A quick heads up about moving scams, since a friend of mine was subjected to this cruelty.

When moving the contents of your apartment or house and you get an estimate from a moving company, be on your guard against mover scams.

The moving company attempts to cheat you out of your money every which way.

Your defence is the paper work.

There are state (for in state only moves) and federal (for interstate moves) laws that protect you and all your protections are in the paper work.

Read every line in the paper work and make sure you understand your rights thoroughly.

Do not ask the movers to explain any of your rights to you. If they are trying to scam you, they will obfusticate the information and guide you into paying extra.

Bring a friend who is argumentitive, mistrusts people and is on the obsessive compulsive side to help fight with them.

Remember, some movers will say they are trying to help you, but will actually be trying to get as much money as possible from you, no matter how nice and helpful they seem. Whatever they tell you, assume the opposite.

Some tips:

1. Pay by weight, not volume. When my friend moved, charges were $0.50 per pound.
   
2. Label every box and item you are moving. Weigh each item. Record the contents of every box. Place a value on each item and box contents. Record everything in a spreadsheet on your computer before the movers get there.
   
3. Do not buy anything extra from the movers. Do not have them help you pack. Everything extra is charged at outrageous rates.
   
4. If you need muscle power, check around your town. There are always lots if guys that will work for cash for minimum wage. Tell them you will pay them $10 an hour if they do a good job and you should be able to get anything physical you need done. At $10 per hour, you could get four guys for 2 hours for only $80.
   
5. You may be able to mail boxes via the United States Post Office for the same price as movers and they may pick up for no extra charge.
   
6. Beware of extra charges on both ends of your move. They may not tell you about the extra charges on delivery for bringing your stuff upstairs or if you live further than a certain distance from the truck.
   
7. Beware of getting an initial estimate and then the day of your move, after putting everything in the truck, they hit you with extra charges.

Your defence is the paper work. Read every line. Do not sign anything until you understand every line.

By Andrew Weitzen (c) 2010

Weitzen is the publisher of several online Internet journals including: InternetHandholding.com, DomainNames.gs, DotNetNuke.bz, Programmer.bz, Software.vg, WebHosting.vg