Moving Scams, Movers, and Moving Subcontractors

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Packing Service Inc

Moving Scams, Check Out the Movers and the Moving Subcontractors.

It was a sadly typical thread on an anti-moving scam forum. A woman was telling the story of how her move went bad. It was now day 34 into the move and despite an optimistic prediction that the delivery time was expected to fall in a range of 7-10 days, her goods were still in Boston, and she was down in Texas waiting for them. A participant responded. “You should be happy considering my case… MY move has gone to 43 freaking days. Even now I don’t have a clue. They gave me 2 weeks back as the delivery date…then they said last week…. Now they say this week is the delivery date…”

The discussion continued, and one participant told them both what to do. They needed to contact Move Rescue.

Move Rescue is an organization founded in 2003 by a nationwide network of attorneys knowledgeable in transportation law and litigation involving moving scams. Move rescue specifically targets people like these victims; people who are in the middle of a moving scam, or a moving hostage crisis, in which the movers originally gave a low moving cost estimate, then raised the price when the goods were loaded in his truck, and now he’s holding the customer’s belongings hostage until they pay the trumped up fee.

When people suddenly find themselves trapped in a moving scam, they feel totally helpless. First of all they had grown up believing they could trust movers. Secondly once the scam began, the victims soon discovered that due to technicalities in the law, the FBI, the BBB and even the local police could do nothing about it. Every branch of the law has the same advice, this is a civil matter and you have to pay the money to get your goods back and then you can go to court. But the civil and consumer regulations are complex and getting more complex all the time. An average consumer, who may move 2 or 3 times in his lifetime, can’t be expected to know all the regulations. And that’s where move rescue comes into play. Move rescue has a toll free number and is staffed by people knowledgeable in moving fraud, and by attorneys.

The move rescue phone staff has dealt with many moving scam situations, and they are also knowledgeable about the consumer regulations which govern moves. They know all about the legal alternatives available to a victim, and they can give direct advice over the telephone, and they can subsequently refer victims to an attorney in their area. The victim will have to pay his own attorney fees. Move Rescue is affiliated with two major Van Lines, and occasionally they have been able to help negotiate a load hostage release. The victim must be willing to be present at the storage facility, and in such cases Move rescue will provide a moving van to pick up the goods and deliver them at a reduced cost.

The caveat to using Move Rescue is you will have to pay attorney fees and possibly additional moving costs, if you are able to spring your goods from a hostage storage location.

The best way to protect yourself from being caught in a moving scam is to take steps right from the start of your move. An ideal way to insure a safe move is to hire an honest packing company with a flat rate quote. Then have them load your goods into locked shipping containers or Pods Container, for which only you hold the key. Packing Service, Inc. is an honest packing company that is dedicated to protecting consumers from moving scams. They will not only pack and load your goods expertly; they will also help you find an honest shipping company to transport your belongings to the new location.

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Moving Company – Moving Scam

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Packing Service Inc

Moving Scams, Making Sure the Moving Company Weighs Your Goods Honestly During Your Move.

If you find yourself in a telephone conversation with a moving broker, and he won’t agree to give you a weight based move cost estimate, this is a red flag that he is working for a scam company. To assist the consumer, let me provide a sample of a conversation between an anti-moving scams activist on the sly, and a moving broker. I learned about this conversation from an anti-moving scam forum. What follows is an account of the conversation:

“The guy was unclear about how they would be charging me on an estimate. First he tried giving me an estimate by cubic feet. When I contested the method he said that they could work by weight if I wanted to. So I asked him then what the story was; if they charged by cube or weight? His answer was very wishy washy and unclear. He was trying to dance around the answer, which to me is the first sign something is wrong. He then kept trying to push me to work by cubic feet, which is another red flag of a scam.”

On the phone the employee probably tried to sound polite, helpful, and gently persuasive. “It’s really much easier to work in cubic feet,” etc. He also probably offered to make the estimate binding if the consumer would do the estimate in cubic feet. In truth, he’s been trained to use this tactic and he has a very serious purpose in mind.

Moving brokers and online movers like to get the moving cost estimate in cubic feet, because it makes it much easier for the company to raise the cost of the move later on. Whatever the online cubic foot estimate amounts to, it is easy to increase on moving day through “balloon packing,” and “loose loading.”

Balloon packing involves stuffing boxes with light material which adds volume but little weight. On moving day, savvy scam movers, will refuse to insure boxes packed by the homeowner unless the company is allowed to repack the items. The company will repack the items loosely, often adding lots of bubble wrap or other packing material to fill the volume.

Furthermore, although you would never guess by the style of the conversation, the offer to give a binding estimate if the consumer will agree to a cubic weight estimate is obligatory. Consumer regulations require moving companies that are giving non-binding estimates, to make the estimate in weight. While weight estimates can be trammeled with as well, they are harder to inflate than cubic foot estimates. On moving day the company will raise the price and the consumer will remind them of the binding agreement. The company will report that there were additional items being moved, as attested to by the increased cubic foot, and that annuls the original binding agreement!

To really protect yourself on a move, hire an independent packing company to pack and load your belongings. Packing Service, Inc. charge by the item packed and offer a Flat Rate Quote. They make no extra money if the items are packed loosely. Packing Service Inc. is a trusty packing service that is dedicated to protecting consumers from moving scam.

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Crating Wooden Boxes – Interstate Move Crating

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Packing Service Inc

Crating Wooden Boxes, The Uses of Crating In an Interstate Move.

Crating may very well be the unsung hero of interstate moves. While some moves, which do not contain breakable items, may be made without crates, crates are essential are when moving a large or easily damaged item. Crating allows movers to insure that even easily breakable goods, including marble, fine art and antiques will be protected from the rigors of the move process, and can, at the same time, be shipped along with the other household items.

There is a large list of items, which frequently require crating during a move. This list includes: machinery equipment, electronics, trade show displays, furniture, pianos, motorcycles, plasma TVs and any other large and or fragile item. Once crated, an item is essentially protected from the dangers of the move environment.

Moving crates are not limited to preformed standard sizes. Some moving and crating companies can also manufacture crates and especially custom design them for a particular item. Crates come in many different materials. Crates can be made of wood, or plywood, or Oriented Standard Board, or other materials including, corrugated triple wall. Corrugated triple wall has the advantage of cost. It is advertised as being as hard as plywood, at the cost of corrugated material. (Visit our site to see example Pictures of custom Crating work)

Among the items frequently crated in a house move are valuable works of art, including marble, fine art and antiques It is important when arranging for custom crating, that the company that will loading and or transporting the item knows its exact dimension ahead of time. This is one reason why it is dangerous to plan moves involving a moving cost estimate from an online moving broker. (we suggest a Flat Fee Guaranteed Estimate)

An online broker will encourage the home owner to make the moving estimate sight unseen, over the telephone. He will usually read through an inventory list of common items transported in a move, such as beds, cabinets, table, chairs, etc. The list includes specialty items, but frequently a valuable household object cannot be categorized in any of the specialty item categories. As a result, the moving company will not get an accurate description of the piece, and will not have a crate specially prepared to transport it.

One man, for example, had a large stuffed goose that needed moved. The telephone representative of the moving company described it as a special item, and had to list it as a statue. But the estimate of a statue, in cubic feet, was much less than the cubic footage of the goose.

When the company came on moving day, they had no crate prepared for the goose. They had to subsequently take everything to storage and come back for them. They will also stuff all your items. An additional charge for that one item was $600.00.(sound like a moving scam just accorded) Other times, sadly, moving companies will take the item without proper packing material, and the result can be the tragic loss of a precious art object.

This article was sponsored by Packing Service, Inc. which is a national packing company chain dedicated to protecting consumers from moving scams and always get flat rate quotes. Call now for a Flat Fee Guaranteed Estimate 888-722-5774

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