Moving scams are more common than you think. This shouldn’t sway you to hire a moving company for your relocation, but just to make you more careful. There are ways to recognize fraudulent moving companies. For this reason, you should first check USA Moving Reviews and see other people’s experiences with a certain moving company. However, to be able to protect yourself from moving scams in CT, you should first know what they are. Keep reading to find out what are the most common moving scams and how to avoid them.
What are and how to protect yourself from moving scams in CT?
There are many moving scams and all of them result in you paying more than you should or a moving company stealing your items. Either case is not something you should experience with professional movers. For this reason, you should be careful and well-informed when hiring a moving company. A good source of information is moving companies in CT reviews. The most moving scams are the following ones:
- A sight-unseen estimate
- Constant change name of moving company
- Doesn’t have a license
- Hidden fees and additional costs
- Asking for a deposit
How moving estimate can protect you from a moving scam?
Moving estimates can tell you a lot about a moving company. A first red flag is when a moving company offers you a sight-unseen estimate. You should never trust a moving company that doesn’t come to your house and makes a moving estimate on the site. However, you shouldn’t confuse this one with an online moving estimate. Almost every moving company has an online version of a moving estimate where you can calculate the price of your relocation. This way, you only get an approximate price that is good for comparing moving companies and nothing else.
Why is the constant name changing a red flag?
One of the ways to identify fraudulent relocation companies is constant changes. When a moving company scams a couple of customers, it’s not going to keep scamming people under the same name. Fraudulent movers will change the name of the company and maybe the color of the uniform and start a new one with the same business. So, if you notice that a certain moving company had a lot of name changes, you shouldn’t hire it. The best place to check this information is moving reviews as someone will mention this information.
Avoid moving companies without a license
Moving business is just like any business in the world and there are rules that must be followed and obeyed. The first one is that every interstate moving company has a USDOT number issued by FMCSA. You can check if a certain moving company has a license by simply clicking on the FMCSA website. The story is a little bit different with local movers as every state has different rules for moving companies.
There shouldn’t be hidden costs
When a moving company offers you a moving quote, all costs must be listed. For this reason, when you want to protect yourself from moving scams in CT, you should only accept a binding not-to-exceed moving estimate. This one is the best for you as a customer.