Think about this little drama (if it hasn’t already given you nightmares!):
You’d planned your long-distance move for ages.- You called three different Dallas interstate moving companies, all of which appeared to be reputable, and finally decided on the one that provided the most reasonable estimate.
- You’re all set for Moving Day.
- The moving crew loads your household goods for your new home.
- And it never shows up. It vanishes – taking with it the greater part of your worldly possessions.
Ah, come on! That hasn’t really happened, has it? Regretably, it has. But that is an extreme scenario. What you’ll more likely find with, shall we say, “less than scrupulous” movers is that they won’t purloin a homeowner’s shipments outright; they’ll merely 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 alert you to more.
So if you’ve had any misgivings – any nightmares – about something like this befalling you, consider them a warning: DON’T SIGN ON WITH A MOVING COMPANY UNTIL YOU KNOW THAT COMPANY’S LEGITIMATE!
Be leery of moving companies that …
- don’t have a physical address. P.O. boxes are a big red flag. 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 read reviews of over 20,000 moving-oriented companies.
- charge a fee to provide you with an estimate. That’s not anything a creditable mover would do.
- don’t offer written estimates – or tell you they’ll determine your charges after loading. Again: that’s simply not done by respectable movers.
- provide you with an estimate that seems to good to be true. It probably is! (You know the old axiom!)
- make you sign documents that have blank lines to be filled in later. All specifics should be clearly set forth in writing and agreed upon before you sign anything. (Another old axiom you surely 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. Keep in mind, all moving companies for hire as interstate movers are required to be licensed and insured for interstate commerce.
Here’s still another ancient proverb 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 lots of suffering and sorrow when your move is well along.
And your best research tool? The Internet! Or it is so long as you’re not just visiting the websites of the movers you’re reviewing. Follow the links we provide above for solid, trustworthy third-party corroboration of a long-distance mover’s credentials … or lack thereof.
While you’re at it, we invite you to use these sites to look into A-1 Freeman Moving Group here in Dallas as well. We’ve been
long-distances movers – not to mention local and intrastate movers – of great repute for quite awhile. And we’re pleased to offer tools like these to help you make sound decisions for smooth moves.
