Licensed & Insured Moving Company

Welcome to the new ?!What’s Going On Around Town Movers Blog?!  at www.ourteamatmovers.com

by David Underwood, Manager and Original Two Team and a Truck Founder

This is the second post as part of what has become a three post series about some of the topics the Virginia Movers discussed at its Fall Marketing Meeting in Glen Allen, Virginia on October 25, 2013.

If you read the first post, you also saw the link to the Nightline video.  This was the video that was shown midway through the session. It was a short but powerful story of one family’s nightmare interstate moving experience. During the meeting, we talked of the dark shadow that has been cast over the moving and storage industry because of the misdeeds of unlicensed, uninsured and unscrupulous (so-called) rouge movers.  These rouge movers are a whole rampant underclass which prey on unsuspecting consumers with their flashy websites, unbelievably low prices and really, really bad service.  Bad service, that is, if they even show up on moving day.

After watching the video as a group, we discussed ways to overcome the negative effects that these few have dispelled over our industry.  We spoke of ways to educate to help educate the moving public about the benefits and virtues of what makes a true moving professional and what that means.   As a group we realized that these types of predators will always be among us so we discussed some simple strategies that we could utilize in our business dealings to help counteract rouge movers.  What soon became clear is that, in choosing your mover, there were several basic principles that we could deploy to at least offset the unlicensed, low priced rouge mover types.

One of the primary considerations for most folks is price.  No one wants to pay too much for their move, but I have to suggest the notion that one could potentially pay too little for their moving job as well and not have a good experience.  As the old adage goes: You get what you pay for.  Overcoming the low price is probably the most difficult factor for a professional Licensed & Insured Moving Company. When I hear of a low price, the first thing that comes to my mind is: ‘how can they charge that, provide a consistently good service and stay in business?  Of course, whether a moving company stays in business really isn’t much of a concern for the person being moved as long as they get moved.  But think about it: trucks, pads, dollies, employees, insurance, overhead, supplies… it costs a lot to get that truck out to a house on moving day – and we have to have some money left over to eat dinner with as well.

It was also said that the element of trust was incredibly important.  I enjoy coming out to your house to meet you, take a look and give you an in-home consultation and price.  I like to tell you about how I’ve been in the business for over 35 years and about all of the things I have learned to do over the years to be able to provide you with a great service.  Being a Licensed & Insured Moving Company is one other element of that trust factor.  I like to explain that insurance is an element of licensing.  States issue licenses and permits to movers when the mover’s insurance agent make the specific state and federal insurance filings for specialized moving company insurance.  But let’s take it one step further – one cannot even obtain the proper moving company insurance without significant verifiable moving company industry experience.  Therefore, when you find a properly Licensed & Insured Moving Company, you can count on the fact of their experience in the business as a licensed & insured moving company professional.

Around Town Movers is a fully Licensed & Insured Moving Company.  So what does is exactly mean to be a Licensed & Insured Moving Company?  Well, each state is different.  In Virginia for instance, there are two types of licensing for movers: a property carrier permit and a Household Goods Carrier Permit.  The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles enforces the licensing of movers in Virginia.  A property carrier permit is required for all moves 31 miles and under.  The Household Goods Carrier Permit is required for all moves within Virginia over 31 miles.  The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration oversees and enforces licensing and regulations concerning interstate moves.  For moves to another state, the movers should have both a DOT (Department of Transportation) number and an MC (Motor Carrier) number – a DOT number is not enough – it is not a license.  Anyone can sit down at a computer and have a DOT number in 10 minutes.  We can show you our licenses & permits – can the other team show you theirs? Around Town Movers can also help you to determine if the other movers you are considering are licensed or not.  You should always ask and see these documents for yourself to verify that you have a Licensed & Insured Moving Company handling your move.  We can help you find out if your other estimates are from legitimate licensed and insured movers.

Conflict Resolution.  One of my favorite sayings is: ‘Moving is difficult even when everything goes right’.  So, what if something goes wrong?  How will things be handled?  Around Town Movers has a proactive system for this.  When you book with our company, we provide a written confirmation of the move details.  In the confirmation, you get the ‘hotline’  telephone number for our experienced on-call Operations Manager.   Not only is he available by telephone, he often just stops by jobs just to make sure that everything is going well.  If there are issues, he is just a call away.  We also offer post-move service.  We don’t have to do it often but our Operations people have come out in the days following moves to provide follow-up service.  If something is damaged during the move, we also offer a claims service.  In fact, I am a Certified Claims Analyst through the American Moving and Storage Association.  I will discuss the importance of move valuation (aka ‘insurance’) in Part Three of this series.

Well, I know this was a long and rambling post, but I hope that you find it helpful and useful when choosing your next mover.  After 35+ years in the business, that’s all I want to be is helpful – thanks for reading!

“See Ya Around Town!”

 

Dave