Waiting For The Moving Subcontractor

By bestboom | September 19, 2009

You’ve probably seen the famous trick of the magician and the white rabbit. The magician doffs his black hat and shows you the inside of the hat, which is dark and empty. He flips the hat, and all you can see is its outside. He flips it again, and the inside appears, this time full of a white rabbit. Moving scam artists change personalities in the same way. Before they get full payment, they are all smiles and politeness.

They answer your calls, they are courteous helpful and friendly, Once they have your belongings, and once they get their money, however, the hat flips. You’re on the outs, and their operations are as opaque as the outside of the magician’s hat. They refuse to answer phone calls. They refuse to call you to let you know where your stuff has been taken. They refuse to give you any clue as to when, if ever, you will see your belongings again. How does this occur, and what’s going on when the moving company flips the hat?

To understand what I am talking about, I want you to read this first hand account of a victim, found on the bulletin board of a prominent anti-moving scam website.

” I spoke with them on the phone and they answered every day and the lady said she needed the check certified and overnight so I can get my things on August 16th. I sent the check and the next day it cleared. I called the bank to make sure. I faxed over the documents with my new address since its about 2 miles closer but in the same city. I been calling every day since to find out what time and day they are going to deliver and no one will answer or return my call.”

As you read through the account, did you notice that as soon as the company got their check, and as soon as it cleared, the hat flipped? The difference is as clear as night and day. One moment they are answering their phones and responsive. The next moment its as if the office has been vacated. The victims are now living like many moving scam victims.

They are sleeping on air mattresses in an empty house, waiting for their furniture to arrive. And wondering if it’s something they did or said that is causing the communication problem. Are they calling the wrong number, is there a problem on the line? But it’s none of those reasons. It’s because the moving scammers choose not to answer. And here’s the proof. This is a comment that someone else, scammed by the same company, put on the same bulletin board.

” Let me tell you that A. Moving & Storage is a complete scam artist. I cannot begin to tell you about the horrible experience I had with that company back in June. I had to wait 3 weeks to get my furniture from these crooks. THEY WILL NOT ANSWER YOUR PHONE CALLS.

And why not? Why won’t this company answer the phone? While the victim may not be able to shorten the time till he gets his stuff, he can at least know the exact reason for the delay. This sweet polite company that talked with him every day on the phone is not a moving company at all, they are moving brokers. They used their web site, their arts, and their sales skills to land the job. Once the contract is signed, or agreed upon, and once they have the deposit, and more importantly, once they have the household goods in storage, they take their cut of the pay, and then with a reduced sum of money in hand they requeste bids from moving subcontractors to take the load to its destination.

The original fee was probably not much to begin with, as companies like this entice victims with low estimates. And now,after subtracting the sales commission, the remaining sum is not likely to entice a moving subcontractor. So the goods sit in storage until a moving broker in their network, lands another move going from the same area to the same destination. Now a subcontractor will take both loads together If the goods from the two loads won’t fit in the truck, then the subcontractor will either tie some of the furniture to the outside of the van, or place items in storage, where they will be lost or stolen or stored away in the storage area until. hopefully some other load will be going in the same direction, but often that never happens.

In the meantime, while waiting for a subcontractor to bid on the goods, the moving broker will choose not to answer his phone calls. Maybe he feels the victim knows intuitively what’s going on. Or maybe he simply don’t care about the victim’s pain since he got his fee, and is eager to land more work and make more money. In any case, the hat flips, and it won’t flip back until a subcontractor is located. And unfortunately, in moving scams, when the hat flips back, it’s not full of a pretty white rabbit It’s usually full of demands for more money, and stories of broken, damaged or lost goods.

Thanks to Packing Service Inc. for sponsoring this report. They are dedicated to protecting consumers from moving scams With branches in most of the 48 states, Packing Service Inc. national leader in the packing service industry.

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