How to Dodge Scam Artists and Choose a Good Moving Company

Do you know what a scam looks like when you see it? When it comes to moving companies, it usually starts with a quote that seems too good to be true.

But reasonable sounding quote alone won't protect you, your wallet, or your stuff.

In my last post we told you about Michael Kazdan, a Toronto man who hired Indo-Pak movers to transport his employer's business property from one location to another.

When he made his story known (yay, Facebook), friends and acquaintances started coming out of the woodwork to say they too had been defrauded in similar ways. Just a little more light digging and you only just begin to see how big of a problem fraud is in the moving industry.
Industry Canada information in a recent Globe and Mail article suggests that about one out of every four moves generates a customer complaint. It also says complaints about movers currently sit at number seven on the Canadian Council of Better Business Bureau's list of top 10 consumer beefs.

At the moment, Industry Canada is reportedly looking into ways of tightening the rules for moving companies.


One of Kazdan's acquaintances, James Edgar, had a similar story about his belongings being held for ransom by the moving company he hired out of the Yellow Pages 10 years ago.

Although the initial price of $450 he was quoted seemed reasonable and in line with other quotes. But the move out of his two-bedroom apartment into a house less than two kilometres away, ended up taking all day and ultimately cost close to $1,000.

At the end, too, "probably one-third of that truck I unloaded by myself," he told WalletPop.

As the story goes, when moving out of his apartment, the moving crew worked very slowly. "We were on the fifth floor and the elevator was slow. It was a pain. But every time I started wondering where they were, I'd go downstairs and they'd be sitting in the back having a smoke break – every time they took a piece down. This went on all day."

Once the truck was loaded, he made the five-minute bike ride to his new place while his wife travelled in the car with their cats. It took the movers an hour and a half to make the trip.

The movers then handed Edgar a phone. The person on the other end demanded he pay close to $1,000 before the men would unload his possessions. After arguing with the crew and the unseen boss, he eventually told his wife to pay the movers. "It was already really late," he says.

Moving again two years later to a location over 30 kilometers away with a much larger load, he says movers only charged him $700. The company even refunded some of his money because there was not enough room in the truck to stop and pick up possessions the couple had in storage.

In other moving horror stories, items a have been unloaded in the middle of the street and left at the pick-up location. Or movers threatened to send the customer's belongings to an unknown warehouse if they didn't pay the additional fees. The Toronto Police say one man even had his things thrown from the back of the truck.

"The gentleman was new to the country," said 55 Division Criminal Investigation Bureau detective Kevin Hooper. "He said, 'I don't understand how this could happen to me in Canada.' "

Personally, I suspect new immigrants – those least likely to report the incident - are probably considered easy targets to the scam artists. Then again, so is anyone else who has their entire world packed into the back of someone else's truck.

Whether or not the new focus or new regulation from Industry Canada will have any impact is debatable. How is it possible to regulate those who are already operating under the table? According to a Toronto Star report on the Desi Movers raid, the business netted $1 million a year, yet some of those involved were still claiming welfare.

After many years of companies like Desi, Indo-Pak and others using threats or bait and switch tactics with contracts signed on the fly, police are finally cracking down on the outright fraud artists.

That said, I'd guess that there isn't and won't be much recourse for the vast majority of victims who find themselves in this position. With that in mind, here are a few things you can do when looking for a moving company tthat may reduce the risk of being defrauded:

• Get referrals from those you trust. (Keep your guard up, even when researching good referrals; Edgar's experience occurred at the hands of a company that has a good reputation today, supported by word of mouth and customer testimonials. Even local celebrities have endorsed the company.)
• Research the company – find out if there's a complaint against them with the Better Business Bureau and Google company phone numbers and company names to see if there are any complaints against the company online.
• Beware of a quote that sounds low!
• Meet the people you plan to trust with your belongings – arrange to have an estimate done in person. The Better Business Bureau recommends getting at least three in-home estimates.
• Avoid cash-only companies and those which only operate online, using cell phones. Ask for a business address and visit the location to confirm the business address is legitimate.
• Ask for a written statement ahead of time that includes all charges. Read the contract carefully. Pay close attention to when movers will expect to be paid.
• Check out Industry Canada's consumer checklist for choosing a moving company.

Kate McCaffery is a freelance writer in Toronto, Ontario. Visit mccaffery.ca/kate2.0/ for more information.