When moving, learn to avoid shady companies

When Darcy Kaplan made her plans to move from Kent, Wash., to Gilbert, where her husband had been relocated by his company, she thought she was being a good consumer by going on the Internet and hunting for the best moving rate.

When she found the company with the lowest bid, she doubled-checked on a consumer-oriented Web site to make sure it had a good record. She saw only one complaint on file, which she figured was pretty good.

But by the time the move was over she was wondering what she had been thinking.

First, the movers punched huge gouges in the walls of the entryway at her Washington house because the company sent only two men to move the furniture, even though she had asked for three, and some of her items were too heavy for two men to handle.

Also, during the course of the move the furniture suffered thousands of dollars in damage.

And to add insult to injury, the movers said the goods took up more space in the moving van than they had originally estimated, and they wanted thousands of additional dollars to deliver it to Gilbert.

“This was my personal journey through hell,” she lamented.

Unfortunately, Kaplan’s experience is not unusual. Beyond any damage they cause, rogue interstate moving companies are trying to bilk unwary consumers of thousands of dollars in furniture-ransom scams that are difficult to stop.

In an effort to save money, many unwary consumers fall prey to unscrupulous movers who typically give an unrealistically low estimate to reel in the bargain hunter, then demand far more money because the weight or volume of the furniture allegedly is higher than estimated. Typically they will refuse to deliver the goods to the new address unless the customer agrees to fork over more cash.

The Arizona Department of Weights and Measures operates a program to counter such scams, but many consumers moving to Arizona from other states don’t know about it and simply pay the inflated bill to get their furniture back, said Dennis Ehrhart, deputy director of the department.

“We only see the tip of the iceberg,” he said, adding that such scams are becoming increasingly common.

“I’ve been with the department for 18 years, and prior to the last three years, I don’t remember any of these cases. In the past three years, we’ve had about 90.”

When the department receives a complaint call, Ehrhart said the agency initiates the following procedures:

Two investigators and two trucks are dispatched to the home when the furniture will be arriving. When the van arrives, they park one truck in front of the moving van and another behind it to make sure the van won’t depart until the issue is resolved. They also may call the local police department to dispatch officers to the scene if it looks like there could be trouble.

If the move is being billed on the basis of weight, the inspectors will escort the movers to the nearest certified truck scales to determine the weight of the moving van loaded. Then they will escort the van back to the house, unload the furniture, and take the van back to the scales to weigh it empty. The difference is presumed to be the weight of the furniture, and the amount owed is calculated from the originally agreed upon price per pound.

If, as in Kaplan’s case, the bill is determined by volume, the inspectors will ask the movers to unload the furniture and then determine how much space it occupied in the van, using that to determine the bill.

Fortunately Kaplan had notified the Gilbert police before the movers arrived that she suspected an extortion attempt, and they referred her to the Weights and Measures department. The department was able to have inspectors waiting at her Gilbert home when the moving van arrived.

The original estimated bill was $7,400, but the company was demanding $12,000. The movers said the goods took up 2,400 square feet, but the inspectors measured the volume at 1,425 square feet — slightly less than the original estimate — which resulted in a savings to Kaplan of about $5,200.

The movers accepted the reduced payment and departed.

“We were quite happy about that,” Kaplan said, adding “the guys with the truck seemed embarrassed.”

Kaplan declined to name the California-based moving company because she still hopes to negotiate a peaceful settlement with them over her damaged furniture.

The company did agree to pay to repair the damage to the house, she said.

Ehrhart said such episodes usually end without incident, although on a couple of occasions the movers were arrested and had to spend a night in jail. “Usually they accept the (lower) payment,” he said.

Rarely, the final bill will turn out to be higher than the amount the moving company is demanding, and on those occasions, the department insists the consumer pay up, he said. But usually there is a savings for the consumer — between $1,300 and $1,400 on average, he said.

Prosecuting unscrupulous moving companies is difficult, and the best line of defense is an educated consumer, said Duane DeBruyne, a spokesman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a unit of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

“It’s important that people do their research,” he said. “People may think they’re getting a great deal, but it’s the old cliche. If it sounds too good to be true …”

Consumer information is available at www.protectyourmove.gov, he said.

Planning interstate moves

• Investigate the moving company before signing a contract.

• Make sure you understand the methods used to determine all costs.

• Tell the moving company you want to base the charges on weight instead of cubic volume. It is easier for an unscrupulous mover to use volume to inflate the cost.

* Have someone present when your goods are picked up and when they are delivered.

• Read all the documents you are given. A moving company must supply you with a copy of your rights, a receipt or bill of lading that specifies the weight or volume of your goods, the origin and destination points, and the number of boxes being transported.

• If a moving company is attempting to withhold delivery, call the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures at (602) 255-5211 or (800) 277-6675.

• Don’t wait until your move has concluded to file a complaint. The Department of Weights and Measures cannot offer assistance if its investigators are not present at time of delivery. They must be on site to determine the actual weight of your household goods or the amount of space they take up on a truck.

SOURCE: Arizona Department of Weights and Measures