- Moving Companies
How To Avoid Moving Scams
With so many movers’ companies out there, it can be tricky to identify which ones are moving scams and which ones are authentic services. This article will provide you a detailed guide on how you can tell whether a service may be a scam, and how to find a reliable mover.
The internet is a great resource of finding moving quotes, but you should never select a company purely on the basis of checking out their website. It’s important for you to get the movers to actually visit your home to give you an evaluation.
Never decide on a company without first getting such an evaluation done by that specific company. When you speak to a company representative, confirm whether they will be entirely in charge of the operation themselves. If they are sub-contracting any part of the move to someone else, don’t hire them.
Once you find a company that visits your location and gives you a satisfactory evaluation, your next step is to verify the credentials of the company. Speak to them and obtain as much information about their company as you can. This should at least include the company’s full registered name, other business names, their address and contact details, as well as the period of time they’ve been in operation.
Ideally, also obtain their Department of Transportation (DOT) and Motor Carrier (MC) license numbers. Once you have all this information, you then need to do quite a bit of internet research to verify the background of the company. This may seem like a lot of trouble, but it’ll help to make sure you won’t run into moving scams.
Search online for the company’s “articles of incorporation”. This will show whether the firm is a legally registered company, and how long they’ve been around. Most states allow you to look this up online. If your state doesn’t have an online database, get this information from the secretary of state’s office.
You can also look up their DOT and MC numbers with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The FMCSA runs a free website called SaferSys. Here, a look-up of the numbers the movers gave you should yield a screen with details of their company name, contact details and other useful information. If the results don’t check out with the information the movers gave you, do not hire them.
The FMCSA also provides an insurance verification service. You can use this to cross-check that the company has sufficient insurance. By law, a they must carry Bodily Injury and Property Damage Insurance worth at least $750,000. If they don’t have adequate insurance, do not hire them. They may not be running any moving scams, but they’re not insured!
The steps above will help avoid moving scams. These are especially important with long distance moving. Finally, never sign any blank documents. Always read the fine print, and make sure you understand it. Never feel hurried or rushed, and always take the time to consult an expert if you’re not 100% confident of what something means.
When it comes to collecting moving quotes from local companies, you can either choose to speak to the representatives personally and get estimates or you can talk to some local friends and acquaintances who have used such services to try and figure out the costs of moving. This can, however, be quite a cumbersome task.
The best way, therefore, to collect quotes from moving companies is to contact them online. Almost all reputed and genuine movers have a prominent online presence and provide potential clients with an online quote request form which is easy and quick to fill. All you have to do is fill the form and your free quotes will be with you right away.
If you feel that going to every website individually and filling forms is a task full of hassles, you can always turn to sources like longdistancemovingcompanies.com and choose to fill a single form which will get you a minimum of 3 quotes from local moving companies.
The best and most hassle-free way to collect long distance moving quotes, therefore, is through the Internet.
In order to determine that a moving service is genuine and trustworthy, make sure that it has a physical office address, all the required licenses and authorizations from legal and government bodies, a working phone number, a legitimate and running website and real-life client references who you can talk to.
Before you start the process of relocating to a new place, it is very important to find the right moving service, and for that, you need to research and pick only the best suited company. Collect as many long distance moving quotes as you can and then narrow down your choices to finally pick a good and reasonably priced service.
