7 Common Scams by Moving Company – Singapore Movers

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May 10, 2014
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7 Common Scams by Moving Company – Singapore Movers

7 ways to avoid getting scam by movers

For those of you who are engaging movers for the first time. Take note of these common scams by movers in Singapore. Here are precautions you can take to ensure a smooth moving experience. If you are unsure of which movers to choose, be sure to check out our list of cheap movers and reliable movers to assist you on your moving needs.

Read Online Reviews about Movers in Singapore
Read Online Reviews about Movers in Singapore

1. Read Online Reviews to avoid Scams by Movers

Conduct a proper background check of the moving company in Singapore is very important. Read what others have to say before you pay.

(a) Google Reviews

Start of by reading reviews in the past 6 months. If the mover has more than 50 reviews and able to maintain a 4.5 stars rating, we would deem the public opinion trustable. Given how fast it takes to create a Gmail account, be wary that there are could be fake reviews.

(b) Facebook Reviews

If you notice many negative reviews on these movers in Singapore, it is best to avoid engaging their moving service.

(c) Forum Reviews

Alternatively, you can check out our local forum reviews. Although identity is mostly anonymous on forum and you can’t validate the authenticity, there are bound to be countless genuine review

Give a man a mask, and he will tell you the truth


Common Scam by Movers in Singapore
Common Scam by Movers in Singapore

2. No proper contract after offering a quotation via Call or WhatsApp message

It is a common scam by movers within the trade whereby the price is agreed on phone. But on moving day, the price has increased after having all your items in their truck. 

Always make sure a black and white contract is send over once you have spoken on the phone or text via Whatsapp message. Make sure you understand the quotation before you agree to the offer.


Best Movers, Cheap Movers
10 ft or 14 ft Truck Size

3. Scams by Movers – Truck Size (14ft (Y) and 10ft (G))

Learn to identify the truck. A common scams by movers in Singapore will be to offer a 14 footer truck in the contract but use a smaller truck on moving day.

It will definitely be hard for people who are not familiar with the size of truck to pay extra due to this scam.

I have heard of many incidents whereby quotation was quoted based on 14 footer but came a 10 footer covered truck and the customer are not aware that they came with a smaller truck and thus they ended up paying 3x the amount!


The easiest way to differentiate between a 14 footer/ 10 footer is the vehicle plate number.
14 footer truck will usually start with the letter “Y” while a 10 footer will usually start with the letter “G”.


4. Offering “Unlimited boxes” or “Packing Materials”

Cheap Movers scam tactic
Common scam by Movers

It is a common scam offered by Movers in Singapore to offer a “unlimited” amount of packing materials for $300 per truckload. In fact, if might even quoted you a bigger truck size as you have more boxes! Another scam is they will charge you for the damaged boxes after moving day

Think about it! The more you use, the more they can charge you extra!


Cheap Movers Singapore
Not utilising the full truck

5. Scams by Movers – Offering per truckload but not utilizing the whole 100% of truck  

The worst scam in the moving trade is overcharging you on moving day but underestimating you items prior to moving day. Many salesman will tell you that based on their estimate, you would only require 1 truckload. But on actual day, the end up with moving 3 to 4 truckload.

Honest Movers will tell you the right amount of truckload required. Whereas some movers will underestimate your required load just to close you. But on the actual day, they will charge you double for the “Extra Truckload” you used!

Some movers will stack your boxes with trolley and not utilize the whole space within. This scam will make you paying for 100% of the truckload but only using 70%.


6. Quotation too good to be true!

If 3 Singapore moving companies offer a rate of around $1,000 and only one movers offered around $500. Be sure to check what is included in the cheap quotation. If they are too good to be true, they might not be adding in certain requirement. Further down the road, you will be asked to pay for extra services such as Packing and wrapping of furniture, Packing Materials (Boxes/ Bubble Wrap), Dismantling & Re-assembling of furniture and additional Manpower/Diesel/Toll fees/ Disposal Fee.


7. Promise Insurance but avoiding further probes into the Insurance Policy

Received a quotation at a much lower rate compared to other movers in Singapore? To add on, the moving company guarantees that the price includes Insurance. This is the most common scams in this industry to lock you in early but require you to pay for additional Insurance separately

To avoid all these unnecessary scam used by movers in Singapore, you will want to engage the most Reliable Moving company in Singapore.

Jim
Jim

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