Imagine this little sketch (if it hasn’t already haunted your nightmares!):
You’d planned your long-distance move for months.- You examined three different Colorado Springs interstate moving companies, all of which appeared to be reputable, and finally picked the one that gave you the least costly estimate.
- It’s now Moving Day.
- The moving crew loads your belongings]21] on the truck.
- The truck takes off for your new home.
- And it never shows up. It disappears – along with the better part of your worldly possessions.
Ah, come on! That hasn’t really happened, has it? Unfortunately, it has. But that is an unusual scenario. What you’ll more likely find with, shall we say, “less than scrupulous” movers is that they won’t pilfer a homeowner’s shipments outright; they’ll simply hold them hostage until the homeowner agrees to pay a higher fee. Of course, these are but two of many types of moving scams. Sites like
Moving.com and
MovingScam.com alert you to more.
So if you’ve had any apprehensions – any nightmares – about something like this happening to you, consider them a warning: DON’T SIGN ON WITH A MOVING COMPANY UNTIL YOU KNOW THAT COMPANY IS HONEST!
Steer clear of moving companies that …
- don’t have a physical address. P.O. boxes are a big red flag. Consult the phone book. And check online at Google Maps or Google Earth.
- have a bad record with the Better Business Bureau. Go to bbb.org. There you can read reviews of more than 20,000 moving-related companies.
- charge a fee to provide you with an estimate. That’s not anything a quality mover would do.
- don’t provide written estimates – or say they’ll tally up your charges only after they’ve loaded the truck. Again: that’s simply not done by well-regarded movers.
- hand you an estimate that looks to good to be true. It probably is! (You know the old cliché!)
- request that you sign documents that have blank lines to be filled in later. All details should be clearly delineated in writing and agreed upon before you sign anything. (Another old cliché you must know!)
- don’t have an active U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) license,
- don’t have a valid Motor Carrier (MC) license, and
- don’t have a DOT or MC number that’s less than 3 years old …
- or aren’t insured. You can check all this out at the DOT website’s Mover Registration Search, https://ai.fmcsa.dot.gove/hhg/search.asp. Remember, all moving companies for hire as interstate movers are required to be licensed and insured for interstate commerce.
Here’s still another ancient proverb for you: It’s better to be safe than sorry. Exercising a certain amount of due diligence up front and discovering all you can about the movers you’re contemplating before you hire can save you a lot of suffering and sorrow when your move is being carried out.
And your most useful research tool? The Internet! Or it is on the condition that you’re not just checking out the websites of the movers you’re reviewing. Follow the links we provide above for solid, reliable third-party verification of a long-distance mover’s credentials … or lack thereof.
While you’re at it, we heartily encourage you to use these sites to look into A-1 Freeman Moving Group here in Colorado Springs as well. We’ve been
long-distances movers – not to mention local and intrastate movers – of excellent repute for quite awhile. And we’re pleased to offer tools like these to help you make smart decisions for smooth moves.
