Reliable Craigslist Movers
March 10, 2010 by admin
Filed under Moving Tips and Advice, Moving labor
One of the many questions that I get asked a lot is: “Are Craigslist movers reliable?” And the answer to that is simple. Some are and some aren’t. You have do your home work on all the movers you may hire no matter where you find them. And it doesn’t matter if you find through friends, Craigslist, Yellowpages, or on Google.
I made a quick video about reliable Craigslist movers; enjoy:
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Reviewing Your Moving Company
February 20, 2010 by admin
Filed under Moving Company Reviews, Moving Tips and Advice
How to review your moving company
Have you ever wanted to comment on the service you had with your movers, good or bad?
Unfortunately most moving companies do not have a website where you can leave comments about your service. And in fact I advise you not to use any mover that doesn’t have a website. (websites can be made for free these days so there is no excuse not to have one.) But even the moving companies that do have a website, most often than not, there is no place to leave comments about your service. And this is unfortunate.
Testimonials are powerful. Many of you will decide to use a moving company just because of the good reviews that you find of them online. Testimonials and reviews help build trust for moving companies; and any moving company not actively campaigning to get as many as they can and publish them far and wide are shooting themselves in the foot.
After every move that I do I ask if the customer was happy, and if they were (which is usually the case 98% of the time) I have them write a few words about there experience. Lately I have been getting videos of them saying on camera what they experienced. You can see all my testimonials on this website. Just go to the “testimonials” category and you can see hundreds of them. Or just click the videos off to the right and see and hear what a few of my recent customers have to say.
But in lieu of mover not asking for the testimonial or review where can you go to leave a review? Where will it make the most impact? This is the question.
Yelp
Yelp is a website designed just to leave reviews of businesses. All you have to is sign up and start reviewing.
There are people on Yelp that have made careers going into businesses and using their services just so they can review the business. It sounds like a horrible career choice but it does happen. Thing about Yelp is that it ranks very high on the search engines. So if you write a review of XYZ MOVERS that review will show up very early in the search engines for others to see.
Yellowpages
The Yellowpages as we know it: the big, bulky book is outmoded and going the way of the Dodo bird. Everyone is using the search engines to find businesses. Yahoo is partnered with Yellowpages so you can find those companies with internet listings ranking quite high with Yahoo. The thing about the internet listing for Yellowpages (and Yellowbook, Superpages, etc.) is that they have a place where you can leave reviews the moving company that you used. You can leave up to 5 stars for the movers that you chose.
I love Google. As a business person Google makes it so easy for me to have everything I need to create, run and manage a business. They provide all the tools I will ever need. One feature which I am sure that you are familiar with is Google Maps.
Type in the keyword you are looking for like: “professional movers” or “reliable moving” or “movers in (your city)” and a bunch of listing s come up right next to a map. By clicking on those listings you will find a profile page provided by that business of choice. What you may have not known is that that listing page gives you the option to not only read reviews but to leave them as well.
In my opinion, this is one of the best places to leave a review of the moving company that you used.
Yahoo and Bing
Yahoo and Bing also have map listings of businesses. However it is not as easy for business to get a listing on these sites as it is for Google. But like Google; Yahoo and Bing offer a place where you can leave reviews of your chosen moving company.
Ripoff Report
If you go to ripoffreport.com you will find hundreds of reviews left by people like yourself that have used various businesses. However, unlike all of the places mentioned above, you will only find bad reports here. So if you have had a bad review then this may be the place to leave your review; and trust me you will get action if you leave a review here. These show up very high on the search engines and make quite an impact.
But be warned, these reports NEVER disappear. They will always be available to everyone later on down the road.
Of course there are dozens of other consumer review sites out there but none as accessible as ripoffreport.com.
BBB
The Better Business Bureau or more commonly known as the BBB is also another place where you can leave a review. However more often than not and reviews of businesses that are left are usually negative. But you can leave positive reviews for business there as well.
I personally don’t like the BBB because they can be so easily bribed and manipulated by businesses. I know because I have done it.
Despite popular belief the BBB is NOT government operated. Its a ruse. It is a franchise like McDonald’s or Burger King. It is owned by someone to make money, and they make their money by charging businesses that are signed up with them fees for their “services”. If you have a bad BBB report all you have to do to fix it is pay out money to have it fixed. Its really that simple. So I can’t trust the BBB reports at all.
Does your mover have a FaceBook page? It does!? Cool. Do they have a tab where you can leave reviews? If so then leave a review.
You can leave a review of up to 5 stars. What I love and hate about this is: as a consumer I can leave a review knowing that it can never be deleted. So if I leave a bad review then it will be seen forever. As a business person, I hate this. I like to control what is being said about me. Personally I am not afraid of bad reviews and I welcome them as it helps me improve for the next time, but I also know my competitors can leave fake reviews for which I cannot delete. So it is a double edge sword for the business person.
Your moving company doesn’t have a FaceBook page? Doesn’t matter because you can still leave a review on your own Facebook page.
Angie’s List
Many people use Angie’s List to review moving companies and other businesses. The problem with Angie’s List as compared to Yelp is that you have to pay a monthly membership fee for it.
I know that I am not going to dole out hundreds of dollars a year just so I can read a review of a company or two, especially when I can do that for free with Yelp, Google or the other places mentioned here.
The plus point however, is that it is far more reliable than the free places. So if you find a good review of your chosen moving company then it is probably a good chance that it is a good company.
So there you go. Several places that you can go to leave comments and reviews of your experience with your moving company. So whether you are leaving a good comment or a bad one you have choices to be heard and have your count (unlike the presidential elections.)
But I caution you: If you leave a bad comment for any moving business make sure you do it when you have cooled down, and only report the facts. If you leave and angered filled terse review it will be looked upon as if you are the crazy person. Angry people never tell the truth.
Reviewing your moving company and the experience is easy. It only takes a little of your effort and time to do it. If you have something nice to say then please say it. It means so much to the people that work so hard. Of course if you have had a bad experience then you also are obligated to make sure that is know as well.
So no matter what your experience is or was it is always best to leave a few words for the next down the pike to hear what you have to say.
Lastly, you are always free to leave any reviews of your experiences with your moving company with me on this website. I welcome them all. the bad, the ugly and the Great. I will published them unedited for the world to see if that is what you want. Of course you can tell that you don’t want it published and I will honor that as well.
Thank you and good luck with your move.
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U-Save Moving’s Photo Slideshow
February 11, 2010 by admin
Filed under Moving Tips and Advice, Moving scams
Unlike some of my competitors, I actually do moving for people….I don’t just say I do.
I have put a lot of time and effort into this website to help you and to ensure that you know we are a legitimate moving company. It is hard to prove that to someone from a Yellowpages ad or Craigslist post…
So I thought that I would share with you a photo slide show of our moving customers and places we have been. I hope you enjoy it.
Thank you.
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Professional Moving Services: A Moving Company Review
July 10, 2009 by admin
Filed under Moving Company Reviews
Moving Company Review
Company: Professional Moving Services
Grade: C+
City: Jackson, Michigan
I found this company while combing the Yellowpages. So that is a good sign right from the get go. They are also found in Superpages and on Google Maps. To say that I like seeing that is understatement. So obviously this company is taking the moving business seriously.
I did not find any ad for them on Craigslist. That is too bad. Because they are missing out on a lot of business.
I did call up their office. A nice mature woman, which later I found was named Dawn, answered the phone very professionally. She answered like this: “Professional Moving Services. How may I help you?” That is so refreshing to see and hear from a moving company.
The negative here was that their phones lines are “wonky” and she had to call me back from another phone. That is not very professional. Before I could reach her back, I called again and got a voice mail. The man’s name on the VM was Jeff and he is the owner. He too had a professional VM message.
I asked Dawn about their services and pricing and I must say they are on the cheaper side for a full service moving company. From what I got from Dawn is that they charge $80/hr; 3 hour minimum, time begins and ends from their truck yard. That is pretty standard pricing for Michigan. However, most moving companies would be charging around $90/hr.
I asked Dawn if they had a website, and she told that they do but didn’t know the web address. I asked her if they were licensed and insured and she said that they were. Of course I asked for their DOT number, but Dawn didn’t know it. Their Yellowpages ad also states that they are licensed and insured, however, they do not give the MPSC or DOT numbers as they are supposed to by law.
I checked out with the DOT and they are NOT licensed. So this is a complete lie. And a lie perpetrated just to gain business. Nor do they have any website that I can find. If they do have a website it is well hidden and not promoted.
So there was two lies that I caught Dawn and Jeff in. Not good guys.
They cannot be found in the BBB. Of course this also means that there has been no complaints filed to the BBB either. I did not ask how long they have been in business which was foolish of me. But I do believe that they have been in business for at least a few years.
Their net presence is nil. When I did a Google search for them nothing came up except their Google Maps entry and the Yellowpages. So they have little internet presence. I am not familiar with any offline presence.
What I like about this company:
- Professional phone presence
- Actual person answered the phone
- Affordable pricing
- They are in the Yellowpages
- No complaints with the BBB
What I don’t like about this company:
- They lie about being licensed
- No website
- No internet presence
- No BBB file
Is this moving company a scam? NO. Would they do a good job for you? Yes, I do believe they would. Would I recommend them? Yes I would…but with provisos.
If you use this company get everything in writing BEFORE you begin moving. If they do happen to have licensing then get their DOT and MPSC numbers first and check them out. Do not give them any deposit. Get and check any references that they may have.
I hope that this was a good article for you. If you liked it be sure to click the buttons below so you can share it with your friends. Thank you.
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Moving Companies Without Websites Should Never Be Used
April 17, 2009 by jburnham
Filed under Moving Tips and Advice
If you have been reading up on this website then you know of my recent study of 127 different reports of moving company scams, and you know that 82% of those that committed moving scams were licensed and insured…Now I’ll shed light on some other interesting moving facts which may help you in determining if the moving company that you are about to use is a scam or not.
Of those 127 moving company scams reported I have found that 75% of those companies did not have a website, and the 25% that did have a website (mostly long distance movers) their websites were general and lacked any real insight to the company.
So if you are going to hire a mover off Craigslist, Backpage.com, Kijiji.com or some of the other classified listing services and they don’t have a website, or the website is very general then I would suggest that you do not hire those moving companies at all. Based on my research they are more likely to scam you than any other moving company out there.
Some of the above movers that had a website (and I use that term loosely) only had a one page profile with services like Google Maps, Yelp, MerchantCircle or the Yellowpages. These are not websites. While better than not having a website at all, any professional moving company worth their weight in salt will have a nice looking website.
Here is some criteria that a website should have for consideration as a professional moving service provider:
- The website should have at least these pages: About Me, Contact Us, Services (with office hours), and Map and directions.
- The website should have pictures of themselves and their trucks and facilities. The more pictures (and video) the better.
- Licensing info if they are licensed and insured.
- Testimonials that are up-to-date.
- Ideally the website should also contain a blog or some other social media content (like twitter or facebook.)
The moving companies that did have a website, the websites were nicely designed and looked professional, however, they were usually one page or two with no real info about the companies or their principles. The websites only contain some sales patter and a contact form. Only one website that I researched had any articles about the moving industry.
So if a moving company does not have a website, or their website is only a couple of pages, I would recommend that you do not use that moving company.
Make sure you bookmark this website and subscribe to my RSS feed if you enjoyed this article and the other articles on this website. The bookmark button can be found at the top right of this website, and you can subscribe to the RSS feed right below that.
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Where To Find And Get Moving Labor Services
April 5, 2009 by jburnham
Filed under Moving labor
As opposed to full service moving companies, moving labor services can provide a high quality and inexpensive alternative to moving.
What are moving labor services:
Moving labor services are individuals and/or moving labor companies that provide labor for your moving needs. They are different from traditional full service moving companies because they do not provide a truck in which to transport your possessions.
Simply put: they are there just for the grunt work of the move. They can and will drive the moving truck that you provide, and they can and will pack/unpack your belongings as well. Nor are these types of moving providers licensed and insured like traditional full service or long distance moving companies.
Moving labor providers can preform much of what other moving companies can perform. They can do the following:
- Packing/unpacking
- loading/unloading
- assembly/reassembly
- blanketing and wrapping furniture
They can handle everything that other moving companies can. They have many similarities in how they operate and bill customers. You’ll find services very comparable with only one slight difference. Because these moving helpers do not provide the truck their hourly and/or flat rate fees are much lower, thereby giving you a much needed break in the pocketbook.
Where you can find and hire moving labor services:
There are typically for major places that you can find these moving helpers:
These are the best sources for find moving labor services. I’ll briefly go each one so that you know what you can expect from each.
Craigslist: Most of the moving labor providers list their services here. It is cheap but very effective. Many of you probably have already looked here in your search for moving help. However, too many moving scammers also list their “services” here, so you need to be on the lookout when using this resource.
Yellowpages: Great source for finding reliable and trustworthy moving labor services. However, few moving labor helpers have any kind of presence here. You may have to long and hard to find a company like this there.
Movinghelper.com: The moving truck rental company UHual owns and runs this service. Basically this is a directory of moving labor providers. The cool thing about this resource is that the moving help is customer rated, so you can “kick the tires” as they say. You can also pick and chose which moving help providers you want by price and/or reputation.
Hireahelper.com: Is exactly like movinghelper.com except that you not only find moving helpers there but you can get excellent day labor, housecleaning help and landscaping help as well. All the helpers that are listed in this directory are also customer rated so know in advance there person reputation.
Beware of the moving and labor broker scams:
There are many companies out there that have look and feel movinghelper.com and hireahelper.com. These companies have one major difference: They do not allow you to see the performance of these moving labor providers. So you may get a good company, or most likely, get a very bad company.
I would stay away from any moving labor services that will not let you see the moving help providers reputation in advance. You will not have any control if you these labor brokers.
Helpful articles that will help with your moving decision:
I have written quite a lot on the moving industry in this website/blog. You could spends hours, if not days going through all the information that I provide. So I decided to help you. Below is a listing of articles that I have written that will help you with you moving help.
Moving and Labor Broker Scam on Craigslist
Qualities A Moving Company Should Have
How Moving Truck Rentals Can Be A Cheap Moving Option
Moving Helpers Can Be A Real Help Moving
I hope that you have enjoyed this post. If you have then please do me the honor of clicking on the “thumbs up” button at the top right of this site and voting for me.
And if you have enjoyed this post, please be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed also at the top of this website to get and read further articles about the moving industry.
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Find Local Moving Companies: 4 Sources to Find Local Moving Help
February 17, 2009 by jburnham
Filed under Moving Tips and Advice
Where to find local moving companies, especially reputable local moving companies, can be a frustrating and exciting thing to accomplish. While not difficult to find local moving companies, it is hard to find the right one that is honest and will get the job done.
I am going to give you some of the best places to find local moving companies, and a little training on finding the right one for you.
So lets begin:
The first place I would suggest to find local moving companies is the internet. Now many of the moving company gurus out there will say that this is the last place to look. They are wrong. It is the first place to look.
Looking on the internet to find local moving companies is not bad; where you look can be.
Search Engines:
This is the first place I would recommend you looking to find local moving companies. Go to places like Google and type-in this phrase: “Moving companies in (enter your city here)”. This bring up a listing of your local moving companies that have registered themselves with those search engines.
I would recommend that then call a few of the ones that look the best and ask for an estimate. The moving estimate the venue where you interview your prospective moving companies.
On-line Classified Ads:
This is a good place to find local moving companies. However it is suggested that you really do your homework with this route. Places like Craigslist.com, Kijiji.com and Backpage.com often have classified listings of moving companies. However, especially with Craigslist, many moving scam companies thrive with these forums.
I have many articles that you could read that will help you in finding the right company so as to avoid moving scams. My most popular article by far is Craigslist Mover Scams. I highly recommend that you spend some time reading my articles to help you avoid the moving scams.
Phone Books:
Phone books, either on-line or off, are great sources of moving companies. Another good thing about the phone books with their on-line listings is that many of the moving companies are reviewed by former customers.
Also, with the phone books you will get more reputable companies here than you would with on-line classified sites.
Labor Providers:
Moving labor providers are also a great source to find local moving companies. While these guys are many only provide the manual labor for the move versus the full moving service of moving companies they are a great source of cheap moving help. Many full service moving companies will also list their services with these labor providers.
Like the on-line phone books, many of the labor providers allow for customers to rate their providers. This gives you an idea of how a these local moving companies will perform for you.
So there you have it: places where you can find local moving companies.
Quick and Easy Moving is a full service moving company that services Mid-Michigan. No matter if you are moving around the corner or out-of-state Quick and Easy Moving can and will help you, with all your moving needs. No move is too big or too small.
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Moving Company Review: Peace Movers Inc.
December 28, 2008 by jburnham
Filed under Moving Company Reviews
Moving Company Review
Company: Peace Movers Inc.
Grade: B-
City: Advertising all over Michigan. Based in Jersey City, NJ
UPDATE 01/26/09: The BBB for New Jersey has recently updated how they rate companies. Because of this change Peace Movers Inc. now has a “B-” rating. An above average rating. The reason for the “B-” is for the inordinate amounts of complaints apparently. As a result, I too, am raising their grade.
Man ‘o man have I been seeing their advertising all over Craigslist. So much so you could consider it spam. Their adverts are everywhere on Craigslist for Michigan. I seen them advertise from Detroit to Traverse City. And it all seems to be coming from one location as the ads are all the same pretty much. Because I have been seeing them so much I thought that you, my readers, should know what this company is about. So lets review them and see what occurs.
The first thing I did was go to their website. Apparently they have one, but when I type it in all I get is a white screen. Could be my computer or it could be something wrong with their website or server. So I went searching Google and found a site which had a screenshot of their website. What I noticed was they only had one page for a website. Okay. The website was okay looking. It contained their DOT and MC #s. I wrote those down for later. It contained a symbol claiming they had a BBB On-line reliability report. Duely noted. It gave a toll free number to call: 1.866.668.3748. There was no address, but they had a picture of a couple of their trucks and it had their address on it. The address was for Jersey City, NJ. What is a moving company from New Jersey doing advertising in Michigan?
I could not find a record of them even being in Michigan. There is no registered address for them or a local Michigan phone number. Not a good sign. Earlier I mentioned that they had a link to the BBB. Well I checked out their BBB report. First off; they are NOT a BBB member, so having that link on their website is a lie and misleading. They have an “Unsatisfactory” rating with the BBB in New Jersey. They have no BBB report in Michigan. In the last few months they have had 8 reports filed against them. 7 of them were service related complaints. The compliants ranged from lateness to breakage of furniture, etc. All the complaints were resolved, yet they still have an “unstaisfactory” rating. This is because they have a history of misrepresenting themselves; sort of like saying they are part of the BBB when they are not. You can see their BBB info here.
I then called up their toll free number. I got some middle eastern sounding gentleman answering the phone as part of a voice mail message. The voice mail did not confirm that the phone was to a moving company. As matter of fact, if I did not know I was calling a moving company I would have not known that is was. That is dubious and a sign of a scam artist.
I am now checking to see if they have reports on ripoffreport.com and other consumer advocacy sites. I found nothing on them. That is a good sign, however, knowing that they have a bad BBB report, I thought for sure that there would other reports on them. Well I found only one on a blog. It did not go into details but only stated that they had a bad experience with Peace Movers Inc.
In Michigan, they only advertise on Craigslist and the internet. Again, this is a major sign that you may be dealing with a scam company. They do, however, have a yellowpages advert in Jersey City. So they are advertising in other reputable venues, but just not in Michigan. Remember, I said that I wrote down their DOT and MC #s. Well I checked that out as well. They are licensed and Insured. Their license is in New Jersey. However their license does allow them to go to other states. Back in 2004 they were licensed then 2 months later they had it involuntarily revoked then 2 months later got it back again. Why that is so, I don’t know. It could have been a paperwork error.
It appears to me that this company may be trying to branch out into other markets. I know that they are in San Francisco, CA. And are now trying to get into Michigan. This is a good sign. Of course this company may be going through growing pains and that is why there is a lot of outpoints with this company.
Based on my research and opinion I would not trust this company fully. They have a history of misrepresenting themselves by promising that they can doing something when in fact they can’t or won’t. Even the BBB recognizes this. They have no local phone or address and they are based in a state too far to travel to check them out. They answer the phone only with a “hello” instead of a professional “Hi, this is Peace Movers…” But on the other foot, they did resolve all their complaints they had with the BBB and they are licensed and insured.
I give this company a “D”. Just because they are licensed and insured means little if they will not fulfill their promises and lie about their credentials just to get business. Some legit moving companies are scams. If this were me I would shy away from this company until they could prove themselves better. Only time will tell.
If you use this company be very sure of everything and get it in writing. Have it checked out with an attorney if you need to. Don’t give them any down payment. Inspect your furniture when unloading and note any damage and make sure that it is noted on the bill immediately.
If you follow my advices here in this blog and you use this company you should be safe, but if it goes wrong then you were warned.
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Movers: Moving Company Scams Explained
December 27, 2008 by jburnham
Filed under Moving scams
Moving is tough; no doubt about it, but to be a victim of a moving company scam can make it almost unbearable. In all fairness to my trade as a professional mover only a very small percentage of moves are actually moving scams.
If you have been a victim of horrible service you may feel as if you have been scammed when indeed you haven’t. To be actually scammed is something that I would not want to wish on anyone.
There are three basic moving scams out there, and knowing how to detect them can prevent a lot of heartache and save you a lot of money. Now, if you still have had bad experience then you either hired a really bad company or they had an off day which does occur every now and then.
So what are the three basic moving company scams and just how do you spot them? Well I am going to explain that to you just now. The three moving company scams are the “Hostage Scam”, the “Large Downpayment Scam” and the “Craigslist Mover Scam.” So let me explain the three of them to you so you know what I mean then I’ll show you how to spot them so you don’t get caught up in their schemes.
“Hostage Scam”
You either go online or you look in the phone book and you find a mover that seems to be good. You call them up (this is assuming that you have called other moving companies prior to this call) talk to them about the move. They seem eager and helpful and you buy into their charisma. They ask you a few questions about your move then, over the phone, give you a quote. The quote is way lower than the other companies quotes and you make up your mind…”This is the company for me.” They send you some paperwork to fill out over the internet or through the mail and you send it back to them.
The big day comes for the move; the company you hired arrives and loads up your belongings into their truck. Everything seems to be just fine. You head on off to your new home and you wait for the company to arrive. They arrive to your new home, walk up to your door and you open it eagerly anticipating the moment you can sit in your favorite chair and watch TV. They present you with the bill. That is when you turn into an ape standing hunched over scratching your head because the bill they just handed to you is twice, thrice or more over the estimate (sometimes as much 4X). You explain to them that you weren’t expecting the bill to be that much and can’t pay it. They walk off, get into their truck and don’t come back. You can’t get your stuff until you pay the bill.
That is the Hostage scam at its finest. I’ll get into spotting this fraud in a moment.
“The Large Down-payment Scam”
This one is pretty obvious. Similar to the above moving scam, they lure you in with a lowball estimate and you bite. The catch here is that you have to give them a large down payment to get the ball rolling. The down payment can be up to half of the estimate. This company is giving you a deal and you are betting your chest in triumph. You gladly give them the money then you never see them again. Bye-bye money.
“The Craigslist Mover Scam”
This has a lot of similarities to the two above but with one major difference. Most of the companies (I’d say around 40%) on Craigslist are not legitimate moving businesses. What they tend to be is “two potheads and rusted pick-up.” If the idea of seeing loser “ganstas” or redneck butt crack is appealing to you then this probably the route for you. However, if you are looking for a more professional company then you may have to look a little harder when on Craigslist.
(This is no way intended to imply that all the moving companies on Craigslist are scams. They are not. There are many reputable and honorable moving companies that list their services there. Just be careful when hiring companies off this list. Of course with the information below you should avoid the hassle.)
Here are 6 very important points to look for when considering hiring a moving company:
- They do not come out or will not come out to do an on-site inspection of your home or office. They just give you the moving estimate over the phone. If they can’t do an inspection then there is a very big reason why and it “ain’t” good.
- The movers will only accept cash or credit cards BEFORE they even move you. Forget about paying with checks, it is too easy for you to cancel those. They want the money NOW.
- They either don’t have a website (and there is no excuse for this as I explain in this article) or their website is lacking in information. If a moving scam company does have a website but you can’t find either their DOT/MC #s or an address is a big red flag.
- They give you a lowball estimate. In the moving business a deal is NOT a deal.
- They don’t put anything in writing. Their estimate is not in writing. Their fee structure is not in writing. None of the agreements are in writing. Nothing. Granted, on smaller moves of only a few hours or so it may not be worth a reputable companies time and money to go do an estimate in person, etc. I am talking about moves that 40 miles or more. The long distance moves.
- Usually the only place that you can find this moving scam companies is on Craigslist. Rarely will they advertise in the local paper or in the Yellowpages.
So now you are asking yourself how you can avoid this from happening to you. And that would be a very good question. There is only ONE real answer, but that answer has many various parts. The answer is simply: do your research. But where and how you do your research is where the complexity comes in to play. Below is some quick bullet points to follow when researching that will help you out:
- You need to read my two articles: 10 Very Impoartant Moving Company Questions and Craigslist Mover Scams. These articles are choc-a-bloc full of useful information that will guide you in your research and the questions to ask.
- Go to the BBB website and find your moving company(ies) of choice and see what they have to say about them. Other good sources to look at are ripoffreport.com and movingscam.com.
- If a moving company says they have a license and insurance then get both their DOT and MC #s. Once you have them go to FMCSA.dot.gov and look up the company. This should tell you most of what you need to know.
So there you go. You now have enough data to be able to spot and avoid moving company scams. Just follow the advice in this little article and you’ll be doing okay. Of course, if you run into trouble then you can always give me a jingle or email me and I’ll be happy to help you free of charge.
Thank you and good luck.
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Cheap Moving Labor FAQs
December 18, 2008 by jburnham
Filed under Moving labor
Many people are moving somewhere, but many of those people cannot afford full service moving companies that can charge up to $130/hr. Your only solution, besides doing it yourself, is to hire cheap moving labor.
The FAQs:
What is cheap moving labor?
These guys are hired guns only. They are hired muscle. They can only load or unload a POD, trailer or truck. They cannot move you from one city to another, they cannot move you across country. These guys can be very good and helpful.
How does cheap moving labor work?
You need to rent a truck like Uhual, Penske or Budget, or you can hire POD or a “you load/we drive” company like ABF. You’ll then call up the moving labor company to come out an either load or unload your rental.
How much do they charge?
That will differ from company to company. Usually the market dictates what they will charge. But expect to pay them a fair hourly wage plus some travel time.
Where can I find cheap moving labor?
I find that rarely they will advertise in the Yellowpages or some other reputable media venue. Occasionally I will see a moving labor company advertise in a newspaper. Where you will find these types of companies is on the internet, and heavily on Craigslist. Another way to find them is to ask your family and friends for referrals. Also you will flyers on bulletin boards throughout your city occasionally. Below I have links you can go to to hire cheap moving labor from reputable companies.
Will move companies provide cheap moving labor?
Some will; some won’t. My company does. But I know of a great moving company that will not. They will only do the full moves. Only one way to be sure: Call them up and ask.
Are cheap moving labor companies insured and licensed?
The short answer: No. The long answer is that moving labor companies can get insurance for their companies similar to that of other professional home service companies like landscaping, cleaning maids and the like. But there is no insurance or bonding that I know specifically tailored to moving labor companies. So if they say they are insured and bonded request that you see their policy first before you hire them.
Are cheap moving labor companies regulated by the government like moving companies?
No No No. You have to do your own research on these guys. It is a buyer beware situation when you use this as a solution. I have only found one company that is registered with the BBB. However, the good news is that there are cheap moving labor broker companies that have customer rated lab0rs for you to hire. Below is a list of the best that I have found. Some of these internet broker companies are even claim to be licensed and insured.
Cheap Moving Labor Providers:
This company provides more than just moving labor. You can also find landscapers, cleaning maids, etc. All of the laborers are customer rated. You can hire these guys over the internet with a credit card. You don’t have to pay the laborers at all, they get paid by HireAHelper. Do expect to pay a 2 hour minimum for this service.
Movinglaborbrokers.com/movinglaborprofessionals.com
This company only provides moving labor. There is a 4 hour minimum requirement for this service. You can pay by credit card with the labor provider but only for the downpayment. These rest will be provided to the laborers themselves. The laborers may not be able to accept credit cards so be ready with cash or a check. This company says that they are licensed and insured. You cannot choose the laborers nor can you rate the laborers after the job is done.
This company also only provides moving labor services. They do have a customer hotline whioch you can use if there is any question. You can’t choose your laborers nor can you rate their service. Like the company above you pay a downpayment via credit card and the rest of the fee to the laborers. Be prepared with cash or check if they can’t accept credit cards. There is a 4 hour minimum charge.
This company is owned and operated by Uhaul. All their laborers are customer rated. Also the laborers maybe actual full service moving companies so some of these laborers maybe licensed and insured. There is a 2 hour minimum charge and the full fee is charged by credit card to emove.com. You do not pay the laborers at all except maybe a tip. There is a customer service hotline, but it is not a very good and often misquote and mishandle calls. My suggestion is to choose actual full service moving companies off this list and ask them any questions you have. Emove just takes the money and then leaves you hanging.