Posted on by Dean Savage

Moving Scams Are Not Just Fairytales

Once upon a time, in a far away land, the good people of America were getting cheated out of their hard-earned money by some unethical moving companies. As in some of our favorite fairytales, bad moving stories have a moral we all can learn from.

In their helpful and informative moving article, How to Protect Yourself from Moving Scams, Audri and Jim Lanford tell two tales of woe that could have been avoided if the good people had only known what to watch out for:

“One company showed up to move a Florida family, and made the woman sign a blank contract before they would agree to pack up her belongings. The ‘estimate’ then doubled.”

This story reminds me of the tale of Rumplestiltskin, where Rose is threatened by the king with immediate execution if she does not spin straw into gold. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know how, so she promises to give her first-born child to the mysterious Rumplestiltskin if he will do it for her.

  • Moral of the story: If you are being bullied into turning cattle feed into expensive jewelry or into signing a blank contract, it might be time to find a new kingdom, or perhaps another moving company.

“Another company gave a Maine fellow a quote over the telephone…based on the estimated number of pounds. Once his household goods were loaded on the truck, the driver informed him that…his goods far exceeded the estimate, and would have to be paid accordingly… After he threatened legal action, his goods were finally delivered.”

In the story of Red Riding Hood, she thought the wolf was her Grandma, but in reality her Grandma had already been eaten by the wolf.

  • Moral of the story: Whether you are visiting your grandmother or moving to a new house, it is important to know who you are dealing with, or they might just eat you up.

For more information about how to find the right moving company, check out Your Moving Company Checklist.

 

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