Many people would love to hire a moving company to help them with their move. Not only does it reduce the amount of stress on the people moving, but it can also be cheaper in the long run because experts can make the move much more efficiently than homeowners usually can themselves. However, these same people are leery about hiring moving companies because they have heard all the horror stories about homeowners getting ripped off by additional fees at the end of the move or by losing their belongings altogether when a mover takes off with their stuff.
Fortunately, there are some actions you can take prior to hiring a mover to minimize the chances of hiring a company that is running a scam. The first and most important tip is to never hire a company from the Internet. The company you end up hiring can have an Internet website, but you shouldn’t base your decision solely on that fact. This is because it is very easy for anyone to get a website. They do not have to prove they are a legitimate business and they do not have to have a license to get a website. This means they can pay for a website, lure in customers, and disappear with your money and their site.
So, before you hire anyone, talk to your friends and family members for recommendations. Once you get at least three company names that you will research further. Only then should you go online to verify each company’s reputation. Check your local Better Business Bureau’s website to see if there are any unresolved complaints with the companies and how many complaints each company has received. There are also several independent sites that rate and rank moving companies and provide legitimate reviews from previous customers. All of this information should be taken into account before you sign a contract.
You should also visit each company’s physical location to inspect their trucks and property. Companies that are going to handle your belongings with care also take care of their belongings. You can tell a lot about an organization by the way they do business, so hang around the office and listen to how the company’s representatives handle in-coming calls.
Once you have researched each moving company, you should then seek quotes from at least three of them that have good reputations. At this point, you can then make your final decision based on which one can give you all the features you need at a price you can afford.