Imagine this little drama (if it hasn’t already given you nightmares!):
You’d planned your long-distance move for months.- You investigated three different Atlanta interstate moving companies, all of which appeared to be trustworthy, and finally picked the one that provided the least costly estimate.
- You’re all set for Moving Day.
- The moving crew loads your heads out for your new home.
- And it never reaches it. It vanishes – as does most of your worldly possessions.
Ah, come on! That hasn’t really happened, has it? Sadly, it has. But that is an extreme scenario. What’s more likely to happen with, shall we say, “less than honest” movers is that they won’t pilfer a homeowner’s possessions outright; they’ll merely hold them hostage until the homeowner forks over more money. Of course, these are but two of many sorts of moving scams. Sites like
Moving.com and
MovingScam.com alert you to more.
So if you’ve had any qualms – any nightmares – about something like this befalling you, consider them a warning: DON’T ENGAGE A MOVING COMPANY UNTIL YOU KNOW THAT COMPANY IS HONEST!
Steer clear of moving companies that …
- don’t have a physical address. P.O. boxes are a dead giveaway. Consult the phone book. And check online at Google Maps or Google Earth.
- have a shoddy record with the Better Business Bureau. Get on bbb.org. There you’ll find reviews of over 20,000 moving-oriented companies.
- charge a fee to provide you with an estimate. That’s not anything a quality mover would do.
- don’t give you written estimates – or say they’ll figure your charges only after they’ve loaded the truck. Again: that’s just not done by reputable movers.
- provide you with an estimate that looks to good to be true. It very likely is! (You know the old proverb!)
- request that you sign documents that have blank lines to be filled in later. All contractual elements should be spelled out in writing and agreed upon before you sign anything. (Another old saying you must know!)
- don’t have a current U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) license,
- don’t have an active Motor Carrier (MC) license, and
- don’t have a DOT or MC number that’s less than 3 years old …
- or aren’t insured. You can verify all this at the DOT website’s Mover Registration Search, https://ai.fmcsa.dot.gove/hhg/search.asp. Remember, all moving companies for hire as interstate movers have to be licensed and insured for interstate commerce.
Here’s one more ripe cliché for you: It’s better to be safe than sorry. Exercising a bit of due diligence up front and uncovering all you can about the movers you’re reviwing before you hire can save you a lot of pain and woe when your move is underway.
And your best information source? The Internet! Or it is so long as you’re not just going to the websites of the movers you’re reviewing. Follow the links we provide above for solid, reliable third-party corroboration of a long-distance mover’s credentials … or lack thereof.
While you’re at it, we heartily encourage you to use these sites to look into A-1 Freeman Moving Group here in Atlanta as well. We’ve been
long-distances movers – not to mention local and intrastate movers – of excellent repute for a long, long time. And we’re glad to offer tools like these to help you make wise decisions for smooth moves.
