Chances are very good you would look for the very best parachute you could find not the cheapest. So why is it when some people are moving they look for the cheapest Mover they can find to intrust most of, if not all of their worldly possessions?
Every year the Moving Industry receives the same negative press, someone is scammed, their goods held for ransom or stolen by some seedy internet rogue mover. Bad press for the industry and a great opportunity for third party relocation firms to emphasise why you should not work direct with movers and that you should use a third party relocation firm to vet out the scallywags.
Firstly on a corporate end, you should not be concerned with Movers that are actively participating in the corporate market. If you are offering an allowance or lump sum, Movers that are members of organizations like CERC or ERC are in my opinion all reputable and responsible. The reason being is that if we are participating in the corporate market, we have a reputation to maintain and are focused on providing service that generates repeat business, not one- off sales. So by simply recommending corporate movers listed in the directory you and your employees are in very good hands.
On the COD level, there are no real barriers of entry into the local market anyone can become or rather call themselves a mover. Once a shyster starts making a few bucks locally they always try to branch out and tap the long distance market. They create professional looking web sites and run 3 or 4 different looking websites from the same basement, all aimed at online shoppers. They rarely, if ever go to the home to do an in-home survey but rather conduct the entire transaction online leaving plenty of room for bait a switch pricing on move day.
Yes the Moving Industry has its share of fly by night operator, but are the buyers as aware as they should be? One has to wonder that if a consumer goes to market to shop for anything that is the absolute cheapest product chances are very good … it is going to be cheap. Cheap, as in, poorly made, no guarantees, no returns, final sale, terrible service. If you buy a Rolex off a guy at the bus stop chances are it’s not a real Rolex. (As consumers we all know that)
When you get a price for half the cost of a reputable mover what are the chances the service is not going to be of a high standard? We are all consumers, we all buy stuff yet when it comes to moving all our spider scenes go numb. You always find a wide eyed victim indicating they could not understand why their stuff didn’t show up in their new home. “Golly gee we paid $500.00, (when every other estimate was $2500.00) gosh-dang those movers are all bad folk”.
Sorry for my sarcasm but being from the industry I always ask myself why someone would consider a ridiculously low price and think they are going to get any resemblance of service? The unfortunate part for our industry is it is the scammer that gets the headlines, not the tens of thousands of folks that get great service every day.
You are entrusting everything you own to the cheapest person you can find the chute may open but chances are it won’t.
- Always get at least 3 estimates from reputable movers
- Online prices are almost always low- ball prices to get your attention
- Get a free no obligation in-home estimate
- Always get a price in writing
- Always use Goggle map and view their facility if it’s a parking lot (stop and think about it)
- Always ask for references
- Always do your homework (you’re a smart consumer be diligent)
- All movers have the same overhead and cost, anyone half the price of the others should be eliminated
When you make the big decision to Jump, make sure the chute opens when you pull the cord.