Let’s say you’re hiring interstate movers for the first time. There has to be a first time for everything. Of course, this is the same as every other conceivable human activity: you have to know the rules and have some guidelines on the side in order to do it properly. Remember the first time you drove a car? Wasn’t easy, right? Neither is hiring movers, so here’s what you should know for finding the best interstate mover.

How to spot fraudulent moving companies is definitely what you should know when finding the best interstate mover

Let’s face it: if a certain business exists, there’s bound to be some frauds. This is also true of moving companies. What you should know is how to differentiate between the two groups. The first group, obviously, are legitimate movers, who have no interest in scamming you. The other group is a different story.

There are certain red flags to watch out for

Read what you should know before hiring movers. This is how you spot these red flags. They are definitely not a guarantee that the moving company is fraudulent, however, it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Let’s briefly review some of these:

Lack of internet presence is definitely a red flag

This is the 21st century, and literally, every business has some sort of online presence. From multinational enterprises to local barbershops, every business of today has some sort of digital footprint. Except, of course, fraudulent companies.

Think for a second: having an internet presence is great for advertising, can increase revenue by a lot. but it also makes it easier for authorities to track you down, and should it become necessary. Makes sense, right? Whether a moving company has an internet presence is definitely something worth looking into.

Also, keep suspiciously low prices in mind

So, let’s define a suspiciously low price. Let’s say that you’re buying a used car, for example, a ’04 Avensis. The prices range at about $4000-5000 per car. However, you notice an ad which claims that you can buy one of these for 2200! You ring the seller, and he demands money upfront, without letting you even see the car first. Fraudulent moving companies operate in much the same way. They try to lure unsuspecting customers with their “low prices”.

After they get hold of the money, you find out from the service provider that the phone is no longer in use. And, since they do not have a website or any other contact online, you cannot track them down, and the cops can’t do anything about it, either. This is why you need to get to know a bit more about nationwide relocation, so as to know what to expect price-wise.

Another important thing is to read reviews

Before engaging any big project in your life, you should do your due diligence. For example, if you’re looking for a real estate agent, you should be able to check his credentials. If you’re looking for a moving company, you should read the reviews. The reviews will tell you everything that you’re supposed to know about a business, and there are, luckily, great places to do that on the internet, starting with…

Better Business Bureau

BBB is an NGO (non-government organization) dedicated to reviewing North American businesses, for the sake of protecting the customers. If a business has had government action taken against them, BBB will let you know. There’s a special segment on BBB for customer reviews, so be sure to read that one.

Yelp is the default go-to place if you want to find business reviews

Reading Yelp reviews can lead to finding the best interstate mover. Or, more specifically, how to interpret them. If a moving company has 50 good reviews, and 2 bad ones, it’s a legitimate and good moving company. Even the best of us make a fluke or have a bad day sometimes. It just happens and it’s a risk we have to take. However, if a moving company has a large number of bad reviews, steer clear! Even a 50-50 good-to-bad review ratio is something that you should steer clear of because it signifies that a moving company has some pretty big issues.

You should know your rights and responsibilities during a move

One way to protect yourself against possible shenanigans and tomfoolery is to get some legal education. One of the best ways to do this is to get FMCSA’s brochure regarding your rights and responsibilities during the move. You won’t actually have to read all the Congress and local legislation regarding moving, so do not worry. It’s simple to understand and doesn’t entail any legal doublespeak.

Finally, you should know what kind of services you need

Some companies specialize in long distance moving, others in corporate relocations. So, after you’ve narrowed down your list of moving companies, you should ring each of them. It’s hard, we know, but it’s necessary. Ask them what is the thing that they advertise, if they have any seasonal discounts (these usually happen during winter) and what kind of service do they specialize in. With that in mind, you should by now know what it that you need is. What you should know about international relocation is if you can get the same services at a lower price – in other words, you should figure out if you can get the same, but pay less.

Finally, there are a few other miniscule things that you should check. Those being whether are there any hidden costs (very common with fraudulent movers) and are there any extra services that the company representative failed to mention. Armed with this knowledge you can proceed with your nationwide moving.