Consider this little drama (if it hasn’t already stoked your nightmares!):
You’d been your long-distance move for a long time.- You investigated three different Tulsa and Oklahoma City interstate moving companies, all of which appeared to be reputable, and finally selected the one that delivered the least costly estimate.
- You’re ready for Moving Day.
- The moving crew loads your heads out for your new home.
- And it never shows up. It disappears – as does most of your worldly possessions.
Ah, come on! That hasn’t really happened, has it? Regretably, it has. But that is an extreme scenario. What’s more likely to happen with, shall we say, “less than scrupulous” movers is that they won’t abscond with a homeowner’s belongings outright; they’ll simply hold them hostage until the homeowner agrees to pay a higher fee. Of course, these are just two of many types of moving scams. Sites like
Moving.com and
MovingScam.com reveal more.
So if you’ve had any qualms – any nightmares – about something like this happening to you, consider them a warning: DON’T ENGAGE A MOVING COMPANY UNTIL YOU KNOW THAT COMPANY IS HONEST!
Bypass moving companies that …
- don’t have a physical address. P.O. boxes are a dead giveaway. Check the phone book. And check online at Google Maps or Google Earth.
- have a poor record with the Better Business Bureau. Visit bbb.org. There you can read reviews of better than 20,000 moving-related companies.
- bill you for an estimate. That’s not anything a respected mover would do.
- don’t provide written estimates – or let it be known they’ll figure your charges after loading. Again: that’s simply not done by respectable movers.
- turn in an estimate that looks to good to be true. It very likely is! (You know the old cliché!)
- make you sign documents that have blank lines to be filled in later. All details should be described fully in writing and agreed upon before you sign anything. (Another old proverb you must know!)
- don’t have a valid U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) license,
- don’t have a valid Motor Carrier (MC) license, and
- don’t have a DOT or MC number that’s less than 3 years old …
- or aren’t insured. You can corroborate all this at the DOT website’s Mover Registration Search, https://ai.fmcsa.dot.gove/hhg/search.asp. Remember, all moving companies for hire as interstate movers are required to be licensed and insured for interstate commerce.
Here’s one more old axiom for you: It’s better to be safe than sorry. Exercising a bit of due diligence up front and discovering all you can about the movers you’re contemplating before you hire can save you a lot of drama and despair when your move is in progress.
And your best information source? The Internet! Or it is on the condition that you’re not just visiting the websites of the movers you’re considering. Follow the links we provide above for solid, reliable third-party verification of a long-distance mover’s credentials … or lack thereof.
While you’re at it, we heartily encourage you to use these sites to look into Oil Capitol Relocation here in Tulsa and Oklahoma City also. We’ve been
long-distances movers – not to mention local and intrastate movers – of great repute for many decades. And we’re glad to provide tools like these to help you make wise decisions for smooth moves.
