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Choosing A Moving Company

(Everyone knows that choosing a moving company is one of the most important parts of the whole moving process.)

Especially if you have a large house with a lot of belongings, choosing an affordable and trustworthy mover is essential.

But a homeowner must be very leery of all of the moving companies and offers out there that claim they can provide you with a super cheap move, because many of these "too good to be true" advertisements are just that.

There are hundreds (if not thousands) of both licensed and unlicensed moving companies that scam every mover and make them pay extremely large sums of money to get their stuff off of the truck.

A November 19, 2006 article by Jay Romano of The New York Times, "Pitfalls in choosing a moving company," looks at some of the things that moving companies will do to get every last dollar out of each client.

"Most people would agree that moving is one of life's more stressful events. There's no point to making it even more stressful by hiring an incompetent moving company."

"David Sparkman, a spokesman for the American Moving and Storage Association in Alexandria, Va., said that different laws apply depending on whether the move is from within a state or beyond."

If you are moving out of state, it may be harder to find a mover that you know is scrupulous, especially if you are not entirely familiar with the area.

This is where research is critical. Always make sure the company is licensed, because if they are not, and something happens to your stuff, you could end up losing thousands of dollars.

Most of the time, a mover will come to your home and survey all of the stuff that needs to be moved and give the homeowners a written estimate. "If you live within 50 miles of a mover's place of business, he said, the mover must visit your house, make a survey of what you want to move and provide a written estimate."

"The charges will be based on the weight of the shipment - the customer has the right to watch as the truck is weighed - and the estimate will be either binding or nonbinding, at the customer's option. With a binding estimate, he said, the truck must be unloaded if the customer pays the estimated amount at the destination. With a nonbinding estimate, which will reduce the cost of the move slightly, the truck will be unloaded if the customer pays up to 110 percent of the estimate."

With both of these types of estimates, the movers can charge more after the fact, if the weight of some items is more than estimated, for example. This is how many of the "scammers" get their money.

"Mr. Sparkman said that unlicensed 'scam movers,' as well as some unscrupulous licensed movers, will give a customer a low estimate and then charge several times that estimate at the destination and refuse to unload the truck unless the entire amount is paid. Since local police will usually not get involved in such disputes, victims of such scams will often agree to pay just to get their belongings off the truck and into the house."

The best way to ensure that you are getting the best deal for your move is to have three different movers come to your house and give you a written estimate. If one company gives an extremely low amount, understand that they will most likely give you an abnormally high rate after the fact.

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