- Moving house is inevitably a traumatic affair
- There are many fly-by-night removal firms around
- Some break your precious things, some over-invoice, others vanish with your household goods
Moving is traumatic, even if everything pans out right. Engage a fly-by-night operator, and you could end up out of pocket and with an emotional nightmare too.
A lady in North Connecticut knows all about that now. A firm advertising in a local business directory quoted her $75 per hour for packing up her goods, and $105 an hour to move them. The job took under 4 hours – she was presented with a bill for 7 hours at $105 an hour, which she had to pay before the goods could be unloaded at her destination.
The lady was cheated to the tune of $375. Despite several calls to the removal firm she has made no progress, and realizes that she has been duped.
“They gave me the runaround,” the aggrieved lady told me. “I feel frustrated and stressed.” The firm moved out of town shortly afterwards and left a string of similar complaints behind. “I have to be grateful they didn’t steal or break anything,” she added. “It could have been a lot worse.”
If she had checked her removal company on the internet, she might have learned about the “F” rating awarded them by the Better Business Bureau – they were neither licensed to operate, nor had insurance cover, and left many bad debts behind.
Last year over 8,400 frustrated people complained to the Bureau about removers. Most problems related to over-invoicing, or damaged or lost goods. If a removal company refuses to release your goods until you pay an inflated bill, then you are encouraged to report the matter to the cops. If defrauded in other ways, contact Better Business Bureau and have them blacklisted. Why pay for shoddy service when your money is the same quality as the Government keeps in Fort Knox?
Here are a few tips to avoid getting into the same mess yourself:
- Don’t be lured into a sense of false confidence by a slick website or a cute advertisement on Craiglist. Check your preferred supplier out before they load your worldly goods, and make sure you have insurance cover.
- Verify information provided by a remover before they load your goods. Insist on copies of permits and insurance policies, and don’t be shy to check
- Get at least three written quotes, and insist that the removers visit your house personally before they quote. Ask your questions, and run a mile if the answers are evasive.
- Make sure the offer you accept is a firm price, not just an estimate, and is signed. Don’t necessarily accept the lowest price.
- Avoid trouble generally. Visit www.movingmoverslist.com for professional advice.