Government must act on scam moving companies

Beware what company you hire next time you are contemplating a move. Often what you see at first glance is not what you get, and that advice comes from none other than Nancy Irvine, president of the Canadian Association of Movers.

While most moving companies have stellar reputations and do a good job every day, there is an undercurrent of shady and fraudulent practices by scammers that could leave people thousands of dollars out of pocket. With an increasing number of customers having their belongings seized by unscrupulous moving companies, Irvine says the best way to protect people is government regulation, including licensing.

“The moving industry in Canada has been unregulated since the mid-1980s and scam artists disguised as legitimate companies are taking advantage of people,” she says. “An unsuspecting customer can be extorted for thousands of dollars more than the original quote, have their things hidden with no recourse but to pay the ransom fee.”

There are many different such companies but their modus operandi is the same: They lowball their quotes and get customers to sign up. They tell people that the final price will depend on the weight of the goods.

Often, the moving truck shows up late, things become rushed, and the driver doesn't weigh the belongings. But customers are assured not much will change. They are asked to sign some papers, and, unbeknownst to them, those documents invariably commit them to a higher fee.

Jenny Wilcockson found this out the hard way. She and her husband hired Move Me Again to move their stuff from Hamilton to Yarmouth, N.S. The original quote was $2,800, a great bargain, she thought. She says the mover arrived, didn't weigh the belongings but assured them everything would fine. She signed some papers and next thing she knew, the price had shot up to $6,700.

Even worse, she says, the company moved their belongings to Yarmouth before the appointed date while they were in Hamilton. The driver threatened to dump their possessions in Montreal, his next stop, if they didn't pay up. The company wouldn't help.

She had to scramble to find a warehouse in Yarmouth to store their possessions. That experience led her to launch a Facebook group for victims.

Several people sent me emails with similar stories following last Friday's column about one local woman's experience. My own calls to reach the moving company on Wilcockson's case have gone unanswered. Often people have limited choices. The police often treat such cases as civil matters. The courts are an option, but most victims just don't have the time or money to take legal action. And court cases take time to resolve.

The answer is government action.

“The industry has remained unregulated for a long time because the government has not been interested in working through a legislative model that would get these scammers and less ethical businesses out of the industry,” Irvine said. “Operation licences, adherence to standards, strict consumer complaint protocols, and other regulations would be beneficial to not only the legitimate moving companies, but also would be a huge factor in consumer confidence in the industry.”

Mike Kolberg, chairman of the Canadian Association of Movers acknowledges that scammers are giving the industry a bad name. “It is a big problem and it is growing. There's more here than people just losing furniture.

For many people it's everything they own,” says Kolberg, who owns a moving company in Ottawa. “We need somebody in government to take up the front end of it.”

Irvine says CAM is doing its best to advise customers on how to protect themselves: Do proper research. If a quote seems too good to be true, it is. Walk away. Don't settle for the cheapest price. Don't depend on internet reviews on company websites. They are often self-generated. Check the CAM website, which has tips and advice, or use movers accredited by the Better Business Bureau. And whatever you do, don't sign any paper thrust in your face during a move without understanding what you are signing.

This is an issue of consumer protection. The government must act.