August is a peak month for moving and to protect those preparing to relocate, MoveRescue is reaching out to the public to warn of the danger of rogue movers and offer assistance in the battle against mover fraud.

The cause of about 10,000 complaints each year, nationwide, for lost or stolen goods or furnishings held hostage, rogue moving companies have become a major problem for Arizona, which is one of six leading states affected by them. Along with Florida, Texas, New York, California and Illinois, Arizona has also become a major battleground with these movers as legitimate drayage companies and state regulators attempt to put the illegal operators out of business.

Sponsored by United Van Lines and Mayflower Transit, MoveRescue has been leading the campaign.

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As senior staff attorney for MoveRescue, Scott Huber said his job is taking the lead in protecting the public. “We have a website set up, which provides pre-move and most-move information. We discuss what documents people need and what they should stay away from.”

The organization also provides a toll-free telephone number “where they can contact us when they have issues with a mover and a variety of attorneys who work with us, pro-bono, to offer assistance to those who need legal help getting their goods.”

“We let people know what their rights are and put pressure on movers to comply with regulations. We do everything we can to help people with those who give the moving industry a black eye,” he said.

Although dishonest moving companies are not new, Huber said the industry has been taking a more active part in protecting the public from them, due to the popularity of the Internet.

“People think moving is a commodity that you can buy online,” he said. But he argues that is a mistake because the online broker and online quote give the appearance these companies are in your area and that they’re legitimate operators, when they aren’t.

Some people will make an effort to check the companies online with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration as well as the Better Business Bureau, “but they haven’t learned anything that can protect them.”

While some online brokers are legitimate operators, Huber said “You need to get multiple bids, in person, and you need to get referrals and check them out. If you don’t have that, you don’t know who you’ve entrusted your belongings to.”

Joining with MoveRescue to put pressure on rogue movers is Arizona’s Department of Weights and Measures, which has intervened in approximately 80 cases, over the last 12 months, said Steve Meissner, public information officer for the department.

“In the two most recent cases, we saved the people involved $2,207 on one and $593 on the other,” Meissner said.

As a state with a lot of immigration, he said there’s a lot of opportunity for dishonest moving companies.

“It’s tempting to see us as the guys in the white hat, protecting people from outlaws, but the reality is that all we can do is make sure everybody lives up to terms of the contract they signed,” Meissner said.

People assume a level of risk when they choose a moving company, and even the best assistance can still leave people in a worse position than they expected, he warned. Internet forms are designed to give an artificially low weight or volume to furnishings so an overage charge is almost inevitable, compounding the issue of exaggerating the charges.

“You may not owe as much as they say you do, but you’ll usually still owe money,” he said, and there’s nothing the state can do about that.

Meissner credits the moving industry for “going above and beyond” in helping the public, “especially when it comes to the work of MoveRescue.” But he said customers can help themselves by being more careful.

“As they say, if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is,” he said. “People who are moving are always short of money and they want to save. They go looking for bargains, but they wind up getting burned.”

Guidelines for moving and assistance are available online from MoveRescue at www.moverescue.com or by calling 1-800-832-1773. For additional information on state and federal regulations and how to file a complaint with the State of Arizona, contact the Department of Weights and Measures at 1-800-277-6675 or visit their website at www.weights.az.gov.

E-mail comments for publication to editor@azbiz.com. Contact Philip S. Moore by e-mail at pmoore@azbiz.com or call (520) 295-4238.

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