It’s practically a rule that moving a home or business’s items is a stressful venture, but local moving companies can make much of that turmoil disappear. This is only if the right service is chosen, however, because a botched job or a fraud can make the situation a nightmare. There are several ways a client can find the right service, and, armed with this knowledge, it will be a much easier task.
In a major city, there is likely to be hundreds of companies that can facilitate moving services, and it can be tricky to sort through all of them to find the gems. The first place to go is to the internet, where a consumer can find a handful of local moving companies in the area. Searching through online reviews and comments should help a client spot a few businesses worth extra attention. Put together a list of the select few and contact real estate agencies for recommendations.
Real estate agents have to deal with moving groups all the time, and they will know which ones are the best and which ones are snakes in the grass. Inquire about the local moving companies on the list, and put together a final cut of the businesses worth contacting. Once this is done, it’s time to make some calls.
When dealing with a transport representative over the phone, don’t settle for an estimate unless it will be followed up with an in-home calculation also. Only deal with businesses that derive their numbers after seeing the property in person, as any phone or online estimate is likely to be way off of the final tally. When a representative from the group visits the home or business, make sure that they get a good look at everything and hand over a copy of all of the paperwork they use. Verify that their transport fees are calculated using weight instead of volume, because weight is much more difficult to manipulate. Go over the contracts from any local moving companies that visit the property, and pay attention to any hidden fees that may be lurking in the fine print.
Also, don’t let any representative leave without handing out their Department of Transportation license number. The DoT license number can be used to check the business’s background and find any issues, big or small. This may seem an unnecessary endeavor to pursue, but it will surely pay off in the long run.
The way to do this is to first visit the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration’s website at Safersys.org. This site lets a user input DoT license numbers from local moving companies, and verify all of their details. If the number comes back as unverified, that is a big sign to walk away, as this means the group is operating illegally. If the license is okay, it will shoot back a bunch of details about the group. These details will outline the size of the business, the number of trucks they have, what moves they are certified to perform, how much insurance they have and whether or not there are any infractions or citations in their past.
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