When changing your place of residence, one of the most important decisions you need to make is what mover to hire. Even though you spend hours and days trying to find a reliable moving company, this sometimes proves to be in vain. You end up disappointed with their service, attitude or both. When something like this happens, feel free to file a claim against a moving company. In case you do not know how to do this, we are going to help you. Keep on reading this article- we are going to explain to you each and every step of this process.
First of all, file a complaint with your moving company
In case there is some unresolved issue with your mover, the first thing you should do is to contact them. This is something you should do in order to try to resolve that problem peacefully. If you manage to do this, it will save both you and your moving company a lot of time, money and nerves. In addition to this, you should also provide as much evidence as possible. It is possible that you may need to file a claim against a moving company in writing. In this way, the complaint will become official. Of course, the most important thing is that you remain calm and objective. If it happens that they ignore you, it is time to proceed to Step 2. Naturally, this is certainly not something that would happen to you if you choose local movers NJ to be your moving partner.
The next step would be to write a moving review
Writing a moving review of your mover may be the extra step in order to reach an agreement. Each and every moving company is aware that a great majority of people uses the Internet to find a good mover. In this way, they check mover’s online reviews before making up their mind. So, it would certainly not be a good thing for them to have a bad review. However, if you have completed the first step and nothing happened, you have to move on.
Feel free to write a moving review and explain what has happened in an objective way. A great thing about moving reviews is that movers in question can answer to your review and write their version of what happened. This can be the beginning of proper communication between the two of you. After this, two things can happen: you can negotiate and find a solution or they can ignore you again. If the latter happens, feel free to go a step further.
Step 3: file a claim against a moving company with the FMCSA
If it happens that your movers did not pay much attention to your formal complaint and your moving review, it is time to inform the U.S. Department of Transportation about the case. What you need to do is to file a claim with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration about some of the following issues:
- final overcharging,
- professional packing services,
- damaged or lost household items,
- problems with the insurance or the license of the moving company,
- failure to deliver goods by the date on the Bill of Lading.
After your complaint is lodged, the FMCSA will demand from your mover to acknowledge your claim within 30 days (with an additional period of 120 days to resolve or deny the claim). In case you would like to submit the complaint over the phone, a qualified government official will help you do it properly. If your claim is accepted, it will be registered and noted in the moving company’s public record.
Another thing you can do is to file a claim with the BBB
Your next step should be lodging a formal complaint about your mover with the Better Business Bureau. In order to do this, you can either go to their website or visit one of their nationwide offices if one of them is close to you. After this, the BBB will contact your moving company within 48 hours.
Then, they will give the mover 14 days to reply to the pending claim. When the moving company gives their reply, you will be informed about the result of your complaint by one of the BBB representatives. The good thing is that, in most cases, claims filed with the BBB get resolved withing approximately one month.
You should also file a moving claim with the AMSA
This mission of yours is certainly not easy but it is necessary. The next thing you should do is to file a claim against a moving company with the American Moving and Storage Association. When submitting a complaint, try to be as specific as possible. After this, the AMSA will take over.
They will contact the moving company in question and try to obtain a written explanation of what happened. By doing this, it will be easier for them to make a decision. Of course, you will not be charged for filing a complaint with the American Moving and Storage Association.
Even though you spend a lot of time trying to find a reliable moving company, this does not always happen. You end up dissatisfied with some of their services and you are trying to find a solution for this situation. The best one is to file a claim against a moving company. By doing this, some way will be found for them to make it up to you. Luckily, there is one company in which you can feel free to put your trust and know that nothing will go wrong- Van Express Movers. They will do everything that is in their power to meet all of your moving needs.
