For most of us.. it’s the one thing you can’t avoid doing at least once in your life..
-Moving.It’s stressful.It’s
expensive.And if you search
the internet to hire some
help.. quite often the moving
companies that first pop up..
aren’t who you think they are.
And it could cost you..
everything you own.
5:31- 5:37Nats opening
moving truck door/interviews
on boxes in moving truckSot
Kim Adams victim 22.23
"but it’s like.. my whole
life.. 46 years of collecting
things.." .29What if you
boxed up.. and handed over
every single possession you
own..Sot Kim Adams
victim 22.36 "every
photo I’ve ever taken of my
daughter.. and my dad.. and
his grandparents.." .43
Every keepsake.. every
reminder..Sot Sot Kim
Adams victim 21.35
"I found handwritten letters
from my grandparents to each
other written in pencil from
the 1940’s." .41.. every
sentimental and physical thing
of value.Then simply watch..
Nats .. as it’s carried
off by hired strangers.. not
to your new home.. but
possibly lost.. where you may
never..Sot Kim Adams
victim 22.33 "things
you can’t ever replace..
ever." .35.. ever see it
again.Sot Kim Adams
victim 23.44 "you’ve
just absolutely lost
everything in your life and
you can’t get it back.. and I
think the worst part is not
knowing where it is." .52
Nats truck door
closing/driving offKim Adams
cross country move from Salt
Lake to Mississippi.. is a
devastating tale.. but the
apparent loss of her property
is certainly..Sot Eizabeth
Ledbetter - victim 9.32
"and basically I just cried
for days..".. not unique.The
nightmare’s happened to
Elizabeth..It’s happened to
Larry..Sot Larry 23.40
"I was beside myself.. I
couldn’t even function as a
human being."It’s happened to
Holly.. It’s happened to Joan..
Sot Joan Karr victim
24.30 "it was the move
from hell!"It’s happened to
Thomas and Hannah..Sot
Thomas and Hannah 34.10
"it’s frustrating.. it’s
garbage.. I hate it."And it’s
happened to thousand of others
nationwide.. in the past year
alone.Simply put.. the moving
industry has been the target..
Nats maybe victims
overlapping complaints at same
time.. of a truckload of
complaints.And while there’s
no one single reason why.. the
data is overwhelming..Take a
look at these numbers from the
Federal Motor Carriers Safety
Administration.. and you’ll
get a better idea of what’s
going on.In the last nine
months.. nearly 23-thousand
very specific complaints have
been filed.Holding your
property hostage.. loss..
damage.. pickup times..
delivery times.. And the most
common..Sot Thomas &
Hannah Chistiansen victim
20.04 "it was way over
our original estimate.."
.06 Sot Larry victim
2.18 "I think
almost $1,700." .20Sot
Holly Damron victim
2.13.00 ".. $1,800
more."Sot Joan Karr -
victim 16.30 "..
$4,300 over what the original
estimate was.".. original
estimates are not matching up
with the final charges.And the
primary reason for that....
may be this.You’re looking at
a real time moment.. when our
friend Jon Accarrino was
getting a phone estimate from
a company he quickly searched
and found online.Questions are
asked..Nats .. answers are
given..Nats And within 30
minutes.. there you go.. an
estimate for the move.. 95-
hundred bucks.No official No official weights.No official inspection.Yet.. the
estimate.. is very official.
paperwork.. there’s dollar
signs.. numbers.. fine print
and everything!But hey, Jon..
before you sign the contract..
Nats Hopefully you had a
chance to read over subsection
4.Where it says the "Customer
has hired the Moving Group as
a moving coordinator/shipper
agent/broker.. and NOT to
handle or otherwise
participate in a move.. as a
carrier.." In short.. these
guys "bidding out" your
stuff.. are not physically
"moving" your stuff.They’re a
broker.Which means you’re
essentially paying them.. to
coordinate and hire some
random, unknown mover.And once
you hand over that down
payment.. it turns out the
broker’s estimate.. does not
always match the movers price.
Sot Elizabeth Ledbetter
victim 2.41 "oh, so it
seems like now you have double
what we first quoted you."
.45 Sot Thomas &
Hannah Chistiansen victim
19.56 "So he whips
out a new contract for us..
raises the price.. almost like
$2,000."That’s a big
difference in dollars..And the
reason for that difference..
is often because the broker’s
calculations over the phone..
Sot Elizabeth Ledbetter
victim 4.40 It’s your
square footage.."Sot Larry
victim 2.58 "the
space.. the cubic feet you’re
taking up.".. do not match the
mover’s calculations on site.
Sot Thomas & Hannah
Chistiansen victim 19.33
"he looks at all our stuff
and he’s like no, no, no.. you
have way more cubic feet.."
.38Nats moving company
workers moving stuffSot
Matt Irvine Smart Move
4.02 "it’s never
accurate.. I don’t think we’ve
had one experience where it’s
been accurate." .06 That’s
Matt Irvine.. owner of Utah
based Smart Move.. And when
hired by a broker to do a job..
Sot Matt Irvine Smart
Move 16.16.45 "this
is all I know.. these are the
heaviest items.." .48.. he
says the information handed to
him.. is minimal at best.Which
means when he shows up for a
move.. with not enough trucks
or not enough workers..Sot
Matt Irvine Smart Move
4.55 "I’ve had customers
yelling at my face a foot
away..".. it gets very
uncomfortable.Sot Matt
Irvine Smart Move 4.25
"customers think they’re
getting white glove service..
full pack and load.. full
unload.. and we show up with a
piece of paper that says it’s
a couch and a piano ha ha."
.38Matt says he gets burned
by the brokers.. almost every
time.And while that means he
often takes a financial hit..
In many cases the movers..Sot
Elizabeth Ledbetter
victim 4.36 "they
loaded up the truck.." .37
Sot Larry victim
2.04 "after everything was
loaded.."Sot Joan Karr
victim 27.45 "after it
was on the truck.." .46 ..
are not so forgiving.Sot
Elizabeth Ledbetter victim
4.38 "and then
they said well, it’s actually
going to be more money."
.40Sot Joan Karr victim
6.00 "oh no no no..
it’s going to be more than
that."Often times these movers
will hold your property
hostage.. until you pay extra.
It’s the fastest growing
complaint in the moving
industry..And if you’re
wondering just how bad it’s
become..Sot Meera Joshi -
FMCSA Deputy Administrator
9.40 "a jump.. almost
doubling from about two or
three years ago."The Federal
Motor Carriers Safety
Administration’s Meera Joshi
says.. it’s getting out of
control..To the tune of 16
hostage complaints.. every
single day.And while their job
is to keep movers and brokers
in check.. Out of the tens
of thousands of complaints..
so far this year..
Congressional reports show
just 1 company fined.. and 13
people guilty of moving fraud.
The reality is, by the time
some of the complaints come
in..Sot Meera Joshi -
FMCSA Deputy Administrator
22.16 "so we can’t find
them anymore, right? Because
they may have given false
information about their
contact.. about email.. about
a telephone number.. and too
much time has passes and we
can’t find them." .26And
let’s be honest.. if both you
and the Feds.. cannot contact
or find your mover..Sot
Thomas & Hannah Chistiansen
victim 25.30 "we would
text him and call him.."Sot
Holly Damron victim
2.16.26 "everyday..
everyday.."Sot Joan Karr
victim 7.25 "I didn’t
hear from him.. I didn’t hear
from him.".. additional
problems will The problem of
delivery..Sot Joan Karr
victim 13.50 "it was
over a month.."Sot Thomas
& Hannah Chistiansen victim
15.35 "it’s been over
two months.."Sot Eizabeth
Ledbetter victim 16.45
" they actually had our
stuff since April."The problem
of damage..Sot Joan Karr
20.00 "dishes are
broken.. glasses are broken.."
And the most devastating
problem with every single one
of these moves..Sot
Elizabeth 14.08
"and they would not give me
the address of where my stuff
was.." .. nobody could find
their stuff.Elizabeth didn’t
know..Larry didn’t know..
Holly didn’t know..Sot
Holly 2.17.11
"is it in a warehouse.. is it
still on the truck.. no one
could tell me." .15Joan
didn’t know..Sot Joan
15.26 "no, they wouldn’t
tell me.."Tomas and Hannah
didn’t know.. that is until..
Sot Thomas 32.30
"yeah, he gave us a storage
unit in Vegas..".. months
later.. when their move to
Virginia was discovered in
Nevada.. Nats cell video
in storage unit.. along with
the property of two other
families.Nats A bitter
sweet recovery.. Nats then
fade to black Sot Kim
Adams - victim zoom
15.26 "at this point I
said.. I just want to come get
it. Tell me where it’s
stored.. where it is.. and I
will be happy to come get it."
.30.. Kim Adams was hoping
to experience just weeks
later..Sot Kim-in person
4.20 "I just don’t
understand.. I don’t
understand it." .. as she
traveled back to Salt Lake..
in search of her property.But
as she showed up..Sot
Kim-in person 5.30
"they said it went to
auction.." It appears her move
to Mississippi.. made it only
as far as a storage unit..
just 3 miles from her home in
Salt Lake..Sot Kim-in
person 2.40 "I could
have had my family come get
it.. it was just so close.."
Police say the mover dropped
it off.. and stopped making
payments on the unit.And by
the time the KSL Investigators
helped track it down.. her
belongings were gone.The
mover.. nowhere to be found.
The moving company.. no longer
exists.And the broker..
coordinating this whole
thing...Sot Kim-in person
7.27 "it’s um, the
hardest.. worst thing I’ve
ever been through.." .32..
has gone completely silent.Sot
Kim-in person 7.35
".. I feel like part of me has
died.. I mean, I have
nothing." .38
We checked the Federal
Motor Carriers website.. and
that broker Kim used.. had 247
specific complaints last year.
She didn’t know. You
can check out mover complaints
just like we did.. we’ve got a
link on our website.
And remember our friend
Jon.. who got an estimate from
a broker over the phone.. for
about $9,500? He also got
an estimate.. from 2 "full
service" moving companies.
Both companies showed up in-
person.. did a walk-through..
took measurements.. final
estimate: 10-thousand to 19-
thousand more. That’s a
lot of money.. But the
FMCSA says the biggest
mistakes people make is.. 1-
going for the lowest price..
and 2- hiring a broker, when
they think they’re hiring a
mover.
Bottom line.. check the
complaints.. and If they don’t
come to your house for an in-
home walk through.. do not
hire them! It’s better to
get things right on the front
end.. if you don’t.. you’ll
likely pay on the back end.