Red flags to look for when hiring movers

Hiring movers for your relocation process is a simple enough affair. Most of the time. However, there are times when a moving company is trying to scam you, one way or another. Luckily, you have ways to figure out if the company is trying to do that. All you need to do is look out for “red flags”, or the signs that the moving company is not on the up and up. The most common red flags to look for when hiring movers are an upfront fee, bad reviews and the lack of licensing.  Of course, you don’t need to worry about any of this if you are hiring one of the best moving companies Brooklyn but for all the others, you may want to check out if they have any of these red flags stand out.

All in all, you need to know:

What are the red flags to look for when hiring movers?

Here are the five most important ones:

• A professional mover is licensed and insured!
• Red flags to look for when hiring movers – Average or poor reviews
• Bad movers demand an upfront fee
• Another red flag to look for when hiring movers – Too good moving estimates
• Unmarked moving trucks

A professional mover is licensed and insured!

First of all, any professional moving company needs to have all the licensing that it needs to be in the industry. This is an absolute demand, there is no way around it. If a moving company does not possess all the necessary licenses, that is a definite red flag. You can contact your mover and ask them about their license. They need to be properly insured, as well. What if something happens and it is their fault and a complete loss is presented to you? Their insurance needs to cover you. Obviously, some moving companies may be in the process of acquiring their licenses and they will want to do business while they wait. They may even offer you lower prices, due to this fact.

The fact of the matter is that you can never be sure if they don’t have the proper licenses and insurance. Therefore, it might be best to simply look for another moving company or to wait for that moving company to get their licenses.

Red flags to look for when hiring movers – Average or poor reviews

Another thing to look out for is the customer review. Every one of local movers Brooklyn has an online presence. And that is where you can find people writing reviews about their service. Be wary of moving companies that have bad or even average reviews. That can mean a lot but it usually means that there is an ongoing problem with the company. Do note that one bad review is not really indicative of anything, but a hundred definitely are. All in all, it is the internet and the internet is what it is and no information is 100% accurate. You will encounter many reviews that are dishonest or fake, so make sure that you weigh all the factors, not only the reviews.

But the reviews are an important piece of the puzzle. Next up:

Bad movers demand an upfront fee

There are multiple reasons why movers might ask for an upfront fee for any of their services. And all of those reasons are bad. A good moving company will almost never ask for any money in advance, everything will be neatly presented in their estimate, to be paid after the completion of the job. Of course, there are always special circumstances but they are few and far between. Simply take this as a rule: don’t give money upfront. If you are not sure whether yours is a special situation, simply contact several more moving companies. Make sure to include the moving companies that are well known and respected and ask them if they want to charge you upfront. If all those moving companies say that money upfront is needed then you are, in fact, in an extraordinary situation.

But most of the time you will not be. And here we come to the biggest red flag of them all:

Another red flag to look for when hiring movers – Too good estimates

If you receive an estimate that is simply too good to be true, it is because it most likely is not true. Providing much lower estimates is the main way how bad moving companies try to hook you in so they can extract much more money out of you later. This is also what you might call a “lowball” estimate. What you need to do, in this case, is to not believe the estimate outright. However, most of the time these estimates will come with a really short window for deciding. The moving company will apply time pressure for your decision, so you can’t really do your research properly. That is also why these estimates work so well. You might be afraid that you are going to lose out on the deal by hesitating too much.

However, hesitate is exactly what you need to do. If your moving company cannot give you a day to decide, they might not be worth your time and money. All you need to do is to figure out the lowball estimate, or if that estimate is at least in the same “ballpark” as the rest of them. You will want to contact several moving companies and ask them for the estimate. This process will go fast as you already have all the necessary information to provide to the movers. By having multiple estimates in hand, you will be able to clearly spot the lowball one.

A rare case

However, in very rare cases, what seems like a lowball estimate might be the genuine offer of a moving company that is trying to succeed in the industry by providing its services, initially, at a much lower rate. Check for all other red flags while you’re at it. If there are no other red flags, then the chances that the company is legit increase. It is still a risk, but a smaller one.

Unmarked moving trucks

Finally, any good professional moving company has their own, marked, trucks. If your movers come in an unmarked truck, that is a big red flag. Think about it, why exactly is there an unmarked truck? Every answer is bad.