Consider this scenario (if it hasn’t already haunted your nightmares!):
You’d been working out your long-distance move for ages.- You examined three different Houston interstate moving companies, all of which seemed reliable, and finally opted for the one that provided the lowest estimate.
- It’s now Moving Day.
- The moving crew loads your household items for your new home.
- And it never reaches it. It disappears – as does most of your worldly possessions.
Ah, come on! That hasn’t really happened, has it? Regretably, it has. But that is an extraordinary scenario. What’s more likely to happen with, shall we say, “less than honest” movers is that they won’t steal a homeowner’s possessions outright; they’ll just hold them hostage until the homeowner agrees to pay a higher fee. Of course, these are but two of many types of moving scams. Sites like
Moving.com and
MovingScam.com will show you more.
So if you’ve had any misgivings – any nightmares – about something like this befalling you, consider them a warning: DON’T EMPLOY A MOVING COMPANY UNTIL YOU KNOW THAT COMPANYS TRULY TRUSTWORTHY!
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 can look at reviews of over 20,000 moving-oriented companies.
- make you pay for an estimate. That’s not what any reputable mover would do.
- don’t give you written estimates – or say they’ll tally up your charges only after they’ve gotten the truck loaded. Again: that’s just not how respectable movers conduct themselves.
- hand you an estimate that seems to good to be true. It surely is! (You know the old axiom!)
- request that you sign documents that have blank lines to be filled in later. All contractual elements should be described fully in writing and agreed upon before you put your signature to anything. (Another old saying you certainly know!)
- don’t have an active U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) license,
- don’t have a current 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 check all this out at the DOT website’s Mover Registration Search, https://ai.fmcsa.dot.gove/hhg/search.asp. Don’t forget, all moving companies for hire as interstate movers are required to be licensed and insured for interstate commerce.
Here’s still another ripe cliché for you: It’s better to be safe than sorry. Exercising a little due diligence up front and learning all you can about the movers you’re reviwing before you hire can save you all sorts of suffering and sorrow when your move is underway.
And your most useful 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 verification of a long-distance mover’s credentials … or lack thereof.
While you’re at it, we heartily encourage you to use these sites to investigate A-1 Freeman Moving Group here in Houston too. We’ve been
long-distances movers – not to mention local and intrastate movers – of outstanding repute for a long, long time. And we’re pleased to provide tools like these to help you make smart decisions for smooth moves.
