Not All Moving Companies Are Bad

If you’re tired of reading about moving scams in the news, here’s a moving story with a happy ending

At first, this story sounded like any other moving scams story. The victim made his way to an anti-moving scam web site, and shared his story and asked for help. 9 months after a coast to coast move, which had included a binding estimate in writing that was paid in full, they would be victim, received a letter from the moving company demanding an extra 2,200 for “storage.” The fee was allegedly incurred during the move. The homeowner tried to resolve the dispute, in a conversation with someone in collections. He insisted he had never received an invoice from the movers for the storage fee. And when he quoted a Federal regulation which he claimed prevented the moving company from adding additional charges 9 months after the move, the collections agent became angry, and said she was turning the case over to the legal department.

So far this moving company sounds a bit like moving scam. The ingredients include concocted additional charges, 9 months after the moving, and now, threats of legal action if the victim doesn’t pay up. But now members of the anti-scam moving site bulletin board come to the rescue. One member assured the victim that the movers, Suddath, were reputable people and this could just be an honest mistake. He wanted to know if the homeowner had requested storage, because storage fees are not a part of legal “binding agreements.”

The homeowner had requested storage; however, he said he had agreed to pay a flat 135.00 for the additional service. Then he talked once more with the collections department, and this time they were more reasonable. They examined the paperwork and discovered that the time his belongings were supposedly in storage corresponded to the entire length of the move, and would have left no time for transport.

A negotiator soon joined the bulletin board discussion.

She talked with collections and discovered that the items had been put into storage, and could find no promise of a flat fee guaranteed estimate in the documents. She promised to get things resolved, though. And she made a memorable statement: “Please understand that all companies can make mistakes – it’s when the mistakes are identified and how they resolve them as to whether they are scamming individuals or not.”

The inability or lack of interest in resolving mistakes is certainly what characterizes scam movers. Once they get control of the victim’s belongings, communication breaks down. They are concerned about 1 thing, getting their full fee as quickly as possible.

One of the participants on the bulletin board suggested the moving company had put the items in storage after promising free storage, and had forgotten to note the agreement on the storage forms. The next day, Pam was back to inform Archie that he had hit the nail right on the head. That’s just what happened..

Apparently Archie and Pam knew each other, as the serious atmosphere dispersed, and they began to joke. “Archie, she said,” “Your great.” “How many times has a woman told you that?” Archie, obviously pleased with the compliment, responded: “Gotcha, lucky guess on my part. Sounds like a mix up, which can be corrected with a few keystrokes on a computer. You should keep Quinn’s cell phone on speed dial, just in case I ever have to go right to the top. I miss Quinn, he was a class act. Nothing against Barry, he’s a cool dude too, but Quinn took Suddath to the top, and did it right.”

With the misunderstanding only hours away from resolution, Archie and Pam, the negotiator continued to trade jibes. “Ha-ha, I wish I could get women to tell me that I’m good……I used to date a farm girl, when she broke up with me, she sent me a John Deere letter” To which Pam replied, “I can ALWAYS count on you for a good laugh!!!! I love you Archie. I have got to get to Atlanta soon to catch up with you…..your humor just cracks me.”

The next morning, word came through, the mistake was cleared up. They would be victim had nothing but praise for the anti-scam web site community.

This article was sponsored by Packing Service, Inc. which is a national packing company chain dedicated to protecting consumers from moving scams and always get flat fees guaranteed estimates. Call now for a Flat Rate Quote 888-722-5774