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Wednesday, December 10, 2003 Protecting yourself from moving scams You can’t e-mail your boxes of things from your old house to your new house — at least, not yet. However, the Internet can make your move easier in other ways, as long as you’re careful to protect yourself from scams, frauds and extortionists. Scam movers will frequently give you an estimate much lower than legitimate movers’, only to hold your possessions hostage until you pay a higher price, usually in cash. Here are some ways to protect yourself from these rogue movers: • Never rely on a phone or Internet price estimate. A legitimate mover will send a trained and experienced estimator to your home. Insist on an “in-home” survey of your household goods in order to receive a more accurate price estimate. • A price that seems too good to be true probably is. If a mover comes in with an estimate way below all the others, that should be a red flag to examine the basis of the estimate before accepting it. • A legitimate mover will almost never require a deposit. A mover who insists on a deposit for a simple job should be checked. • Try to make sure your mover is a member of the American Moving and Storage Association. AMSA Certified Movers and Van Lines have voluntarily agreed to abide by a Code of Conduct that requires complete disclosure of moving information to consumers, written estimates of charges, timely service and prompt response to claims and complaints. In addition, AMSA has petitioned the Department of Transportation to require Internet brokers of household goods to provide even more information than would be required by a proposed new federal law-consumer education is one of the more effective ways of combating the scam mover problem. The organization insists that increased enforcement by the federal government and increased consumer education are the most effective means of dealing with illegal operators. “The legitimate moving industry is committed to working with Congress to eliminate scam movers and to educate consumers on how best to select reliable professional movers to handle their relocation needs,” said AMSA president Joe Harrison. While AMSA doesn’t recommend movers, they have a referral service at their Web site, www.moving.org.
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