is a broker or not by reviewing the website is not an exact science but by looking at these elements you can usually get a good idea.  And in most cases you can determine if it definitely is a moving company.

One last thing to remember is that many movers will still have to broker some moves but it doesn’t mean that they are strictly brokers.  They still have trucks, workers and experience with their own moving company and have more knowledge about the industry than a strict broker will.  And if a moving company has to broker your move they are still a better bet than a strict broker. The ideal situation, however, is using a mover that will complete the entire move by themselves, with their workers and their trucks.

Understanding moving insurance and valuation

A big concern to everyone when hiring a moving company is “What happens if the movers break something or lose it all together?” and the answer is that it depends.  It depends on what state you’re in or if it’s an interstate move and whether you decide to pay for extra insurance or not.  This may seem complicated but it is actually fairly straightforward.

For all interstate moves the movers are required to provide you with what is called “Released Value Protection” at no extra cost to you.  This is very minimal coverage and the moving company is only liable for $.60 per pound for every item.  So for example if they break a 25 pound TV they pay you $15.  Not very reassuring but it’s free and it’s better than nothing, but just barely.

For intrastate moves it varies state to state with many states also offering some sort of minimal protection similar to the $.60 per pound coverage offered for interstate moves.  If the moving company has not said anything about this coverage you should definitely inquire about it and review the contract closely.  It should mention this minimal coverage somewhere in the contract.  Again, not that this coverage offers a tremendous amount of protection but gives the movers some incentive not to thrash your stuff.

In many cases the moving company will offer you additional insurance for additional cost.  They usually want to offer this because they can make a little extra money on it even though the insurance may be provided by a third party insurance company.  The amount you’ll pay for this will depend on a deductible amount (typically either $0, $250 or $500) and the total value assigned to your belongings.  It can cost a few hundred extra bucks for this coverage but does provide you with some assurance.  With this insurance coverage the mover must either: repair the item; replace with a similar item or make a cash settlement for the cost of the repair or the current market replacement value of the item.

One more thing to consider is that if you pack your own boxes, it may be more difficult to make a claim against the moving company for any breakage that occurs in those boxes, regardless of how well you feel you packed them. In fact many movers will flat out say, we will not cover any boxes you packed.  Some, however, will say if the outside of the box is damaged they’ll cover it, if the box is still in tact, they won’t.

Even though you’d like to think that your belongings are safe, accidents do happen and it’s good to know what happens when they do.  This is just one more reason to pick a moving company with a big name, they have more incentive to be careful with your belongings because they want to keep their name clean.  If you picked your moving company blindly and because they were the cheapest they just might not care as much.
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Written by the One Simple Move Team

Detecting Scam / Rogue Movers – Your Rights

Remember, you have rights!
Unfortunately, only ethical movers follow the rules and allow you your rights. There are many, many good movers out there. Most movers are good people and want to help. They do not need laws to enforce ethical business practices. The only effective way to avoid trouble with your move is to detect a criminal mover before they are allowed to touch your items.

What to do and who to call
Check up on a mover’s license:
http://www.safersys.org/
You can type in the company name or the license # and find out if they have a valid license and if they have insurance coverage:

Dept. of Transportation Hot Line:
(888) 368-7238
Call this number to file a complaint with Department of Transportation. The DOT needs to know about the unethical practices of movers.

Watch Dog Committee for Moving Companies:
(202) 366-4553
This is part of the Division of Office of Enforcement & Compliance under the Federal Motor Carrier & Safety Administration. These folks have the authority to do something about it.

Division of Office of Enforcement & Compliance:
FMSA
400 7th St. S.W.
Washington, DC 20590
Ph: 202 366-4553
Fax: 202 366-3462

Special thanks to Jay Clithero of Sterling Van Lines for all the helpful information on scam and rogue movers.

Happy and safe moving this summer!

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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

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Detecting a Rogue / Scam Mover – Part 3

Why are pounds important?
The known tariffs are based on mileage and pounds. You always have the right to have your things weighed at a certified weigh station. You can witness the light weight (before pickup) and the heavy weight (after pickup).

You meet the driver at the closest scale to your home and follow them back to the scale after pick up. You will have a certified weight ticket; you will then know the exact pounds.
Standard movers will be perfectly willing to accommodate you.

Is your “estimated” cost significantly lower than other estimates from major moving companies?
Your costs between movers should not vary that much, if you have an “estimated” cost that is too good to be true – it is too good to be true. The normal method of operation of these “Movers” is to quote very low, sound very nice and professional, then you will be informed on the day of pick up that you have a significant amount more than you reported and the cost will go up – usually about 2-3 times the original estimate.
By following the above guidelines you should be able to avoid “rogue movers”.

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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!

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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

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Detecting a Rogue / Scam Mover – Part 2

Does the “Mover” demand a deposit or ask for half the money up front?
Standard movers do not demand half of the money up front. Their service speaks for itself. Unless you require a very specific day or time it is highly unusual for a standard mover to need a deposit.

Did the “Mover” give you a guaranteed price?
If the mover guaranteed a price for cubic feet*, now you must know how to determine cubic feet, very few people know this or take the time to do it. You are thus under the complete mercy of the “Mover” and you could be taken advantage of. This should not be debated after the “Mover” picks up your things. If they are criminal, it is too late. The best rule if you are quoted in this fashion is to find another mover. If you really want to keep working with that mover there are a couple of ways to solve this:

1. If you have a decent size move, say, more than 2 bedrooms, have the mover come out and give you an estimate. If they won’t, have another mover who may be closer to you come out and see your things and give you an estimate. You want to know how many cubic feet and how many pounds the mover saw. That mover should be able to fix a price for you and the “Mover” who would not come out may be able to fix a price now. The point is, now you have data that you can share with other movers to get a quote.
2. If you have a smaller move, will the “mover” allow you to list your items and guarantee the price to move those items, in writing?

*Cubic Feet: Length X width X height, example: 2’ X 3’ X 4’ = 24 cubic feet. In inches the equation is: 24” X 15” X 30” = 10,800 cubic inches. To convert to feet do this: 10,800 ÷ 1728 = 6.25 cubic feet.

All movers want to know your cubic feet so they can convert it into pounds. The equation is generally 7 pounds per cubic foot so in the above example 24 cubic feet would convert to 24 X 7 = 168 pounds. 6.25 cubic feet would convert to 6.25 X 7 = 43.75 pounds.

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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!

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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

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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.”

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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.

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