This article is the sixth in a series of reports on tricks scam moving companies use to void binding agreements, and thereby overcharge the consumer.
In typical moving scam, the cheating company will give a low moving cost estimate, usually over the Internet. Once the goods are loaded up, the dirt hits the fan, and the unwitting victim finds out that the price is now double or even triple, the original agreed on estimate.
Since 1988,when the moving industry was deregulated –giving rise to price competition – rouge moving companies have developed scam techniques to raise moving prices, and bilk unsuspecting customers of their money. The most common scam pattern is to lull the victim into the agreement with an extraordinarily low estimate, often made as a “binding agreement,” only to announce a higher price, often two or more times higher, once the victim’s items are loaded on the moving truck. Moving company con artists will use a whole range of tactics to get the householder to annul the binding agreement and agree to pay the higher price.
One clever technique, used by a company in a local move in California, was to put off signing the moving contract, until moving day. Over the phone, a victim had been promised a flat fee ceiling estimate for his move. On moving day, the driver presented the papers, which now redefined how the price would be calculated. The couple would be charged an hourly rate, with a 5% fuel charge. When the homeowner expressed an objection, he was told: ” that it would be around the $1900 price but this is how they write the contract out, so I trusted him, he then pointed to where I needed to place my initials (by the X’s) and he gave me a booklet that I signed on the back, he than tore off that page and than pointed to the area of Consumer Protections and/or Waivers and had me put my initials by the X and sign, and this is where they take advantage of customers, because I had no idea that I just signed away my rights and you question as to why it was on the contract in the first place,” The victim was scammed by a three part scheme: 1) contract signing held off until the day of the move; 2) redefining of the price structure, with explanation that the final figure would still some out to the original estimate; 3) place to sign was juxtaposed to a reference to the consumer protection regulations. The victim was lulled into trusting the moving company, and the final prices was raised shortly after he signed away his rights.
An excellent way to protect your self from clever moving scammers is to employ the services of a packing company. Packing Service Inc. is a name you can trust in the packing service industry. They are a company dedicated to exposing moving scams. They will provide you with an in person guaranteed flat free estimate for their packing and loading services. No estimate revisions and no add-ons on moving day. They only hire workers with a minimum of one year experience in the moving industry. Their experienced help will protect your belongings throughout the packing and loading process. And Packing Service In. will recommend a container company to transport your belongings in sealed containers that only you and your designated packers will have access to.
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The 30 day clause in part 375 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Rules and Regulations requires movers that have additional charges, above those spelled out in the binding or non binding cost estimate, to wait 30 days before billing the consumer, for the extra charges. Unfortunately, crafty and dishonest moving companies have devised ways to get around the 30 day clause. This is the first in a series of articles describing how moving companies bypass the 30 day clause.
Part 375.403 of the FMCSA Rules and Regulations, section a8, prohibits movers from charging the consumer for costs exceeding the moving estimate, until 30 days after the move. On the actual date of delivery, therefore, the mover can only collect 100% of a binding cost estimate and 110% of the non-binding estimate. So what is an unscrupulous mover to do, after he manipulated the move so as to inflate the moving cost 2 times or more above the moving cost estimate. Lets say the mover had his men pack the items loosely so they would take up more cubic feet, or he falsified weight tickets, or he required unnecessary repacking on the day of the move. The mover can claim that transporting the additional items, and repacking on the day of the move, were minimal “additional required services.” Now, he wants to collect for them. However, he knows that if he delivers the goods before 30 days and gets only the estimated payment, then in all likelihood, the consumer will never agree to pay the inflated costs. Under these circumstance, the unscrupulous mover would fear going to court against the consumer. So what he does is put the goods in storage, and hold off delivery until 30 days have passed. Now, he can charge the consumer the full inflated fee, and if he doesn’t get paid he can hold the goods hostage. This is the basic abuse of the 30 day clause.
If you want to save money on your next move, but avoid being scammed by a disreputable company, then hire a packing service, and have your belongings moved state to state, by an honest container shipping company. Packing Service Inc. is the name to trust in the packing industry. They are dedicated to fighting moving scam .They will send an expert estimator to your house and give you a flat fee guaranteed packing and loading estimate. Once the estimate is given, they cannot make extra money by packing your belongings loosely on the moving truck and increasing the cubic feet, or by falsifying the calculation of the weight of your goods on moving day. Packing Service Inc. only hires employees with a prior year of experience in the moving industry. On the day of your move, they will carefully pack your belongings into containers that only you have access to. They will recommend an honest relocation company, to transport your container(s) state to state. With a growing number of affiliates, chances are Packing Service Inc. can also unload your goods in the destination city.
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This article is the second in a series of reports on tricks scam moving companies use to void binding agreements, and thereby overcharge the consumer.
In the most common form of moving scam, the company will give a low moving cost estimate, usually over the phone. Once the household goods are loaded on the truck, the company will raise the price. Then if the victim won’t pay, the unscrupulous movers will keep the goods in storage, or even threaten to auction them off. While more and more consumers are studying the moving regulations, before their move, they are hard pressed to compete in knowledge with moving company scam artists who study the loopholes all the time, constantly looking for new ways to cheat the consumer. So while consumers feel secure when they enter into a “binding moving cost agreement,” with the mover, they wouldn’t feel so comfortable if they knew that the mover is assessing them and the situation, constantly looking for ways to void the agreement, and raise the cost of the move.
One of the basic techniques an unscrupulous moving company will use is to simply illegally jackup the price, after the belongings are packed on the truck. Having packed everything loosely, the movers will claim the cubic footage is larger than estimated, and will insist the householder sign the packing slip, and agree to the new price.
While this maneuver is illegal, the mover is counting on the ignorance of the consumer. He assumes that most consumers are unaware that any changes in the binding agreement must be made in writing before the loading begins. If the victim is aware of this technicality, then mover will be counting on the unlikelihood that the consumer will take him to court. If a consumer does take a mover to court, the case will go to civil court. The consumer will have to pay lawyer fees and court costs, to get to trial, and hope to win a settlement from the moving company. This process is a discouragement to many would be claimants, who in the end, decide to pay the higher cost and go on with life.
The consumer interstate moving regulations are complex, and most householders, having only a short time to study the laws, can’t expect to outwit the crafty moving scam artists, who cheat people on a daily basis, for a living. One very effective strategy is to hire a packing and loading company.
Packing services will do all your packing and loading at a fixed price, agreed upon before the move. Packing Service Inc. is the name to trust in the Packing Service industry. They are at the forefront of the fight against moving scams Packing Service Inc. only hires workers with at least one year experience in the packing and or moving industry. They will help you choose an honest company to safely transfer your belongings to their destination. And with a growing number of affiliates, Packing Service can probably help you unload on the other end of your move, as well.
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“However, some of the goods were delivered wet!!! This is primarily due to the delayed delivery as the truck stayed in Florida waiting to find another customer to fill up their truck. There was hurricane during this time. I took photos and videos of their truck clearly showing water leakage.” People contracting with a mover, have the expectation that the movers wil treat their belongings with respect. When experiences like this occur, it is both shocking and disappointing for people who have trusted the mover with their entire worldly possessions. Occurrences like this have made more and more people look for alternative ways of moving that will give them greater control of their possessions during the move. That’s why more and more people are using moving container companies to ship their belongings from state to state.
When you move with a moving container company, you will be able to pack your belongings into large container pods supplied by the company. These environmentally safe and secure steel containers allow you load and then lock in your goods with a key to the container that only you control. The company will then deliver the container(s) to your new location, and you will have the piece of mind knowing that neither weather nor thief nor mover has touched your belongings.
Smart Move, is one of the reputable container companies. Promoted as moving designed around “your needs,” they allow you 28 days, after they drop the container(s) at your house, to complete your packing. They ship to anywhere in the United States within one week, and they give a final guaranteed price quotes for your move.
To make your move totally safe for you and your belongings,why not use a container company and hire a professional packing service to pack and load your precious cargo for you. .
Professionally trained packers, will insure safe tight packing that will save your belongings from damage, and potentially save you money, by reducing the number of containers you will need for the move. The trustworthy name in the Packing Service Industry is Packing Service Inc. They are a company dedicated to exposing moving scams. They will provide you with a packing and moving cost estimate for the cost of packing. They only hire workers with a minimum of one year experience in the moving industry. And they are familiar with the Smart Move system.
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When you hire a moving company to move your belongings interstate, they are required to give you either a binding or non-binding move estimate. However, you and they have the choice of basing the estimate on cubic feet of the goods being transported, or based on the weight. Generally, anti-moving scam advisers recommend that you get an estimate in weight. Because inaccurate weight estimates ,for example, can be rechecked. But getting an estimate from the company in terms of weight is also not a perfect solution. Companies might falsify the weight figure. For example if the moving company goes to the weigh stations before the move, they don’t have to weigh the truck on a full gas tank. Then they can tank up the truck after loading, and thus having added weight to the truck they now return to the weigh station and the additional weight of the gas is attributed to your belongings! A shipper, i.e. the householder, has the right to witness the weighing, but truck drivers will try to dissuade them. For example, they will claim, at 6pm , after a full day of packing, that the nearest weighing station is 100 miles away, etc.
If a family opts for a volume moving cost estimate, there are additional opportunities for scam. One scam technique is called “ballooning,” on a Navy web site. Ballooning occurs when a moving company fills boxes with packing material, and thus inflates the cubic foot volume of the packing load. The moving company gains the right to pack your belongings by claiming that some of the boxes have been packed improperly. Unless you give them permission to repack the load, the moving company will refuse to guarantee the safety of your possessions during the move. During the repacking, the moving company fills large boxes with large amounts of packing paper, and few items,(Ballooning). Even non-breakable items will unnecessarily be packed away in large boxes. This extra space nets the moving company extra dollars on the moving bill. And they will also charge for the use of their packing supplies.
One Internet forum http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5311 actually reveals that some moving companies pay their workers a commission for every dollar that they can increase the moving bill on moving day, (through various “loose packing” techniques.) To protect yourself from these dishonest practices, use a Packing company, for your next move.
A packing company will do your packing and loading, and provide you with a packing and moving cost estimate, ahead of time. Packing companies do not make any extra money by inflating the weight or cubic footage of your load. Consider contacting Packing Service .com. This company is dedicated to fighting moving scam. They will not only guarantee your packing costs, they will also educate you about the dangers of moving scams and they will show you totally safe ways to transport your household goods to your new location.
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