There’s Another Scam In Las Vegas Residents Should Look Out For
Another scam is out there that anyone moving to, from, or within Las Vegas should know about.
The scam involves moving companies. Those that essentially keep your belongings ransom until you pay a price higher than what was agreed upon. This is what happened recently to a new Nevada resident, Michelle Burton. She recently got a job here in Las Vegas and relocated from Colorado, newslv.com reported. Burton says the company she used to move kept increasing their prices, even as they were moving her stuff.
Burton paid the moving company it’s first installment at the time of their pickup of her stuff. Then she paid again at the time of delivery. That meant she had to come up with an additional $7,000 within a 24-hour period. Altogether her total was about $12,000 (news3lv.com), even though Burton got an estimate that was about half of that.
But she didn’t feel like she had a choice but to come up with the extra money, since the moving company had all of her personal belongings. And to make matters worse, the moving company employees broke some of her belongings, and others she just never got back at all.
But these kinds of moving scams are apparently not rare in Sin City.
News3lv.com reported that the Better Business Bureau in Southern Nevada gets a lot of complaints about our local moving companies. Mostly about exactly what Burton dealt with: items that were damaged or even lost. Other issues involve items being delivered, but not as soon as promised. This leaves new residents without their belongings when they might be needing them to start a new job or for other time-sensitive situations.
If you are planning on moving soon, the first thing you should do, even before hiring a moving company, is check out the Federal Carrier Motor Safety Administration website. There is where you can get educated on what moving companies are allowed to do. And if you ever do find yourself in a situation like Burton‘s, report it to the Better Business Bureau for an investigation.
Michelle Burton did not name the company that she used in her move.
