bonita springs mover

Tips For a Safe, Successful Move

A local moving and storage company, Ray the Mover, Inc. sent an email newsletter to me. I've included a few excerpts from it below. If you are buying or selling Bonita Springs real estate, you'll be faced with choosing a mover. Read the good news about AMSA and the arrests of less than reputable movers. There is a great link provided at the end of the article to help home owners and consumers learn about relocation, hiring a mover and a top 10 tips - list to plan your move.

The American Moving and Storage Association (AMSA) said the arrests of 72 individuals and shutdown of 42 scam movers in Florida is a very positive development, and constitutes persuasive evidence that current laws on the books are adequate for handling the problem of crooked moving operations, if they are adequately enforced.

Federal officials apprehended 74 individuals in Florida and shut down 42 moving companies the agency said had been engaging in fraud, extortion, false billing, money laundering and conspiracy.

These movers' typical practice was to offer a low estimate and upon arrival at the customer's new home to demand a much higher fee, threatening to hold the customer's household goods hostage until they were paid the full amount demanded, in violation of federal law.

"We are gratified to see the federal government taking the necessary steps to protect consumers from these scam movers, who bear no relation to the legitimate moving industry where honest, hard-working men and women succeed at meeting the challenge of providing highest quality service every day," said AMSA President Joe Harrison.

"It also shows convincingly that new laws are not needed to protect consumers from these bad actors," Mr. Harrison said. "We need the current laws to be enforced."

In addition to advocating effective federal enforcement of federal household goods transportation consumer protective regulations, AMSA has initiated several programs to educate and help consumers with their moves, including ways to steer clear of scam movers. First and foremost is to ensure that AMSA's own membership ranks don't include scam movers. Of the 42 movers affected by the federal government's enforcement action, 36 are non-members of AMSA, although some of these scam movers applied for membership and were denied. Two of the companies were AMSA members for a limited period, but were expelled. The other four movers are in the process of being expelled from AMSA.

In addition to its on-going program to ensure that its mover members conduct themselves in a professional and ethical manner, AMSA has established a Certified Mover Program to identify its elite members and a Web-based mover referral service that consumers using the Internet can rely upon to select a mover. These consumer friendly programs and educational material concerning relocation can be found on AMSA's website www.moving.org .

Special thanks to the Sales Manager at Ray the Mover for this article:

Ray The Mover

Jeff Smith

Sales Manager

Ray The Mover

3861 Domestic Ave.

Naples, FL. 34104

Phone: 239-643-4100 Fax: 239-643-2180