NC Regulators to enforce Criminal Background Checks

2 Years ago North Carolina passed a law requiring the officers and owners of moving companies operating their to pass a criminal background check. Earlier this month the North Carolina Utilities Commission reported that more than 50 had not complied and could lose their licenses to operate in the state. According to published numbers, that is approximately 20% of the state's licensed movers.

A letter to companies that had not yet complied states they must pay a fine of $500 and file the proper paperwork by the end of the year or have their licensing suspended.The commission notified recalcitrant movers in the past week that they must pay a $500 late fine by Dec. 31. If the movers don't pay the fine, their state certificates could be suspended and the fine increased to $1,000.

In October the state did offer all the companies a chance to come to a public hearing or send legal representation and ask for an extension. Those that came were granted an extension of February 28th to provide their criminal checks. This deadline has been extended before, the original deadline was April 2010.

Some considered the new requirement a hassle; others had privacy concerns. The requirement applies to company officials, not to employees, and the Utilities Commission must keep the information confidential.

The commission had put the new regulations into effect in 2008 after it was proposed they would protect the consumer. A criminal record does not automatically disqualify someone from being a mover, it is simply reviewed to see if the person poses a risk to the consumer and the industry. The NC Utilities commission has reported that many movers have criminal records but were permitted to continue operating if their crimes showed no risk to the public.

If you have an opinion on this regulation or experience with it personally, leave a comment!

Movex Spams Twitter

We follow a lot of Twitter feeds. Twitter is great for helping us keep up with moving companies and industry news.

Last night we noticed a new kind of spam. Movex is now using some kind of automatic service to post approximately a dozen messages over and over on the Movex Twitter feed. On average it is about 1 message every 8 minutes.

Our attempts to contact Movex this morning for comment were not returned. We certainly hope this is some kind of mistake and not a new form of spam. This should serve as an example to all movers of how NOT to do social marketing.

The Movers News is Seeking Writers and Contributors

Do you have experience in the moving industry? Are you familiar with the aspects of moving companies and able to produce well written and informative articles about news that effects movers? If so we are looking for you.

We are seeking North American based writers to add to our base of contributors and reporters.

Our goal is to produce material that helps movers and the moving industry in general. While there are many sites that offer tips for consumers and marketing materials, our goal is to be truly educational for the people who own, run and work in the moving industry.

If you would like to join our service, including having a byline that links to your company or website, please contact us. If possible, please include a sample of your writing.

What does Simple Movers have on Penske?

As a reader pointed out after our review of Simple Movers (simplemovinglabor.com), their website states that Simple Movers has extended their contract to provide moving labor services for Penske Truck Rentals. After a quick call to Penske, an anonymous source has verified this. He also stated many in Penske were unhappy with the partnership but the decision was made with very little input from the Penske's staff.

This continuing relationship is surprising because Simple Movers is known throughout the moving labor industry for having lackluster service while Penske is known for having the superior service. Add to that Simple Movers has a limited network and many of the movers we spoke with have reported having a horrible time reaching anyone at Simple Movers when they needed to.

The biggest missing component of the Penske/Simple Mover contract is any lack of coherent integration. Simple Movers has always seemed to simple minded (pun intended) to put something like that together. Until recently their website looked like something designed in Microsoft Word.

So why did our sources tell us Penske does not even solicit bids or open the contract to negotiations from other companies.

So what does Simple Movers have on Penske? Why has Penske not chosen a better and more reputable moving labor broker to work with?

Rumors abound as to why. Our source in Penske believes that someone in management has a personal relationship with someone at Simple Movers. A mover who has worked with Penske for years believes that Simple Movers pays Penske unmatchable commissions because without the contract they would go out of business. Still the head of one of the largest moving labor services in America stated that Penske just really does not care about that aspect of the business.

Granted those are just rumors and opinions but whatever the real reason, we have to wonder. What does Simple Movers have on Penske?

If you know, leave a comment.

Is FairMove.com a Fair Deal?

We are always curious when a new website pops up promising to provide certification of the moving industry. So was one of our readers when they found FairMove.com

FairMove.com offers movers a way to verify their information. This is similar to the American Moving and Storage Association but at a much more reasonable price. FairMove charges $300 for a 2 year membership. The AMSA charges $600-10,000 a year depending on the size of the moving company. That is where the comparisons end though. While the AMSA is a reputable organization, very little is known about FairMove. In fact internet records show their domain has been registered since 2004 but they only have 7 movers on their verified list.

When we called FairMove a woman with a foreign accent answered the phone. She sounded like she had just woken up (it was 08:40 eastern time). When we asked "Is this FairMove?" she immediately switched demeanor and stated she had just opened the office. The noises in the background did not sound like anything you would hear in a normal office. 

We asked to speak with someone about their service and they put us on hold. A moment later she came back and said that the salesman were out of the office. We told her we would call back and hung up.

For a website that promotes professionalism, that encounter really threw us so we did some research. First, we looked up the FairMove website.

Their website is registered to Guy Cohen with a Cincinnati, OH address but a Florida zip code. The website itself advertises a New York cell phone number. Also, Mr Cohen has registered numerous domains with moving related themes but does not seem to own an actual moving company. In fact we could find no evidence that he has ever owned or operated a moving company.

Also FairMove.com promises to verify the legality and integrity of moving companies, yet a Guy Cohen has legal troubles of his own in Cincinnati, OH.

We did also contact several of the moving companies listed by FairMove but at the time this article was published, we had received no replies.


Update 4/27/12: Mr Cohen left a voicemail threatening legal action. We will point out that the information in the images above are all publicly available. If he is not happy with information shared, he should contact the Hamilton Clerk of Courts. So far Mr Cohen has not submitted any evidence that any of it is incorrect.

Movers New Targets of Scams

Over the past year a number of scammers have targeted movers. One scam asks movers to charge a credit card in exchange for sending a Western Union payment. The supposed customer states that the landlord will not let her move out until a cash payment is made and promises the mover business in exchange for help.

Another scam is when a mover receives a phone call from a “customer” that offers a credit card number to pay for a move to a storage facility across the country. The customer wants to book and prepay for the move with little or none of the normal questions a mover is asked. 

We often don't understand the point or the profit in scams but we do know this. Normal customers do not act like this. We all have had the customer that struck us as trouble before we even accepted the job. If someone asks you to do something strange, deceptive or just plain illegal, take down their information and let us know so that we can warn the moving community.

Is Movers10.com a launch or a relaunch?

We received the email at the bottom of this from a website called Movers10.com. It sounded vaguely familiar so we did a search and found that we have received emails that were almost exactly the same 4 times in the past 4 months.


So we decided to check them out. The Movers10.com is not very pretty and has numerous ads floating around it. Checking on some of the moving companies listed we found that 3 out of the 4 we researched were operating illegally.


We found no reason to believe the website was legitimate or trustworthy. With very little to offer other than illegal movers and spammy ads, we did not bother to investigate the website further.

Get listed in your local moving company directory

Movers10.com has just launched a directory of moving companies. It provides a listing of moving companies by city, state and zip code.

I invite you to become a member of this directory. Right now we are offering free trial memberships for 6 months.

To register now click http://Movers10.com/registermember.aspx. 

To view our existing members click here.

Regards
Shailesh
Movers10.com

BuildMyMove Adds New Requirements, Little Benefits.

Recently BuildMyMove.com sent out the email below. We want to point out BuildMyMove is Dan Cunningham's latest attempt to run a business. You can read more about Dan Cunningham by searching our articles.

The one thing we noticed from the letter is that they require more paperwork and effort from the "moving partners" and offer nothing in return. As we have reported in the past Mr Cunningham's ventures are notorious for being slow to pay or failing before they pay out the people they subcontract the work to.

We received this email a few weeks ago but because we have a history with Mr Cunningham (he likes to sue people who talk about his reputation and business history), we contacted a few movers to get some feedback before reporting this. Of the movers that have worked for BuildMyMove.com, none said that they have been paid within the stated 24-48 hours after submitting their paperwork. All stated they have had problems contacting a live person at BuildMyMove.com and often wait days or longer for a response.

Greetings from the BuildMyMove Team!


We would like to notify you of some exciting news within our company as well as communicate a few relevant updates that affect how we do business.


We relentlessly strive to become the nation’s leading provider of online booked moves. We have recently secured funding for growth and added several key personnel in operations, business development and executive level management. Over the past three months we have tripled the number of completed moves in each subsequent month and we continue to grow at a rapid pace. Stay tuned – you’ll be seeing national press releases in the coming weeks and months!


There are a few operational improvements that you should know about. We have recently changed to a semi-invoicing system for payment. We pay top dollar to drive traffic and book moves online. Upon booking a service/move, our customers pay a guaranteed minimum price (2-4 movers for 2-3 hours, etc) – anything beyond that is based on a set price per mover per half hour. Because our goal is to provide the highest quality control to our consumers, traffic and corporate partners as well as protect our moving partners, we have a standard protocol for each mover to receive their portion of the guaranteed minimum payment after completing each job:
Uploaded pictures showing before, during and/or after images (or photographs) of the move. (This is a huge value-added selling point for our traffic/corporate partners; we allow them to see the status of each move. This also potentially protects our moving partners against possible claims.)*
Signed invoice or bill of lading. (We provide a standard invoice for you to use when you accept the job, it is up to you to fill it out, sign and upload upon completion.)*

*See instructions below on how to login and upload necessary information.

These items are required by our accounts and insurance carrier. Therefore, our movers do not receive payment for their portion of the guaranteed minimum job until both items are uploaded. Upon completion of the move, the mover is responsible to invoice and charge the customer via COD for any time/services above the guaranteed minimum job hours previously agreed upon. After the pictures/documents are uploaded, we submit payment to our moving partners within 24-48 hours. We pay our moving partners via check or direct deposit depending upon your preference.

Login/uploading instructions:
Click here to Login
Click “My Job Orders” to view all of your current and past job orders
To view details of each job, click “EDIT”
From here you may upload pictures and documents from the “EDIT” screen or from the “My Job Orders” screen by clicking “File Upload”
Change job status to "Completed - Mover Completed and Uploaded" after uploading pictures and documents

We have more to come in the upcoming weeks including:
BuildMyMove exclusive agent program for selected movers in selected markets
Improved profile setup and more detailed profile descriptions
Ability to “accept” jobs via email/cell phone
Most importantly – MOVES!

Stay tuned. We’re excited to grow with you.


The BuildMyMove Team

AMLPA seeks New Board Members

The item below was just released at the American Moving Labor Professionals website. We wholeheartedly support the AMLPA. It is nice to see that they are endeavoring to improve their organization and the moving labor industry. We encourage any of our readers with the necessary qualifications to respond!

American Moving Labor Professionals Association Seeks Additional Board Members

November 16th, 2010 - Tampa, FL - As the moving labor segment of the moving industry becomes larger and more established, the policies, procedures and standards of moving labor services become increasingly important. The American Moving Labor Professionals Association is adding additional board members to help set and regulate the standards within the industry.

The AMLPA is seeking qualified individuals with experience and knowledge of the moving labor industry. Integrity, character, reliability and involvement in the industry on a daily basis are requirements for candidates. Qualified candidates who are chosen for the board will be required to spend approximately four hours per month on conference calls and AMLPA related agenda. The AMLPA is a not-for-profit organization and board members are volunteers without pay.

The primary functions of the Board is to vote on policies, procedures, new applicants and to help guide the AMLPA to its full potential. Board members are required to have a minimum of one conference call every two weeks, participation is mandatory for these meetings.

To apply for consideration, please provide a brief but informative overview of your experience in the moving labor industry and indicate your current involvement. It is also recommended that you answer the questions below. Responses can be emailed to info@amlpa.org with the subject line "Board Nominee".

• Do you current represent a moving company? If so, what is your position and what is the company name?
• If yes to the above, is the company an AMLPA member?
• How long have you been involved in the moving labor industry?
• What do you like most about the industry? Least?
• If elected to the Board, name one industry action you would suggest for implementation. This can be an industry wide policy or requirement that you would like all companies to adopt or specifically for AMLPA members.
• If elected, would you be available for the mandatory bi-weekly conference call?
• Do you have any special skills that may be utilized by the AMLPA? Specifically, legal, web design and technology, marketing, non-profit expertise, etc

Simple Movers and SimpleMovingLabor.com

We want to help the moving community and appreciate when you come to us asking for help with any moving related service or website out their. Recently we received inquires about Simple Movers and SimpleMovingLabor.com.

The moving labor services we spoke with reported having a horrible time reaching anyone at Simple Movers when they needed assistance. Our sources also stated that emails and paperwork are often lost or go for weeks without response. The recently updated their website, previously it looked like it had been built in Microsoft Word then converted to HTML.

Pros:

• If you call their office you reach a live person
• They require a 3 hour minimum
• They offer various levels of service at varying prices
• Their prices are reasonable and not the low quality pricing we see with many moving labor brokers
• They have easy to find contact information on their website
• They are accredited by the Better Business Bureau (although we have mixed feelings about the BBB)

Cons:

• When you call their office that live person is usually to busy to be helpful. They often do not ever return the call or respond to messages as promised.
• There is no automated way to sign up as a service provider. As we mentioned, they aren't known for being reliable in replying to phone calls or emails .
• The difference between their "Pro Movers" and "Helpers" service is not clear although the "Pro Movers" are much more expensive.
• Their website offers no way for the consumer to choose or review his/her own mover.
• Simple Movers offers no explanation of their criteria for who is accepted as a one of their "Pro Movers" or "Helpers". 
• Simple Movers does not mention if their "Pro Movers" or "Helpers" are properly licensed and insured.
• We could find no explanation of the fees or commissions that are paid by the consumer or mover.
• They seem to only be brokers and not offer moving services themselves.

Summary:
Simple Movers is getting better but has a long way to go. The look of their website has improved but there is little information or specific information. Their service and reliability has not improved. In fact we called at the beginning of November about joining their network and still have not received a return call. We tried contacting them by email before publishing this review and the email address listed on their website came back as below.

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

    info@simplemovinglabor.com

Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error that the other server returned was: 550 550 Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable or not local (state 14).

Hire-A-Helper Offers Legal Update

We just received this update from one of our readers in response to an earlier article about HireAHelper.com.


We are deeply disappointed that this did not go to trial. We had hoped that HireAHelper would stand up to Emove and their claims to have valid trademarks on common moving related phrases. We understand HireAHelper with limited resources made this choice rather than fighting UHaul and EMove's almost unlimited legal resources.


To all HireAHelper.com Service Providers,

Many of you are probably aware that U-Haul International and eMove, Inc. and HireAHelper have been involved in legalproceedings over the past few years.  We are happy to report that both sides agreed to amicably settle the case before going to trial.  In the settlement, HireAHelper agreed not to use two phrases over which U-Haul claims a trademark, and not to use a payment code to process payments from customers to service providers.  We had already made these changes long ago.  The agreement specifies that the settlement is not an admission of liability by any party and U-Haul has agreed that as presently configured the HireAHelper website does not infringe any of U-Haul's intellectual property rights.  Therefore we are very much continuing business as usual, and the settlement specifically allows us to do that. 

We appreciate all your support and realize that if we did not have a stellar group of companies such as yourselves working with us we would have no chance of being successful.  We plan on never losing sight of that.

Thanks!

The HireAHelper Team

AMX-A Moving Experience Closed by WA Regulators

The AMX-A Moving Experience, Inc, a moving company in Seattle, Washington has been closed by state regulators. Washington state officials say AMX-A Moving Experience, Inc., is in violation of Washington consumer protection laws. 

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, enforces the laws and licensing of household goods movers. According to their findings last week,  AMX was operating illegally without a valid permit. 

Under Washington law, a Household Goods Moving Permit is required by any moving company based in the state. The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission ensures that the movers have appropriate rates, valid insurance coverage and maintain safety standards for employees and equipment. 

AMX-A was also cited for advertising moving services on internet sites such as Craigslist. In addition, to being shut down, the owners AMX A Moving Experience, Inc. were fined $30,000. 


Calls to their office were unanswered. After viewing their website we noticed none of their photos showed professional movers. There was one with a sunset and a few of men in old t-shirts loading what looked to be a rental truck.

AMSA adds Roadside Assistance to Member Program

This was released on the AMSA website just a few days ago. We were recently contacted by the AMSA and informed that their twitter feed was not working correctly.

November 8, 2010         

             (ALEXANDRIA, Va.) -- The American Moving & Storage Association (AMSA) is launching a partnership with Driver Road Services to offer discounts to AMSA members on emergency and breakdown services, repairs, scheduled and preventative maintenance, and DOT inspections.

            “These are among the most critical services for our industry’s fleet of thousands of trucks and tractor trailers,” said Linda Bauer Darr, AMSA president and CEO. “This represents another expansion of practical service we are offering our members.”   

            Dan Robertson, vice president and general manager of North American Van Lines, parent company of Driver Road Services, called the agreement a win-win.

            “We have been helping van operators keep rolling for more than 35 years with more than 20,000 service locations across the country, and we’re pleased to be able to partner with AMSA to provide these services at a discount,” said Robertson.  “We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

             The agreement was signed Wednesday during AMSA’s annual fall Board of directors meeting in Arlington, Va., and became effective October 1, 2010. 

            Driver Road Services is the latest company to offer products and services to AMSA members at discounted prices.  A complete list and more information are available at www.promover.org/discounts.

Updated December 10, 2010 in response to AMSA feedback

Moving Labor Professionals wants more of your money

Moving labor services and brokers seem to be making a lot of changes this winter. Inf fact it seems like they are the only news makers lately. Last night we received the email quoted below from MovingLaborProfessionals.com


We have finally completed the First-A-Lert / Exclusive Moving Provider program!
It has take a lot more time than we have anticipated. This program has all of the bells and whistles.

• Exclusive Area Rights
• First-A-Lert Notifications
• SEO-Custom Web Page
• Affiliate Link Payments
• Free Search Engine Submissions
• Free Directory Submissions
• Free Classified Ad Submissions
• Free State Ad Network Submissions
• Free City Ad Network Submissions
• Free Message Board Submissions
• Free FFA Submissions

How It Works – Any moving labor provider, who has an active account within our nationwide network of moving labor professionals, can subscribe.  There will only be 1-Exclusive Moving Provider on the First-A-Lert program, with a 20-mile radius for any given metropolitan City listed.

We will design a Custom Web Page with your Company Name on the top, which will be Search Engine Optimized (SEO). This page will help your company reach the first page of Google, Yahoo and Bing (MSN). We will also submitted your new First-A-Lert / Exclusive Moving Provider web-page to all of the Search Engines, Directories, Classified and Message Boards throughout the United States, for free!

Included with the First-A-Lert web page are Affiliate Hot Links, which pays the Exclusive Moving Provider $25.00 (USD) commission fees, whenever Job Orders are placed through the web-page via PayPal (as processed). You will receive the Job Order Assignments and the Commission Fees ... Now that's hot!  Advertise and promote your First-A-Lert web page anywhere.

Take a look at the Denver Colorado, First-A-Lert / Exclusive Moving Provider, web page: Denver, CO
As you can see, the First-A-Lert web pages are nice and clean. The layout is search engine optimized, and the Order Buttons are affiliating hot links.

We made this program very inexpensive ($300.00 for 1-year). The First-A-Lert automated notification system will make sure that your company will be the only moving labor provider, receiving Job Order Assignments within a 20-mile radius of your metropolitan City.

For those moving service providers who have already paid for the Exclusive Moving Provider position under the older program ... We will automatically place your company in the First-A-Lert / Exclusive Moving Provider program for your City Metropolitan area (1-year). And we would like to thank you for being patient.

To see if your metropolitan City is available, click here: Metropolitan City Links
Thank you for your time and support.


MovingLaborProfessionals.com is run by Bruce Carter and as far as we could find, they have no real movers, they are strictly a brokering website. Their website seems to be focused on optimizing for internet searches and not offering much information about the actual services or the legitimacy of the companies they broker. In fact we could find no information about any certification or checks done on the movers they broker to.

The biggest issue we have with this website and new offering is its pricing. The labor services we contacted said they receive very low volume from this broker. Moving Labor Professionals is charging $300 a year for the "rights" to the occasional job that pays $40 an hour for a two man crew. A legitimate and legal moving company, could not cover taxes, insurance and other normal costs with enough money left over to pay employees. With no volume to speak of, we have to wonder who would do these jobs other than inexperienced or illegal labor?

 If you have any experience with Moving Labor Professionals, leave us a comment!

Experienced Moving Labor lowers prices

ExperiencedMovingLabor.com is one of the first moving labor broker websites. Several movers sent us this email that they had received last night.


We want to say thanks for all the work you have done for us at EXPERIENCEDMOVINGLABOR.COM

We know at this time is the slow season that will last til around March and April and everyone is hurting for work.

In order for us to try to rake in more customers for you we had to lower our moving help prices from $66 an hour to $50 an hour with a still 3 hr mini. I have noticed a lot of movers has cut their costs down to $45 hr but we dont want to cut that low.

We are now advertising our rates at $50 an hour with a 3 hr mini and hope it will pick up more customers due to the economy. We hope that we can go back up on our prices for everyone when things pick back up...

If you wish not to receive work at $50 per hr please let us know... We hope everyone can accept this slow season price change so we can try to bring in more work.....

I would like to say again, thanks for everything you guys do for us.

Eddie George
CEO

ExperiencedMovingLabor.com does have one of the largest networks in the moving labor industry. Unfortunately the majority of their providers are not legal, insured or certified in anyway. Lowering their prices may increase their business. At the same time we see it decreasing the quality of the providers as legal companies could not afford to work at that rate.