Avoid Scams When Looking For Moving Services
Almost everyone who is about to move to a different house now depends on online brokers when looking for moving companies, but always be cautious as you thought you have saved a lot of money through those people when in fact you have lost a large sum of money because you were scammed.
According to Communications for the American Moving and Storage Association Vice President David Sparkman, just because the websites that you are looking at looks legit does not necessarily mean that you are transacting with credible moving companies.
An online broker’s job is to look for a moving services for the customer by placing an announcement online about his move or by referring him to a moving company.
If the broker announced that you are moving, different companies will make an offer in order to get hired. The agent will then ask for your deposit or fee.
However, there are different scams being done by a broker. An example was what happened to Florida resident Nikki Lehnoff which was almost scammed for $750. She had to move her possessions to Colorado and made an arrangement with a company. On the day of the move, no mover arrived to give assistance. Luckily for her, the credit card where she charged the $750 from was refunded.
A different scam is that a customer will get an approximate amount through the broker. That amount is really low as compared to other moving quotes.
When belongings are already loaded, the mover will tell the customer of the actual cost which is way too high than the approximate amount.
The Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is now considering rule modifications for brokers and that is for them to provide customers with a moving service leaflet, “Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move.” They must also disclose whether or not they are the ones moving the customer’s belongings.
