Protect Yourself Against Fraud When Moving To College

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Protect Yourself Against Fraud When Moving To College
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Welcome to College Moving Guide

Collegemovingguide is the moving services guide for college and university students. We provide inside information on moving frauds, moving checklists, college review articles, preparing students for a safe college experience.

Protect Yourself

Going away to college is an incredibly exciting time and although you may be reveling in all of the celebrations, it is also a very stressful time, especially if it’s your first time going away. Hiring a moving company to complete the move for you can greatly relieve some of your stress because they can be very handy services.

However, it’s important to be a vigilant consumer when you are trying to find the right moving company. Moving fraud is unfortunately, part of the business and it’s the customers that are made to face consequences such as paying huge prices. When moving companies are dealing with college students, they mistakenly believe that the young person is more vulnerable to a scam because they lack experience to identify one. But knowing what to look for and being able to identify moving fraud can save you a lot of money and stress in the end!

Sign’s of a moving fraud?

1. Movers show up in a rental truck to provide moving services.
2. Un-uniformed workers
3. Movers hiring moving labor from temp agencys.
4. Movers ask for pre-payment before your move.
5. Some moving companies will hold your furniture hostage until you pay the inflated invoice.

Because quotes provided by the moving company are considered an estimate, it’s quite easy for the companies to come up with a final total that is much more than what was quoted. They rationalize it to the customer by saying that the final weight was much more than what was quoted and that the items also took up more space in the moving truck than was originally quoted, further adding to the price. Because they are in possession of the client’s goods, the client is forced to pay the required amount to get their own things back!

For this reason, the first step in identifying a scam is when a company will provide a quote without seeing the actual items to be shipped. Even with a detailed list of items, it’s impossible to know how much space it will take and how much it will weigh without actually seeing it.

A moving company may also ask for a large deposit to be paid before the items and shipped and tell you that this is standard practice. This is in fact, not standard practice in the moving industry.

Trustworthy movers will realize that should there be a problem with you keeping your part of the contract, they have your belongings and that should be enough deposit. A company that needs extra money for this is likely not to return it. By the same token, never enter into an agreement with a company that will only accept cash as a form of payment. Not wanting to have any sort of trace on the money speaks of shady business practices and if there is a problem, it may be difficult to prove that you paid your balance.

While you may have had enough of paperwork for awhile after school, a mover that requires quite a bit of it may indicate a mover that is trustworthy. The following documents will be required or provided by an honest mover: a written estimate, signed by both the company and yourself; an order for service outlining all of the mover’s responsibilities; a bill of lading that will itemize all of your belongings; and an inventory list to describe the condition of each item.

Not being able to supply these documents could show that the mover is not concerned with the student or their belongings and is likely to be involved in a scam.
A thorough background check on the company should be done, including an inquiry at the Better Business Bureau being made and checking their website for things such as testimonials. It’s also extremely important to make sure that the company has insurance that will protect your belongings while they are in the mover’s care.