1. 'We'll hijack your stuff'
The moving industry, which packs in nearly 55% of its business during summer, often leaves a trail of frustrated consumers in its wake. The U.S. Department of Transportation receives up to 4,000 household moving complaints annually, mostly about loss and damage, poor service or overcharging. The Council of Better Business Bureaus, meanwhile, reports that complaints about movers jumped from nearly 3,800 in 1997 to more than 9,200 in 2007.Just ask Spyro Malaspinas, a victim of a botched move. He says Nation Van Lines, which he hired to move his belongings from Austin, Texas, to Chicago in January 2003, raised his bill from an estimate of $1,050 to nearly $4,300. The movers, according to Malaspinas, said his goods measured 500 cubic feet more than anticipated. When Malaspinas threatened to call the police, the drivers made off with his possessions, which he estimates were worth $47,000.
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Despite an FBI investigation and the March 2003 arrest of Nation owner Eli Peretz by the FBI for alleged crimes with another moving company, Malaspinas wasn't thrilled with the final results: He got only about $25,000 -- and never saw his belongings again.
The experience was "paralyzing," he says. "It's not like somebody stealing your wallet; they have stolen everything you've got." (Peretz's lawyer did not return our calls; Nation Van Lines has since gone out of business.)
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2. 'We're popular, especially with the FBI'
Peretz wasn't the only mover rounded up by the FBI in March 2003. The feds indicted a total of 16 moving companies and 74 operators, owners and employees on various charges after a two-year investigation called Operation Stow Biz. "It is the most significant crackdown that we've done," says a spokesman for the FBI's Miami division, whose undercover agents posed as potential customers to trap movers committing fraud, money laundering and other acts. Among those indicted were 20 officers and employees of Advanced Moving Systems in Sunrise, Fla. The charges in the 60-count indictment include fraud, extortion, false documentation and "inflating the price of the move and, thereafter, withholding delivery of . . . goods until (customers) paid the inflated price."Too bad Patrick and Tammy Runion didn't get advance word of Advanced's alleged practices. The couple booked the company for their move from Toledo, Ohio, to Lake Forest, Calif. Patrick says Advanced movers locked their stuff in storage in Chicago when he refused to pay an additional $500 because the load's weight had been miscalculated by a driver.
"We were so stressed and frustrated" by the ordeal, says Patrick, who eventually paid $1,000 to find the storage space. Attempts to contact Advanced officials were unsuccessful, and the company has since gone out of business.
3. 'Don't mess with us; we're virtually untouchable'
While the FBI sting did manage to take some bad guys out of play, Robert Julian, bureau chief for the Economic Crimes Division in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., doesn't think "consumers should breathe easy."Scammers are tough to stop. Local police hesitate to get involved in moving disputes because they're considered civil matters, and while the FBI will investigate complaints involving interstate moves, getting property back is not its priority.
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There are also federal laws to contend with that, historically speaking, have tended to protect moving companies more than consumers. It used to be, for example, that while dissatisfied customers could sue their moving companies for goods lost in a move, they stood very little chance of recovering even their basic monetary value, let alone winning any punitive damages on top of that amount. But the advent of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act in 2005 has given consumers and the federal government more authority in going after scofflaw movers; it "has helped the agency greatly in curbing abuses" in the industry, according to a spokesman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
Today movers are being held liable in a way they never were before for at least replacing the value of lost items -- so long as the customer opted for full-value protection for their belongings in the initial moving contract. For more information, visit the FMCSA's Web site.
4. 'Someone will deliver your stuff -- it just might not be us'
In June 2002, Carole and Doug Stowers contracted with Elite Van Lines to transport the contents of their three-bedroom house from Palm City, Fla., to Bailey, Colo. Nothing unusual there, right? Guess again. Elite then subcontracted the job to other companies for the cross-country trip. The Stowerses were shocked when Majesty Moving & Storage pulled up to their new home with only half their possessions and didn't know what had happened to the rest -- after all, they hadn't loaded the goods.Beware: In the hectic summer months, a mover might get so busy that it asks another company to help out with a job. That's fine, but the consumer should be notified in advance of the deal. A spokesman for the American Moving and Storage Association says, "For a completely different company to show up at your house with no prior arrangements, that is totally unacceptable."
No need to tell Carole Stowers that. She shelled out $5,375 to Elite -- the original estimate was $1,700 -- to get all her possessions back. "We almost went bankrupt trying to save our furniture," she says. (Both Majesty and Elite have since gone out of business.)
Continued: Experience may be lacking
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