Moving companies are the best way to go to make your relocation stress-free. They can make your move smoother, less time-consuming, and save you from tiring work. With professional moving companies, your transfer will be a fine experience. Isn’t that wonderful?

However, things can quickly turn into a nightmare if you get unlucky and hire unprofessional or rogue movers. You’ll never know what’ll happen to your items, and you may end up paying more than expected.

This article lists what things you should keep away from when hiring a moving company in Chicago to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Risks of Hiring Rogue and Shady Movers

To begin with, why should you be wary of a bad moving company? That’s because of these dangers they carry:

• Hidden Fees and Extra Costs: Imagine being so happy about cutting costs for your move only to find out there are additional charges after. Worse, they might keep your items hostage until you pay them more. Now that is a big headache.
• Damaged and Lost Items: Unprofessional movers may not have the skills and equipment to handle your items safely. Moreover, there’s a possibility that their inexperience and carelessness lead to lost items.
• Liability for Damaged Items: Although not all bad movers aren’t insured, there are still a number of them. And if you happen to hire one, you can’t hold them accountable for any damaged stuff. Instead, it’s all your responsibility.
• More Stress: With all the possible problems you’ll encounter when hiring rogue movers, getting more stressed is no surprise.

Yes, unprofessional and rogue movers are often cheaper. But it’s not worth it with all those risks. Besides, there are better ways to save some money. Now that you understand all of these, it’s time to know what you should avoid, so you don’t accidentally hire terrible movers.

The 7 Common Red Flags to Avoid

It’s not a secret that there are bad moving companies out there. That’s exactly why you should be careful when choosing a moving company. For that, take note of these seven common red flags when hiring movers.

1. No License and Insurance

Before everything else, a moving company should have a legitimate license and insurance coverage. These two are mandatory so they can legally operate in their area. It also helps you verify that their services are not a scam. So be sure to ask the movers for a copy of each document. But what if they don’t have it? Well, the answer to that is pretty obvious. Look for another company because you’ll never know what’s going to happen next when you work with them.

2. No Physical Address or Contact Details Online

One of the few things to look for when hiring a moving company is their physical address and contact details online. If you can’t find it on their website, they’re probably not authorized movers. A good moving company always has an official address and contact details up on their page.

3. Too Good to Be True Estimates

Who doesn’t want cheap deals? Unprofessional and rogue movers know that. That’s why they often lure you in with too-good-to-be-true estimates only to charge double or even triple after the relocation. But the question is, how do you know that a company is low-balling the costs? Easy. Get as many estimates as you can for comparison. From there, choose from the reasonably priced ones, not too low and not too expensive.

4. Demands Payment Before Moving

You might think that paying in advance is fine. But no, it is definitely not when working with movers. If a moving company asks for payment ahead of the relocation, whether it be in full or large down payment, it’s time you skip to the next one. That’s because legitimate movers don’t ask for a deposit. Even if they sometimes do, they only ask for a few bucks, and they also have a good reason for doing so. But to be safe, inquire them every time they charge upfront.

5. None to Minimal Web Presence

What do you think of a moving company with little or sometimes no web presence at all? Suspicious, isn’t it? You have all the right to be because that is a certain red flag. This is one of their tricky ways to get you to call, where they’ll bombard you with low prices and amazing benefits. But don’t be swayed. There’s a huge chance that it’s all just a sham.

6. Doesn’t Agree to In-Home Quotes

From the amount and weight of the items to how much workforce the relocation needs to how large the moving truck should be, and everything else important, the movers have to consider it all for a better estimate of the costs. And what better way to do that than doing an in-home quote? None. This is why you have to ask the moving company to survey your things personally. If they disagree, the deal is off. Don’t settle for a quote over the phone. They usually give you a low estimate but then hold your items hostage, asking for more money.

7. Negative Customer Reviews

If you want to make sure that a moving company is good, read through customer reviews. Once you see that the clients are satisfied, that’s immediately a plus. However, it should be an automatic pass when you see way too many negative reviews. Stay away from hiring them because that’s a clear sign that their services are subpar. Never take the risk of hiring them even if they charge less.

Stay Informed

There are a lot of movers you can hire. But not every one of them guarantees a hassle-free relocation. Luckily, you can easily spot unprofessional, rogue, and bad moving companies when you know what you should avoid. Remember the red flags mentioned here as you decide which mover to work with.