The Internet has become a wonderful tool to find brokers willing to do the legwork to help consumers hunt down the lowest prices for everything from airline tickets to vacation rental homes.
So naturally people are turning to the Web to help them choose a moving company. That may not be so smart or cost-effective. Using a moving broker may just lead you to a scam.
Don’t let a sophisticated- looking Web site fool you into thinking you’re dealing with a legitimate company, says David Sparkman, vice president of communications for the American Moving and Storage Association.
A moving broker acts as a middleman arranging for a consumer to find a mover either through an affiliated moving carrier or by posting on the Internet details of a consumer’s move. In the latter case, moving companies bid for a job based on details collected by the broker. The broker typically collects a deposit or a fee based on its estimate of how much a move will cost, Sparkman said.
There are several types of broker scams. In one, a broker will promise to arrange your move for a low price. You pay a deposit or fee. You are given a date and information about the mover.
The scheduled moving day comes and the mover never shows. Turns out the broker did nothing to find a mover. Your calls or complaints to the broker go unanswered.
That’s what happened to Nikki Lehnhoff, who was nearly scammed out of $750. Lehnhoff said she began looking in February for a company to move her belongings from Florida to Boulder, Colo. She tried to avoid hiring a broker. The company she finally settled on assured her that it was not a broker, even though it was registered with the Department of Transportation as such. Moving brokers are required to be registered.
Lehnhoff said the company explained the discrepancy by claiming it occasionally acted as a broker. She says that should have been a red flag.
Lehnhoff said she confirmed her moving date several times and charged the $750 deposit on her credit card. She was told the move would cost $1,600. Lehnhoff flew to Florida from Colorado to supervise the move, but the mover never showed up.
To make matters worse, Lehnhoff said the company only responded to her telephone calls the day of the move and afterward when she called from a different number or when she used another name. Fortunately for Lehnhoff, she had charged the deposit. The card company refunded the charges after she complained.
In another version of this scam, a consumer receives an estimate for the move that is very low compared with other quotes. However, once the household goods are loaded onto the truck he or she is told the cost of the move will be significantly higher than the estimate. If the consumer refuses to pay, the belongings are held hostage until the bill is paid.
This last scam snared Sharon, who asked that her last name not be disclosed because she fears retaliation from brokers. Because of her experience, she volunteers to investigate moving companies and brokers for MovingScam.com, a Web site that provides consumer tips and warnings about dishonest movers.
Sharon, who now lives in New York, was moving from Oregon to Virginia three years ago. The broker she found on the Internet estimated the items in her two-bedroom apartment could be moved across country for $1,300. She paid a $350 deposit. After her possessions were loaded on the truck, she was told the move would actually cost $4,300. She insisted that her belongings be unloaded for 110 percent of the written estimate.
By federal law, interstate moving companies are required to release your belongings to you when you pay 100 percent of the charges in a binding estimate or 110 percent of a nonbinding estimate.
Because of consumer complaints, the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates interstate movers, is considering rule changes for moving brokers. Among the proposed changes, brokers would have to give consumers a copy of the FMCSA pamphlet, “Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move.” They also would have to clearly disclose if they are not the company transporting a consumer’s household goods.
The problem with the rule changes is that con artists don’t abide by the law.
“I advise people to avoid household-goods moving brokers completely,” says Tim Walker, the founder of MovingScam.com.
“The price you pay in the end won’t be much different, and the likelihood of problems occurring is much higher with a broker.”
I have to agree with Walker. I don’t see the need to use a broker.
It’s easy enough to comparison-shop yourself. That way you deal directly with the mover.
Washington Post Writers Group
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