Official Warns of Moving Companies Cheating Customers

2 investigates of illegitimate moving companies cheating customers and discovered questionable tactics that are rampant in the industry, according to an industry expert. Customers who are under pressure to relocate quickly can easily be taken advantage of by illegitimate moving companies. Prosecutors say those firms' techniques can be very sophisticated, but there are easy ways to protect yourself.

High-Pressure Sales

"It's really hard to distinguish the scam companies from the legitimate ones," said Santa Clara

County Deputy District Attorney Tiyen Lin, who prosecutes moving companies on the wrong side of the law.

Lin says the first sign customers should watch out for is high-pressure sales techniques.

"One of the red flags of a scam operation they will use the pressure of time. They will say 'We understand you need to move quickly. We can give you a discount if you pay in cash. If you pay upfront then we can give you an even greater discount,'" said Lin. "So the pressure is to have it in cash when the protection for the consumer is to pay by credit card."

Sacramento resident Sandy Highland believes a moving company tried to take advantage of her.

"He was asking for my credit card information for the deposit he said if I didn't hurry up we might lose our spot," explained Highland.

Highland said the salesperson also kept raising the verbal estimate for her move. She says he then charged her credit card a hefty deposit before she signed a written estimate. Highland’s credit card company helped her get back the money.

"I told them I wouldn't let them move my neighbor's trash to the curb let alone my children to Tacoma or anywhere else," said Highland. "I didn't recommend them."

Questionable Tactics

Lin says he has seen a variety of tactics that questionable companies will use to dupe consumers into handing over their money. He showed 2 Investigates examples of companies cutting and pasting contracts from legitimate moving company websites, then passing them off to customers as their own. He says some firms will even buy old moving trucks from a legitimate business, but will leave the other company’s logo on the side.

"It is extremely difficult to prosecute these companies because they often change names," said Lin.

But there are also some common practices in the moving industry that are legal, according to Lin, but could leave customers confused and vulnerable.

"Nowadays in the industry there are such things as brokers. That's a legal kind of middleman that is supposedly offering services for several moving companies," said Lin.

Highland later found out the company that booked her move was brokering it out to another one without telling her, she says. When 2 Investigates called the number listed on Highland's estimate, another company answered. A visit to the company's web address, which was also listed on the estimate, instead linked to a page that was no longer active.

All interstate movers are assigned a Motor Carrier, or MC, number that consumers can use to verify certification through the U.S. Department of Transportation website. The one listed on Highland's estimate yielded no results in an online DOT search.

"A legitimate broker will tell the consumer that the broker is doing exactly that, brokering and is not the moving company itself," said Lin. "However, that is an area that is ripe for abuse really; for a broker to muddy the waters to not distinguish their services from the moving company services, when in fact they could be the front for the scam moving company."

2 Investigates is not revealing the moving company Highland used or the company it supposedly brokered her move out to because the DOT will not confirm whether or not the companies in question are currently under investigation.

An attorney for the company who offered Highland her original estimate sent 2 Investigates a statement that in part says, "It is not uncommon for brokers and carriers to work closely together."

Still, Highland says she never agreed to the manner in which her estimate was handled.

"They seriously misrepresented themselves and I thought I was a pretty smart person I didn't even know that that could even happen," she said.

Protect Your Move

Moves within California are regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission. Moves across state lines are regulated by the Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Lin says you should always check to make sure the moving company you are using is both licensed and insured.

Other strategies to protect yourself include asking and checking to see if the moving company is a carrier or broker. If the moving company is a broker, ask who it will be brokering out your move to and then research that moving company to make sure it is licensed and insured.

Lin says never get an estimate on the phone or online. Always request an in-person estimate. He also suggests getting three quotes from three different moving companies. And adds that most moving companies’ estimates should be within 10 percent of one another. He warns that low ball offers could be a scam.

Other industry experts suggest getting a binding estimate or one that gives a dollar amount that the move will not exceed.

Finally, be wary of extra packaging or wrapping that could inflate both the labor and bottom line cost of your move.

"Don't let them rush you, take your time and definitely don't get down to the wire of the move," says Highland.

Stimpson Movers is an East Boston Moving Company that can be trusted, they have been in business for over 110 years.

A Moving Company from Venezuela Expands into International Logistics

When the Clover Group was founded in Venezuela 50 years ago, it got its start by moving families around that South American country and between Venezuela and the United States.

“Within two years after Clover was established, we were the leaders in domestic and

international moving,” said Luis Alonso Rincón, one of the five children of Luis Alfredo Rincón, who founded the company in Caracas in 1964.

Demand for the company’s moving and storage services grew astronomically during Venezuela’s 1970s oil boom, when legions of executives and their families moved to the country from the U.S., Canada, Europe and other parts of Latin America, while Venezuelan diplomats and other government officials traveled to fill new positions overseas.

“Today, household moving is our smallest business unit, accounting for about 6 percent of revenues,” said Rincón, who is a director and co-owner of the company, along with his four brothers and sisters.

“We grew and evolved into an international logistics company with seven divisions,” said Miami-based Rincón, standing in Clover’s 120,000 square-foot Doral warehouse packed with industrial equipment, capital goods for the oil industry and family household items.

Clover’s most important business units now are freight forwarding, transportation (trucking), customs brokerage, warehousing and distribution, procurement and trade financing. It recently started a new division to provide document storage and imaging for customers in Venezuela.

Clover also supplies companies that stage trade shows, receiving, storing and assembling equipment for exhibitors.

Rincón and two siblings are based in Doral and run the local operations, plus another office and warehouse in Houston. Two others manage parts of the company from Venezuela.

In the 1980s, the moving company saw opportunities for importing heavy equipment, vehicles and parts for the auto, petroleum and other industries in Venezuela as well as other Latin American countries, and expanded.

To meet demand for its new businesses and establish a foothold in the U.S, Clover opened its Miami office in 1985, later buying its current warehouse in Doral. It invested in trucks, hundreds of huge storage racks, forklifts and other equipment. It now has about 80 employees in Miami and works with a range of multinational companies and local concerns in Venezuela and other Latin American nations.

Its customers include Odebrecht, Ford Motor Co., Citgo, New Holland and Venezuela’s national oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, and its subsidiaries.

Clover recently shipped a fire truck that was stored at its Doral warehouse to Curacao, several $1 million generators and four new Mitsubishi sedans to Venezuela, industrial equipment to Panama and an ambulance, outboard motors and spare parts to other clients in Latin America.

“About 60 percent of our exports go to Venezuela, while 20 percent are shipped to Central America and another 20 percent to other parts of Latin America,” said Rincón, who earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and finance from Bentley University in Waltham, Mass., in the 1990s.

Clover has grown steadily as a result of its diversification. Company revenues in 2013 for its U.S. operations alone (Miami and Houston) were about $80 million, Rincón said, up from about $10-$12 million in 2000.

The logistics business typically involves procurement, revising and verifying merchandise received at the Doral warehouse storage, fulfilling export orders for customers, customs brokerage, shipping by air or sea as well as receiving and verifying shipments at their destination. It is highly competitive — Clover competes with scores of other Miami-based freight forwarders, customs brokers and logistics companies, including giants like DHL and Kuhne + Nagel.

But Rincón said that Clover, which knows the Venezuelan market very well, offers some particular services its customers appreciate.

For example, a Clover employee recently was checking a shipment of expensive machine parts that arrived at the warehouse for a customer. He opened the crate, examined and counted each piece, and sent the shipment to be repacked at Clover’s in-house carpentry shop.

For another customer, Citgo, Clover received the contents of thousands of book bags that were to be distributed to students in Venezuela. Clover employees put together separate shipments of pencils, pens, erasers, notebooks and other items, placed them in the book bags and securely packed them for shipment.

“We’re a filter for our customers,” said Rincón. “It’s very time-consuming and expensive, but if the wrong amount of goods arrives at their destination, our customer will lose the needed parts and money.”

Clover also employs carpenters who custom-build sturdy crates, sometime over 12 feet tall, for merchandise after it has been revised. The crates make it harder for damage and theft to occur at the final destination.

Rincón pointed to one customer who annually shipped about $180 million in goods to Venezuela. The company lost about 9 to 10 percent of the value of shipments each year because of damage or losses due to “bad delivery.”

After working with Clover, which revised and securely packed the shipments, the client’s losses were reduced to less than 0.1 percent per year, “thus saving them a lot of money,” Rincón said.

“We are very specialized in what we do,” Rincón noted. “Not everyone does this careful revision and packing. It’s one of our strengths. We’re not just a regular freight forwarder.”

These extra steps are expensive, he added, “but at the end of the day, we provide value added and customers save.”

New Holland, which makes agricultural machinery and construction equipment, has been working with Clover for over seven years. “We sell and distribute equipment and spare parts in Central and South America, and we use Clover’s warehousing and shipping services in Miami,” said Florencio Saturno, New Holland’s Weston-based area manager for agricultural products.

“We need to make sure complete shipments are sent to the correct destinations safely and on time,” Saturno said. “Clover assures us of this ... they provide excellent service and excellent relations with our people.”

The writer can be reached at josephmannjr@gmail.com.

CLOVER GROUP

Business: Clover Group is an international logistics company that is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Clover, with its head office in Caracas, Venezuela, operates seven divisions: freight forwarding, transportation, customs brokerage, warehousing and distribution, household moving, procurement and trade finance, and (only in Venezuela) file storage and imaging. An important share of Clover’s business is managed by its Miami-area operations.

Office: 1910 NW 97th Ave., Doral

Headquarters: Caracas

Founded: Office in Doral opened in 1985; Clover was founded in Caracas in 1964. Clover also has an office and warehouse in Houston.

Employees: 80 in Doral, about 1,000 company-wide

Operations in Doral: administrative offices, 120,000-square-foot warehouse, 20 trucks. For household moving in the United States, Clover works with Allied Van Lines.

Owners: The Rincón family

Directors: Luis Alonso Rincón (Miami), who runs the company with his four siblings

Revenues: About $80 million in 2013 from U.S. operations

Customers: From families moving between the U.S. and Venezuela, to large companies that need to transport equipment, vehicles, components and parts; customers include Ford Motor Co., Odebrecht, Citgo, New Holland and Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (Venezuela’s national oil company).

Stimpson Movers is a Saugus Moving Company specializing in home moving.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/biz-monday/article2975613.html#storylink=cpy

Home Seller Seeks Advice

Question: We are expecting an offer on our home this week. It is our first time selling a home, but over the years we have heard a few horror stories about move-out day. Do you have any advice about how to prevent move-out day problems? Rick and Angie B.

Answer: This is the very best time to be asking. Moving horror stories are common. If your next

home depends on this sale closing, there is a contingency you can negotiate into the contract. A rent-back provision relieves stress and saves you money if the closing date were delayed or fails at the last minute. Rent-backs provide the seller occupancy after closing at a pre-agreed daily rent. Usually the maximum term is 30 days, but it can be more or less. All too often, the closing does not take place as scheduled because of some event beyond your control. When a closing fails, if the seller agreed to vacate on the day of closing it will be a frustrating and expensive day for both parties unless they have protected themselves contractually. A buyer should allow for wiggle room at their current location for the same reason.

If you are buying another home, consider a contingency that is subject to the successful closing of your current home sale. Many states have a pre-approved fill-in-the-blank rent-back contract addendum your agent can tailor to the specific transaction.

Importance of communication

Continuing communication with all vendors and contract parties is the key. Your agent should be helping coordinate the moving dates and times between the buyer and seller. Be sure to contact a Saugus moving company far enough in advance and base the moving time on when the seller will be out of the home. It works out well to put an exact time in the purchase agreement. There’s nothing worse than arriving at your new home bright and early and then discovering that the seller will not be out until the afternoon.

Prepare

By preparing in advance, you may be able to avoid some of the problems and confusion that can occur before, during and after the move. Try to take care of as much as possible in advance of the move. Develop a game plan and make sure all of the key players agree to it.

Moving tips

Here are some suggestions to consider before making your move:

• When you do not need it, do not take it; garage sales are an ideal way to “clean house.”

• Label boxes as to the contents, room it belongs in, and if it is fragile.

• Even though you left the old home spotless, your new home may not be in that shape. We suggest having cleaning supplies handy and insist on a clean, vacant home in the purchase agreement.