Moving scam is for real as every other day, there are reports from suspicious billings to partial theft of goods, no insurance to overcharging and missing deadline of delivery etc. And if you are relocating your household goods, especially on shared basis, then it is very important for you to take required precaution at the time of hiring a moving company.. Even if the percentage of cases where the movers have scammed their customer is very low, it’s better to be safe than sorry. If home relocation is in your mind and you are not sure about how to avoid and prevent getting scammed by a moving company, then here’s the post you can’t afford to not check.
Today I am sharing everything worth knowing about how to prevent getting scammed by movers and packers companies, especially in India.
Always remember that the fraud ones will try to fodder you, but you need to judge them well before accepting any of their offers. And that’s what I am going to discuss in today’s post.But before we talk about how to prevent getting scammed by movers and packers, let’s check the most common scams and fraud that the movers and packer may do.
This is the most common scams because at the end, it’s always about the money. They will start small and then they will increase the quoted prices. The most common excuse being the handling charges, extra goods, change in route and so on.?
So whenever you are considering or negotiating with a movers and packers company to relocate your home, office, car or anything, just don’t fall for the lowest price.
It does not mean you should not negotiate; you have every right to negotiate with them, but then observe the estimate being submitted. Ideally you should ask for quotation and proforma invoice, so that you can understand the actual costs of all heads, including taxes, insurance etc.?
The symptom is same like over billing, but usually the dubious companies will charge you more for unloading, or by giving some other excuses. Usually the mode of operandi is similar to the overbilling.
Missing a day or two is okay because there may be some issues in the transit. No one have control on traffic jams, or some unfortunate route diversion or unnatural circumstances. But delaying the delivery for weeks after week is just not done. So clearly ask the questions about the route they are taking, genuine date of delivery, percentage of payments to be made after delivery etc.
Partial theft and damage is another issue one may face when relocating. Usually it happens in case of shared shifting, and by mistake or negligence. Whatever be the reason, you should always insist on getting exact packing list made and signed before allowing them to load the goods. Ensure that the boxes are packed and sealed properly and do not sign the delivery list without counting the packing list.
Insurance is vital and it’s kind of mandatory. But sometimes, ever after charging you for insurance, the movers and packers may not insure your goods and keep the money. But remember, that they have just kept the money, but they are not going to cover the risk, so double check to ensure that your goods are actually insured. Insist for the insurance payment receipt and policy documents or some proof to establish that the actual insurance is done before leaving the consignment.
This is again, a trick that the dubious movers and packers apply. They qill quote you low prices, but heavily compromise on the quality of packing materials. They tend to pack casually, assuming that once the goods are loaded on to the truck, their responsibility ends. And by compromising with packing quality, they easily save some bucks, which may cost you heavily moving forward.
So the movers and packers approach you professionally, but that does not mean they have all the registration and license to operate the business. There are many visiting card company (a company that does not have any legal registration) and work on visiting card and brochure. Keep safe distance from such companies, because you never know, if they are going to be there in the business.