Deceptive Moving Practices

Moving is a stressful time for everyone no matter what your financial status is. There is a lot more to moving than just hiring a mover. Closings when buying and selling or applications with 1st, last, and security when renting. Cancelling and restarting electricity, gas, water, garbage, sewer, cable, internet, phone, lawn care, repairs, new schools, and everything else that may or may not need to be completed during the moving process. During the monotony of relocating It is easy to be persuaded to sign on the dotted line when we see a great price without looking at the fine print.

It is 100% YOUR responsibility, when receiving a quote from your mover, to ask if there are or possibly be any additional charges. They will not disclose this to you if you do not ask.

Demand Clarity. 90% of our clients choose our company because of clarity, not price. If you're scratching your head after you talk to a moving company on the phone, that is NOT the company for you. Moving companies are very well aware that you do not know our industry and will be as vague as they possibly can to protect themselves. Most phone calls are recorded. The less discussed, the less promises that are made, the less that you can hold them accountable for later. You should know EXACTLY what their as well as your responsibilities are from start to finish of your relocation.

Movers are not obligated by law in most states to take anything off their truck/s until your bill is paid in full. 

Most movers provide a quote by cubic feet (the amount of space you're utilizing in their trucks) or by weight (the amount of weight that is going on their trucks from all of your items). This is how ALL of the horror stories happen when you hear about consumers receiving a bill for twice as much as they were quoted, and their items being held for ransom by the moving company. Think about it folks, the estimator did not physically come out and weigh or put a tape measure on every box, bag, piece of furniture, artwork, lawn equipment, appliance, etc. It is not an estimate..... It's a GUESSTIMATE! Once they get to your destination, and they hit you with a bill that is almost double than what you thought you agreed to, they will prove to you that you are over the cubic feet or weight originally quoted by the estimator. They will show you the cubic feet that the model truck/s they're using holds compared to what amount of space you have used or provide you with the true weight of your items from a truck stop weigh station. Most estimators are paid commission and would rather secure the job than lose it. This is a win-win for the moving company because they will force the client to pay what they want and only pay the estimator commission on what was quoted. 

As much as the customer does not like surprises, neither does the mover. Trust me, they have done their research making sure they have NOT informed you that the truck was to big for your driveway or parking lot, which moving companies have already verified from internet maps/satellites, so they can hit you with the fees to use their movers for additional time with a longer ""walk"" or a smaller truck to shuttle items back and forth from the home to the larger moving truck. With a shuttle truck, you can count on a big change on your final bill because now they are moving everything twice, besides providing the additional transport truck (this is usually a 12' or 16' truck that they have already pre-rented at the nearest truck rental company to your delivery address).

Most moving companies ship consolidated without telling you that your truck/s are being shared with other clients. They add extra loads from other clients to fill their trucks, since people are no longer buying the large bulky solid furniture anymore, and add stipulations to their ""fine print"" in your quote that they are not responsible for arriving even weeks late to your destination because of delays from other clients deliveries before yours. Our company does not ship consolidated for other reasons as well; Trucks need to be packed tight so loads do not shift and cause damage to cargo so your items may end up missing and in another client's possession. Bedbugs, cockroaches, and termites are rampant with our Florida weather which causes cross-contamination.

Watch for the hourly minimums for local deliveries and small moves. They may tell you that your move is 1 hour and 45 minutes but they have a 3 to 4 hour minimum. We have a 1 1/2 hour minimum and even break the clients time down into 15 minute increments after that to try to save the client as much money as possible. Most moving companies round up to the next full hour once you have gone more than 5 minutes over the last hour. We give realistic hourly rated quotes. Do not be fooled by moving companies that will tell you that your move will only take approximately 3 hours to complete to get your business when in reality your move will take 5 hours to complete. 

You get what you pay for in this industry! Cheap moving companies are most likely uninsured, not licensed properly, have inexperienced or illegal immigrant movers, or are just desperate. They do not have the overhead that professional moving companies have and it is very likely that you will suffer the consequences of their actions. This can cost you triple the amount of money and headaches than hiring a professional. 

Do not hire moving companies with bad reviews that state "the mover never showed up". This is very common in our industry. We help 2 to 3 clients per week, at the last minute, due to the fact that most of these movers sold a job to a client that is paying them more for their move than you and could care less about your business or your bad review. It is absolutely terrible for moving companies to do this to a client, their family, or their business, considering most MUST be out of that location on moving day. 

Stay away from moving companies without bad reviews! Yes, moving does not discriminate, everyone has to move at one time or another. We get the good and the bad. There is not a mover in this world that hasn't accidentally damaged a wall, doorway, furniture, etc. at one time or another. Moving company owners have been known to cut their losses and payoff people to remove or change their bad reviews. It actually looks fictitious when any company does not have a bad review in one form or another. We all know that some people are impossible to please. 

Be as honest as possible when providing the estimator the information they need to provide you with an accurate quote. In a lot of cases, we have to remind the client during billing that they had forgotten or left out items or circumstances that increased the projected time frame for their relocation. Be ready on the day of your move! Make sure everything is packed properly and you're ready to go.

Movers will charge you extra for moving things more than once. Make sure you have a good idea as to where everything will be staged at the destination. Take measurements if you have to.

When packing your own items into boxes, remember to fill them to the top so they do not crush, tape the bottoms and tops of boxes securely, mark the top and one side of each box as to what room they will be going into at the destination, and leave your boxes where you filled them (stacking all of your boxes in one area creates delays, movers need to pick and choose different shape, sizes, and weight of boxes when loading the truck). This will save time, money, and damages. Remember, customer packed boxes are never insured by the moving company. You had the option to have them professionally packed.

If you do not pay for additional valuation coverage, most movers are only responsible, by law, to pay you $0.60 per pound for any damaged item. A damaged $4000.00 flat screen tv that only weighs 22 pounds will get you a return of $13.20 from a mover that has no compassion and a blatant disregard for you or your belongings. (Any moving company with compassion for their clients will repair any damages and keep them constantly updated on the status. Remember movers have the right to repair, replace, or provide you with the depreciated value of any damaged item. Most moving companies want to avoid increased insurance rates, deductibles, and bad reviews. They will solve the problem themselves).

If you do not pay for additional valuation coverage, most movers are only responsible, by law, to pay you $0.60 per pound for any damaged item. A damaged $4000.00 flat screen tv that only weighs 22 pounds will get you a return of $13.20 from a mover that has no compassion and a blatant disregard for you or your belongings. (Any moving company with compassion for their clients will repair any damages and keep them constantly updated on the status. Remember movers have the right to repair, replace, or provide you with the depreciated value of any damaged item. Most moving companies want to avoid increased insurance rates, deductibles, and bad reviews. They will solve the problem themselves).

There are NO DISCOUNTS or ""FREEBIES"" in the moving industry. These are added into the price elsewhere in your quote.