Great article in the Chicago Tribune about legitimate Chicago moving companies getting the shaft from a flurry of unlicensed moving companies on Craigslist.
“We’d be doing a lot better if these guys weren’t skimming from us,” Ron Montanez, director of operations for Aaron’s Reliable is quoted as saying in the article.
Unlicensed movers in Chicago enjoy the same advantages that unlicensed moving companies do nationwide: much lower operating costs because they don’t have insurance and don’t have the expenses of obtaining a license; fewer regulators enforcing existing laws; and shippers so enthralled with saving money that they’re willing to take their chances.
The situation is exasperated by a chilly economy, as more folks with a truck and a pair of arms get into the business.
From the Tribune: “An out-of-work carpenter named Tom is one of them. He wouldn’t give his last name but said he started posting a few weeks ago after carpentry jobs dried up and he needed another source of income. He had what’s needed to be a mover: able body, pickup truck and Internet connection.”
The authorities are trying to keep up with what seems like a spate of unlicensed movers. They’ve ticketed 80 movers in the six-county Chicago area, which is up from 65 in all of 2008 and more than any year in recent history, according to the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Of course, going with an unlicensed mover brings up all sorts of issues, well catalogued by sites like movingscam.com.
However, I rarely hear about one of the biggest risks of all when you go with the unlicensed, uninsured fly-by-nighters: they don’t have Worker’s Comp. And if you’re moving to a new home, you might not have purchased homeowners insurance or renters insurance yet.
So if a mover hurts himself at your place, you could be on the hook for a huge legal bill.
Forget losing all your physical stuff.
That could drain every last penny you have.
Relocated Articles:
Video: Find Trustworthy Chicago Movers
How to Fight Your Fear of Moving: Get Prepared
There’s a great article in the Wall Street Journal today about how an employee at an espresso-machine manufacturer was writing wildly positive reviews for the company’s products on Amazon.com.
Now this is nothing new — there have long been reports of employees and business owners writing fake reviews, either praising their own businesses or dising their competitors’.
What IS surprising is that the major review sites haven’t really figured out a way to ensure the integrity of reader-written reviews.
Even Amazon.com, which seems to read my mind every time I visit by displaying products I’m likely to buy, hasn’t figured it out, even though there’s a lot of sketchy stuff in their reviews, like people reviewing several similiar products from the same company, as in the case cited by the Journal.
Many people are now using reviews to choose moving companies, which I generally applaud.
However, you need to make them just one part of your entire search for a moving company, not the sole factor. And you need to be wary if there’s an oversupply of positive reviews — there’s just no way to satisfy every customer.
We’re collecting moving reviews from our customers now, and hope to start publishing them on Relocation.com in the near future. We enjoy a bit of an advantage from other review sites because we can near-conclusively determine if the consumer used the moving company they’re reviewing. So be sure to check back later to see our moving company reviews!
Relocated Articles:
How to Save $1,000 on Your Move
How to Check the Public Records on Your Moving Company
Be Skeptical of that ‘Guaranteed’ or ‘Flat-Rate’ Moving Estimate
The more you move, the more wise you get to some of the shenanigans from disreputable moving companies.
However, there always seems to be more of these scams popping up. Here are a few you probably haven’t heard of.
‘Your Moving Quote is Guaranteed – But It’s Wrong’
Most people rightly insist on getting a “binding estimate,” which is often referred to as a “guaranteed moving quote” or “flat rate.”
That makes sense: you pay no more than the quoted amount, and you can actually pay less if the estimate was too high.
But it doesn’t work so well if the moving quote itself is inaccurate.
Here’s what happens. A moving estimator comes to your home for an in-home visual estimate, does an inventory of your stuff, and gives you a quote that is guaranteed to not be any higher than the estimate.
But that ‘guaranteed quote’ is only good for the inventory that the moving company uses to come up with your moving estimate. And if that inventory is wrong – ‘Ooops, I missed that bedroom!’ — the moving quote becomes void, and you’re stuck negotiating with the moving company for a new estimate (on Moving Day, no less).
The simplest way to protect yourself? It’s easy: scrutinize the inventory that the estimator uses to determine your moving estimate, and make sure nothing is left off.
**************************
Packing Pratfalls
Even if you pack yourself, it doesn’t mean you won’t be subject to some extra charges when it comes to packing — and we routinely hear from consumers whose original moving estimate double just from packing materials. Here’s what happens.
You didn’t pack everything in time, or you ran out of boxes. No biggie, just ask the moving company to do it. While you understand you’ll probably pay a premium for the boxes, there is probably one thing you haven’t thought of: packing tape.
An old trick is to use a TON of packing tape on freshly packed boxes, or boxes that the movers didn’t feel had enough tape.
So they wrap, and they wrap, and they wrap. Soon, that box has more wrapping than King Tut, and you find out later packing tape ain’t cheap, perhaps twice what you’d pay for it elsewhere.
And if you’re using professional packers, you might come across the half-filled box trick — only this isn’t nearly as much fun as when a magician pulls it off.
The mover puts just a few items in the bottom, and fills most of the rest of the box with packing paper. That small item is now in a big box — and big profits for the moving company. You might also find the movers trying to use more expensive boxes like dish-pack boxes (which have double-thick sides) for items that don’t need it.
To protect yourself: if you’re packing yourself, make sure everything has enough tape, and keep extra rolls around if you need to add more on Moving Day.
If you’re using professional packers, be around for the packing so you can supervise the work. And remember: on Moving Day, the movers will INSIST that everything is in a box — they won’t take stuff you’re thrown in a garbage bag.
*************************
‘Your Move Size: Whatever I Make It’
The moving estimator looks at your stuff to be moved on a long distance move, and says that what you need to have moved comes to a certain amount of ‘cubic feet.’ Huh?
First of all, who in the world even knows how big a cubic foot is? Second, why is the moving company using cubic feet instead of good old-fashioned weight?
Here’s why: when you have an estimate by weight, the moving company must go to a certified weighing station to see how much your stuff weighs — and that scale doesn’t lie (even if your own scale lies all the time when you’re trying to shed those extra pounds before your high school reunion).
With cubic feet, the moving company measures your final move by the space your goods take up in the truck. And all of a sudden, the moving company just becomes REALLY bad at loading a truck, and it has more empty spaces than Montana. Soon, your moving estimate is much higher because the estimated cubic foot load is much lower than the final load in the truck (that poorly packed truck).
How to Protect Yourself: Get a moving quote based on weight, and if you’re concerned that there might be issues when the moving company weighs your load, tag along with the movers to the scales — you have the right to do this and should feel entirely comfortable asking.
Here are some other moving scams to be aware of when choosing moving companies and planning your move:
* The low-ball bid. You get three bids, and company ABC comes in the lowest — nearly half the cost of everyone else! What a deal, right? Wrong. The company is most likely setting you up to lard on more charges later to get your quote to where it should be for them to make any money.
* Passing your move off to someone else. You speak on the phone with a moving company that gives you a quote, but on moving day someone else shows up. You were most likely dealing with a moving broker, which sold your business to someone else. Avoid moving brokers — you want to deal with the same company from the start of your move to the end. And choose a local moving company.
* Getting an estimate over the phone, or filling out an online inventory form. There’s no way for the moving company to get an accurate sense of what you need moved until they see it in person. Insist that the moving company comes to your home and gives you an in-home visual estimate.
Another way to avoid these scams is to take these other basic precautions:
* Check with your local Better Business Bureau for the complaint record of your moving company.
* See if the mover is a member of American Moving and Storage Association. In particular, ask if the mover is a ProMover, which is a new AMSA designation for moving companies that meet a strict review of their business practices, and agree to abide by a code of ethics in their business operations.
* Read reviews online, but beware their limitations.
The ‘binding estimate’ sounds so final, so iron-clad – it’s guaranteed to be exactly what you pay for your move, right?
Not necessarily — and it could majorly mess up your moving day.
There are two kinds of moving estimates: a non-binding estimate, which is an ‘estimate’ in the true sense of the word: you might pay more, you might pay less. These are more common for local moves, where you pay by the hour according to the number of laborers you use.
The other estimate is ‘binding.’ It’s binding on both you and the moving company. A popular binding estimate is the ‘guaranteed not to exceed’ estimate – you won’t pay more than the estimated moving costs, but if your moving costs end up being less than the estimate, you pay the lesser amount.
You often see these offered up as a guaranteed estimate, or a flat-rate estimate.
However, don’t be lulled into a false sense of security. Here’s what can happen:
The estimator from a moving company comes to your home, sees what you need to have moved, and gives you an estimate.
On moving day – surprise! – the guys loading your truck say you have more stuff than is included on the estimate. Your binding estimate is kaput, and you will have to pay more.
How’d that happen?
1. You added more stuff to your move after you got you estimate.
2. Your moving estimator made an honest mistake, and didn’t include everything to be moved.
3. Your moving estimator purposefully underestimated your move in order to win your business. (And is now letting the driver handle the dirty work…)
Either way, you have to come to an agreement with the moving company about what you will pay. And it’s moving day. And you’re stressed, and now probably a little angry.
So you thought you were getting a binding estimate – but now you’re in a bind.
How to avoid this predicament:
* When you get a binding estimate, scrutinize the Table of Measurements that the estimator uses to give you moving quotes. This is a sheet your estimator uses to tally up the items you need to have moved. Insist on seeing this, and make sure it’s accurate. If it’s not, you’re going to have a problem on moving day.
* Beware the low bid. Even if it’s binding, your moving company can still insist on more money on moving day if it says the estimate was incorrect.
* Make sure that you won’t be adding additional items to your load before moving day. This will nullify your binding estimate.
* Get your estimate in writing.
On moving day, the binding estimate is included as an attachment to the bill of lading, which is a document you will be signing that turns over your goods to the moving company. Make sure it’s there.
More Fascinating Articles on Estimates:
How the Moving Company Sets Your Moving Estimate
The Best Estimate for Your Move
