Things to Know:
PROTECT YOURSELF: When hiring a moving company, movers, packers or helpers, the liability of insurance remains to be financially at your cost; if they are not insured. This liability of hiring uninsured workers can cost you a lot of money if they injure themselves when providing moving services for you. The cost of damaged items and damages to your home are also a financial aspect that you need to be aware of. Another potential hazard to you and your family is the predicament of having people in your home that shouldn't be; under ANY circumstance. These are people with questionable criminal histories; such as thieves, murderers, rapists and pedophiles. It is our recommendation that you check out your movers, packers and helpers; including "Pack and loaders," U-Haul e-movers, and craigslist. Check ODOT to make sure your movers comply with their State qualifications. Have they passed a Background check? There are many movers that I wouldn't want in my house or around my child. That's the truth!
The "Truth": The "Truth" is, the Moving industry has a bad reputation due to "Unscrupulous" movers that have taken advantage of their customers. Alot of this has happened from movers that have no licensing, no insurance, no background checks and no regulation from their state. However there are also regulated, authorized moving companies that try to cheat their customers by: stealing items and or ENTIRE household loads, stealing moving funds, not paying for damages and or "Manipulating / Bumping" weights;(see heading "Illegal moving Tricks”). They have also held customers moving "loads" for Hostage. This is where the mover will not unload their truck (with your items) until you pay them thousands of dollars extra; which was not agreed to. This mostly happens when you hire an "Un-licensed" mover. The results are that even though you call the police, they cannot do anything because it is a civil matter. The police will tell you to either pay the money or get a lawyer. These are just some of the reasons why the moving business is so regulated; it is to protect the homeowner/customer. The fact still remains that anyone can move items and that people always want the cheapest price; but it is your life's items that they are moving. It is your family (and your household lay-out) that they are getting acquainted with. Think about your families safety. You may save some money, but you have no LEGAL recourse when you hire "Un-licensed" movers. It's amazing how you will not find any of this negative information on any movers website; other than ours. We believe in telling you the truth; so you can make an informed decision about whom you want to move your items. "Karma".
Illegal Moving "Tricks": There are many methods that movers use to "Rip-off" and or "Trick" their moving customer. Here are some examples: Claims of "Authority" and insurance (when they don't have it). Inventory box tricks: "Servicing" of cartons; filling a Wardrobe carton with another smaller carton in order to save on space,. The placing of 2 inventory stickers on one carton because they lost one carton; but still have the sticker. Letting the mover/helper check-off (on an inventory "Check sheet") if your cartons are there (instead of you) is a mistake because they may check-off carton numbers when you are not there. Not visually seeing a carton number (that is missing on the "Check sheet") and believing a mover that they had found it (cannot be trusted). A really serious "Trick" that sometimes happens is when the mover "Holds your items hostage"; (see the heading: The "Truth). Another "Trick" is the "Bumping" of weights. The "Bumping" of weights is a Federal crime and it is extremely illegal; but it happens all of the time. It is called "Weight manipulation". In order to bring the weight of your load (higher than what it actually is) they "Bump" it. The methods that Truck drivers use to "Bump" weights of a shipment are many. In order to lower their truck weight (before they load your household goods), many truck drivers unload their moving pads, equipment, ramps, and have little fuel in their tank; reducing their trucks weight by hundreds of pounds. Another way they lower their trucks "Empty weight" is to keep one of their front truck tires off the side of the weigh scale (going off of the scale); this takes hundreds of pounds off of the "True weight" of the whole truck. In order to see how much to charge a customer (when going by the weight), a truck driver has to get their truck weighed. The weighing of a truck prior to loading your items is called an "Empty weight" or a "Light weight". After they weigh the truck, they put all of the equipment back onto their truck. Then they go to your residence to load your items. After they load your items, they must then get a "Heavy weight"; to see how much weight to charge you for. To add weight to the shipment, they fill up with fuel (up to 800 pounds plus), and then weigh the whole truck with the added weight of a few workers (300-450 pounds). Sometimes truck drivers will load heavy pallets, cement, water containers and even vehicles in order to get the weight where they want it to be. The reason for this is because they get paid on a percentage of the loads weight; the company then gets the rest: and you have to pay for it. The reasons why MANY Intra-state and Inter-state movers "Bump" the weight of your shipment is because either the job is smaller than they intended it to be, or it is because (their Van-lines) company is not paying them what they should be getting paid for transporting your shipment. You would be amazed at how much of the total cost (of a shipment) goes to the Van-line company, and how little of that profit goes to the long-haul truck driver who does the actual job. If you are paying for a move (by the weight), the only way to insure that you get the "True weight" of your load is to be at the weigh scale; when they get an "Empty / Light" weight on their truck and also when they finish loading your items and get a "Heavy" weight. You have a "Right" to get copies of both weight tickets. If your mover gets an attitude about it, then you might want to back out. The worst thing to have is a "Pissed-off" mover. So what if you lose your $100 deposit.
