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The closure of the US Interstate Commerce Commission and the anonymity of the internet have made it difficult to regulate the moving industry, leading to an increase in scams. Customers can protect themselves by requesting written quotes, verifying the moving company’s information, and ensuring the quote is based on weight. Common scams include low verbal quotes that increase after the job is complete and companies holding assets hostage until full payment is received. Impersonation of mobile brokerage firms is also a growing issue.
These days, it seems anyone with a van can slap on a company logo, list their number in the yellow pages, and promote themselves as a legitimate moving company. Over the past few decades, the moving industry has become increasingly competitive and often difficult to regulate due to the closure of the US Interstate Commerce Commission and the anonymity the internet affords to scammers. Because the laws surrounding moving company protocol are somewhat murky, disputes between customers and moving companies are common and typically escalate into a he/she said about case with no written contract or paper trail to determine when legitimate moving scams have occurred. For a client, the best method of protection against moving scams is to identify the most common types of fraud initiated by moving companies.
One of the more common moving scams involves the moving company offering a client a low verbal quote or “low ball price” and then charging them significantly more once the job is complete. Often, moving companies that plan to anticipate moving scams will use the customer’s assets as leverage and threaten to keep all or some of the assets on their truck unless the full cost is paid. To minimize the chances of being scammed in this way, customers should always insist on getting a paper quote or contract rather than a verbal quote from their movers. If the quote provided to the customer is within a cost range or per pound quote, the customer should request a clause in their quote confirming that the mobile rate will not exceed X amount.
In recent years, the anonymity of the Internet has allowed companies planning mobile scams to impersonate bogus mobile brokerage firms. While legit brokers make it easy to match smaller carriers and carriers to customers, there are also thousands of scam brokers who promise false fees to customers and cut contact or change names once the service is done.
Some ways to prevent moving scams include asking for the moving company’s full name, address, and phone numbers, the number of years they’ve been in operation, customer references, and Department of Transportation license numbers. Customers should also always ensure their quote is based on a pound rather than a square foot per cube, as per square foot per cube quotes for interstate moves are illegal and movers are required to provide proof of weight at no cost to the customer.
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