Picture this little sketch (if it hasn’t already haunted your nightmares!):
You’d been working out your long-distance move for months.- You called three different Little Rock interstate moving companies, all of which looked to be trustworthy, and finally opted for the one that gave you the most reasonable estimate.
- It’s now Moving Day.
- The moving crew loads your household items for your new home.
- And it never shows up. It vanishes – taking with it the better part of your worldly possessions.
Ah, get real! That doesn’t actuallyhappen, does it? Sadly, it does. But that is an atypical scenario. What you’ll more likely find with, shall we say, “less than scrupulous” movers is that they won’t abscond with a homeowner’s belongings outright; they’ll simply hold them hostage until the homeowner hands over more money. 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 experienced any misgivings – any nightmares – about something like this happening to you, regard them as a warning: DON’T HIRE A MOVING COMPANY UNTIL YOU KNOW THAT COMPANY IS HONEST!
Avoid moving companies that …
- don’t have a physical address. P.O. boxes are a dead giveaway. Check the phone book. And check online at Google Maps or Google Earth.
- have a shoddy record with the Better Business Bureau. Go to bbb.org. There you’ll see reviews of over 20,000 moving-related companies.
- charge a fee to provide you with an estimate. That’s not something any well-regarded mover would do.
- don’t offer written estimates – or let it be known they’ll figure your charges once they’ve loaded the truck. Again: that’s just not how quality movers conduct themselves.
- hand over an estimate that sounds to good to be true. It undoubtedly is! (You know the old cliché!)
- ask you to 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 affix your signature to anything. (Another old axiom you must know!)
- don’t have an active U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) license,
- don’t have a valid 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 have to be licensed and insured for interstate commerce.
Here’s yet one more old axiom 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 contemplating before you hire can save you all sorts of anguish when your move is being carried out.
And your most useful information source? The Internet! Or it is so long as you’re not just visiting the websites of the movers you’re considering. 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 look into Oil Capitol Relocation here in Little Rock as well. We’ve been
long-distances movers – not to mention local and intrastate movers – of great repute for many decades. And we’re happy to present tools like these to help you make smart decisions for smooth moves.
