By Shae Rozzi, Fox23 News
If you’re planning to move this month, you’re not alone.
May is National Moving Month in case you didn’t know and moving can be a big pain. Packing your life up into boxes and hauling it — if you’re lucky — just across town. But often it’s across state lines and that’s when people often look to hire a company to help.
“We see a couple of different things,” says Amie Mitchell, CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Eastern Oklahoma. “One of the really common ones is putting a large deposit down and then the company never shows up. So first of all you want to verify that you’re dealing with a legitimate company. Make sure that they have an address and website. All of that stuff should be available for you to double check and make sure it is a legitimate contractor.”
“Another thing we see a lot of are extra fees. So some moving companies charge by weight. They may quote you a price, but after the delivery they may say the truck was so many pounds over. So really reviewing that contract and knowing how they price their quotes and their final outcome of the cost of the move, you really need to check both in the contract.” says Amie.
Amie also says items getting stolen doesn’t happen very often.
To help avoid any losses, the BBB recommends making a list and documenting what’s being packed up before anything leaves the house and is loaded onto a moving truck.
“I would suggest walking around, taking some pictures, knowing how many boxes and pieces of furniture you have. Do a little bit of inventory. That way once you have everything settled you can just check it off to make sure you have everything.” says Amie.
If you are moving to another state, all interstate moving companies are required by law to have an identification number issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
