TOMS RIVER — The New Jersey Warehousemen and Movers Association (NJWMA) advises consumers to beware of rogue operators offering low estimates.

They may have sophisticated Web sites to make them appear to be large legitimate companies. They make promises that they have no intention to keep and their final charges may be two to five times higher then the original estimate! Once they have your things on their truck, you must pay the charges before they unload.

Moving is more complicated then it appears and can be very stressful because you will be giving everything you own to people that you do not know; you must be careful before you hire a mover. Hiring a licensed mover is very important; however you will avoid needless aggravation and stress by selecting the right company, one that comes to your home and prepares an honest estimate, not just a low price.

* Select the right mover: Get references from friends, family or co-workers that you trust, and then verify how long the companies have been established. Request the mover come to your home to perform a visual survey and quote a price; it’s free. Don’t accept prices on-line or over the phone, they will be inaccurate. Visit the mover’s facility if possible. Each mover should give you the legally required brochures which are different if you are moving local or long distance. You can verify if their license is current at the Web site listed below, go to ‘Links’.

* How can I be sure I have an accurate estimate? Show each estimator everything you want moved and have a written list of all the items to be moved and items that you expect the mover to pack. Ask the mover to include the price for packing large glass, pictures and mirrors that you can’t pack, as well as computers, TV’s and electronics; certain items may require custom crating in wood. If you are able to pack any of those items yourself before the move, you can request a revised estimate. Verify that your furniture will be wrapped in moving blankets for free. Movers charge for boxes, packing, tape, access, stairs and any extra stops. Moving does not include storage or delivery from storage unless it’s written on the estimate. Make sure each estimate has the same number of articles to be moved written on the mover’s survey. Unwritten delivery dates means whenever it arrives.

* Can a mover change a written estimate? Yes, even if it’s binding! The mover is allowed to change the price on moving day if any circumstances change that are not written in the original price such as if you added items or additional packing. Prices include only the services listed in writing on your estimate and moving only the items listed on the mover’s survey. Additional charges may be incurred if delays arise during your move such as waiting time or rearranging furniture. Movers usually require cash or certified funds before unloading. Have additional money available to pay any extra charges.

* What is included for loss or damage? All movers must include minimum coverage of 60 cents per pound per article for no charge; it’s not insurance, it’s their legal liability. You should consider additional coverage. Some movers may offer increased valuation coverage or insurance at additional cost. Check your homeowner’s policy or additional insurance through your mover or other insurer. Items packed by owner are not covered by insurance or legal liability.

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GOLDEN, Colo. (May 12, 2010) – It’s no wonder that the month of May is designated as national moving month.  Spring is a hot time for real estate. According to Realtors, now is the ideal time to sell a home because families that want to move before the school year begins often start looking now.

But beware; potential buyers don’t want to tunnel through the clutter clogging your hallways, closets and garage just to view your home.  Homes that are organized and clutter-free sell much faster, according to Sally Allen, a professional organizer and move manager who is CEO of A Place For Everything LLC (www.APlaceForEverythingLLC.com) in Golden, Colo.

If you’re planning to pull up roots, these tips will make the process easier.  Keep in mind that being organized is the most important element for a stress-free move. Regardless of the size or distance of a residential relocation, careful planning, communication and organization is essential for a successful move.

It’s best to let a professional moving company do your packing. Their packers are trained to do the job efficiently – and your household items will be insured by the company. Did you know that items labeled “packed by owner” (meaning anyone other than the mover) are not insured during the move?

When it’s time to unpack, plan to roll up your sleeves and do it yourself because when you pay movers to unpack, they don’t put anything away!  They simply remove myriad items from the boxes – so everything you own ends up on all surfaces, including the floor.

In the process of moving her own family 19 times and overseeing numerous clients’ relocations, Allen developed these helpful relocation tips:

1.       Create a moving notebook or folder so that all of the paperwork related to your move is in one place.  Make notes, create a checklist, and keep receipts and documents.

2.       Create a moving calendar to track all aspects and tasks of the move.

3.       Do your research, or ask a professional organizer, about resources such as housekeepers who clean empty homes, carpet cleaners, reputable van lines and technology specialists.

4.       It’s time for The Great Give-Away.  Why move things you no longer need or use?  Find another home for them: favorite charities, recycling centers, family members, and garage or estate sales.  A professional organizer has available resources to assist with the process. Someone out there needs what you want to give away!

5.       Don’t forget that all-important “survival box” packed with your bed linens, coffee pot and other must-have items. This box should be last-on and first-off the moving van.

6.       Cash for tipping the packers, loaders and driver. You want them to take good care of your belongings.

7.       After you and your stuff arrive at your new digs, the last thing you need is a backache. Use furniture moving pads to slide heavy furniture around – it’s a cinch and doesn’t scratch the flooring.

8.       Find friends, family, or a professional organizer to help unpack and put away.  You don’t want to live surrounded by boxes for weeks (and sometime months).  Get help and get your house in order quickly so you can carry on in your new home and with your new life.  Putting the puzzle back together can be fun.

These tried-and-true tips should make the relocation process a lot easier.  Enjoy your new home!

company, mover, movers, moving, singapore

Many people have transferable jobs. Then there are those who live on rent and have to move every few months. Moving homes ever so often creates several practical problems.

One of the biggest problems is choosing the right kind of furniture and furnishings that can be moved easily and will also fit in anywhere.

After all, when one moves from one city to another and from one house to another, everything changes with it – the layout, size, dimensions, etc.

In such cases, the emphasis should be mostly on comfortable, convenient and light furniture, which can be easily installed and removed.

People who have to shift frequently should focus more on the functional aspect . Heavy and bulky furniture occupies much space and requires more maintenance .

Ideally, one should stick to simple, durable furniture. If it is essential, only a few heavy furniture items like beds, study tables or a wardrobe should be used in the house.

However, one should get them made to order in a way that each item can be easily dismantled when moving from one place to another.

These days you get readymade ‘knock-down ‘ wardrobes, beds, among other pieces of furniture. You can also get them made by your carpenter.

Cane furniture is a great option for the living room and bedroom in terms of both design and elegance. It comes in all shapes and sizes, does not require much maintenance and cleaning and best of all, it is light and portable.

This is especially useful when there are small children around, since there will be no worries of spoiling or breaking the furniture or of the children getting hurt by sharp corners .

Another plus point of cane furniture is that it is priced reasonably. One can have a dining table, chairs, sofas and side tables and racks of cane in the living room with different design or colour schemes for the cushions and mattresses, depending on the taste and the lifestyle of the individual concerned.

The market is full of different fabrics and textures – one can give a lot more life to the decor by making innovative combinations .The next area we need to focus on is the kitchen. Choosing the right storage for this room is crucial because it requires focused work areas, so modular kitchens would be the best option. One can have wooden cabinets, but they should not be fixed on walls.

It is advisable to have small cabinets which can be hung on hooks or, alternatively, have castors, so when one moves one can easily remove it or easily glide it out. The flooring can be covered with linoleum, which is safer as any spills can be cleaned easily.

Similarly, the material for drapes and curtains should be chosen in such a way that if the dimensions of the window change, one can get it cut or fold part of it without affecting the overall design, so that it can be used over and over again.

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With warmer months comes the household moving season, a time when consumers are more frequently victimized by dishonest and unlicensed companies, warns the Council of Better Business Bureaus and the American Moving & Storage Association.

Among the common complaints are that a mover: 1) refuses to release household possessions; 2) has added unexpected charges; 3) has disappeared with customers’ belongings; 4) refuses to respond to complaints about lost or damaged items; or 5) never shows up on moving day.

You can avoid some of these problems by doing your homework before hiring a mover.

• Check for complaints at the BBB, and by doing a basic Web search using the name of the company and such words as “ripoff” and “complaints.”
• For interstate carriers, look for additional complaints and verify registration by visiting the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) website.
• Read the advice on the federal site, including a list of frequently asked questions, as well as on the American Moving and Storage Association website.
• Avoid any company that provides an estimate online or over the phone without visiting your home. Get at least three in-home estimates, and be suspicious of unrealistically low-price offers.

• Check for complaints at the BBB, and by doing a basic Web search using the name of the company and such words as “ripoff” and “complaints.”
• For interstate carriers, look for additional complaints and verify registration by visiting the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) website.
• Read the advice on the federal site, including a list of frequently asked questions, as well as on the American Moving and Storage Association website.
• Avoid any company that provides an estimate online or over the phone without visiting your home. Get at least three in-home estimates, and be suspicious of unrealistically low-price offers.

If you have trouble with a mover, file a complaint with the BBB and local law enforcement.

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Kudos to the investigating team that instigated the downfall of crooks who prey on the vulnerability of the general public. Moving is such a stressful time as it is and to have unscrupulous operators adding to anxiety is just unacceptable. It makes me wonder though why it has taken Toronto so long to bring forth this rampant problem. Desi Movers and their aliases have been operating for the past eight years, but what about their predecessors? This is no new problem and one not limited to ethnic operators.

I was a victim when I was extremely new to the city some 30 years ago, moving from a downtown apartment to North York. Money was tight and obviously one shops around for the best deal. When I landed this moving company, they sounded very professional so I booked them. On moving day, they arrived almost half a day late and behaved with rudeness upon arrival. They had a laid-back attitude and did not care that I only had a few more hours of light left. They showed their true colours when I arrived at my new apartment. They casually leaned back on their moving van, lighting up cigarettes. When I asked them if they could possibly hurry up, I was informed it would cost another $800 and they wanted all of it upfront. Obviously I was shocked at the callous behaviour and refused; they said they would take the furniture back downtown and leave it by the roadside. Obviously these people were veterans at their game who had the art of conning and defrauding innocents down pat, and they did not have glamorous ethnic backgrounds. They were a couple of Caucasian crooks, plain and simple.

This taught me one big lesson in acquiring services: do your research, and then some. Talk to previous clients, check with the Better Business Bureau and do not discount the power of networking within your circle of friends, family and colleagues.

company, mover, movers, moving, singapore

It’s springtime, which means many Americans will be on the move. Sadly, the painful process of moving tends to bring out our inner nobishness.

Budget Truck Rental showed an excellent grasp of the situation with their 2002 bad-ass promotional campaign offering totally FAIL moving tips. Sadly, the company ended the campaign but the tips – illustrated on each blue-line truck – live on in many Flickr photos and Google Images.

To inject a bit of levity into this excruciating process, I offer these 17 moving tips culled from Budget’s campaign, my fecund imagination and SomethingAwful.com.

1. Wear plenty of deodorant on moving day.

2. Resist the urge to pop bubble wrap before packing fragile items.

3. Make lots of friends before you move.

4. Do not let nosy people move your stuff.

5. It’s okay to curse at heavy furniture.

6. Never attempt wheelies with the moving truck.

7. Now is not the time to practice donuts.

8. Dolly, good. Hernia, bad.

9. Packing tape should not be used for painful practical jokes.

10. Schrodinger’s Moving Service: Your belongings are damaged…maybe.

11. Don’t forget to put air holes in the boxes when packing your pets.

12. Don’t pack dogs and cats in the same box.

13. Some of your friends will need a little persuading.

14. Don’t ask what’s in the box unless you’re sure you want to know.

15. Find a therapist in your new city before moving.

16. It’s okay to not be completely honest when it comes to labeling.

17. Remember not to move in before the old residents move out.

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A North Texas moving company has agreed to return all of a Colorado woman’s property as long as she forgoes the $1,200 deposit.

Cindy Manchi said she could not reach the owners of Longhorn Moving, which had portions of a load of antiques valued at $250,000. Manchi was given sole ownership of the antiques from a divorce settlement and she planned to sell them and use the money to cover costs associated with her cervical cancer.

“I have to sell it,” she said.

Manchi said movers arrived Thursday with two trucks that only fit two-thirds of her load. When movers came the next day with a third truck, they said they would consolidate the goods into two trucks on their own. But Manchi refused, as her contract stipulates that she is liable for any damage encountered when she is not present.

“I assured her we do this everyday,” said Longhorn Moving owner Kenneth Sewell.

Sewell said his employees had to move the goods on their own from one truck to another to ensure the vehicles met the legal weight limit on the road.

“She grossly underestimated her own material,” he said.

But Manchi requested Longhorn visit her warehouse in Prosper Tuesday to see, and analyze, what they would be moving. Sewell said he didn’t go to the viewing, but “one of the guys went by” and the weight of the items was difficult to gauge, as they were already packed into boxes. But Manchi maintains that the movers should have figured it out themselves.

“At this point,” Sewell said, “it’s a burden to both of us.”

Neither CBS 11 nor Manchi was able to reach Sewell Saturday. But Sunday, the Longhorn owner told Manchi the two would go their separate ways, as long as the moving company got to keep the $1,200 deposit.

Moving experts do advise individuals to watch as movers load their goods into trucks.

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Desi Movers and its 18 aliases are currently out of business.

Their trucks have been impounded, their offices raided and their owners arrested.

Syed Altaf Hussain, the 57-year-old Scarborough businessman behind the complaint-plagued moving company spent last night in police custody while his two sons, four of his drivers and their dispatcher sat in cells nearby.

Police have issued a warrant for the arrest of a fifth driver connected with the company.

In total, they face 160 charges including numerous counts of fraud under $5,000, extortion, possession of proceeds of crime and mischief.

The arrests are the culmination of “Project Overhaul” — a three-month investigation led by Toronto police Det. Kevin Hooper who said “this is the beginning of the end” of an alleged criminal enterprise that posed as a moving company for the last eight years.

A Toronto Star investigation first drew public attention to Desi Movers and its various aliases in August 2008. The complaints uncovered by the Star mirror those that led two dozen police officers to descend on the company’s Scarborough business address and on the residences of its principals Thursday morning.

In its investigation, the Star found more than 30 people alleged they were taken advantage of by the movers.

The Star also discovered that the company changed its name in order to distance itself from the complaints. But with every new name came new complaints and they all sounded the same.

The movers would quote a very low cost to clients who responded to their ads in local newspapers or on the internet.

The company would ask for a deposit up front, then, halfway through the job, it was alleged would double or even triple the costs. If a client refused to pay the increase, the company would allegedly threaten to hold their belongings in a company storage locker.

One client, Chris Brown, was told it would cost $500 to move 200 metres from one Port Credit apartment to the other. But once the truck was loaded the price jumped to $1,500.

“All of my worldly possessions were on their truck, right down to my toothbrush,” said Brown. “I felt I was being ransomed just to get it all back.”

Toronto police fraud detectives issued a public warning about Desi Movers and one of its aliases, Indo-Pak Movers, last November. At that time, police said they were investigating 17 complaints against the companies.

Hooper inherited that investigation in February and said he has since spoken to 15 people with complaints in 2010 alone.

In one recent case, Hooper said, a Haitian couple was allegedly forced to go to an ATM machine and withdraw their last dollar to pay for the rising costs involved with what was supposed to be a $300 move. Police said the movers then jettisoned the couple’s belongings onto the street and drove away.

In the Star’s investigation, many victims said they had been frustrated by police inaction during their moves. In some cases, victims called police who showed up during the moves but did not intervene because the company’s contract stated — in small print — that excess charges might apply.

“At face value it looks like a civil dispute,” Const. Tony Vella said Thursday of the initial inaction. “But it’s a lot more complicated than that.”

Police now say customers were subjected to bully tactics to hand over money.

Police say they receive numerous complaints about a number of moving companies in the city.

“We focused on one particular crew and it all started with the dad,” Hooper said of the investigation into Desi Movers.

Police allege that the father — Syed Altaf Hussain — trained his two sons, who branched out and operated their own numbered companies but always out of the same address.

That Munham Gate address near Birchmount and Ellesmere Rds. was empty Thursday afternoon. The sign above the door was half torn down.

It was there in 2008 that a Star reporter first met Arif Adnan Syed, Hussain’s 27-year-old son and owner of 13 of the company’s 19 aliases.

Syed said none of the companies were related and advised the reporter to get off his property or “there will be trouble.”

The Star returned to the company’s headquarters shortly after its initial investigation was published and watched as Hussain instructed his drivers to paint over the Desi Movers signage on the side of their trucks.

The Star last spoke with Syed in November after police issued a public warning about the company. At that time he said: “The main problem isn’t me, it’s the public. It doesn’t matter whatever you publish, people are so cheap.

“If I change my name today and put $2 less on the hourly rate they will still come to me.”

Syed was arrested at his home on Beckinridge Dr. in Markham Thursday morning. Police have since impounded his 2004 Audi.

Hussain was arrested at his subsidized housing residence on Kennedy Rd. His 2001 Mercedes-Benz has also been impounded.

Police have also seized 13 moving trucks belonging to the company and more than $20,000 in cash.

Police allege the accused were netting a profit of $1 million a year, yet some were still claiming welfare.

Charged are Syed Altaf Hussain, 57, owner of Elizabeth Movers, Comfortable Movers and Masters Movers and Storage. Also charged are Hussain’s sons Arif Adnan Syed, 27, (owner of Desi Movers, Dynamic Movers, Dynamite Movers, Family Movers, Indo-Pak Movers, Master Movers, Supreme Movers, and Pacific Van Lines Moving Inc., etc.) and Syed Amit Monwar Hussain, 29, (owner of Xpress Movers and A1 Xpress Moving Inc.). The companies’ dispatcher, Vanessa Longhurst, 38, has also been charged as have four of the companies’ drivers: Syed Tamim Rejw Hussain, 25, Clyde Alen Muffty, 34, Scott Paul Slater, 31, and Joseph Lima, 22.

Police have issued a warrant for the arrest of a fifth driver, Jimmy Roland Veilleux, 35.

The accused are scheduled to appear at College Park courthouse Friday morning.

company, mover, movers, moving, singapore

company, mover, movers, moving, singapore

company, mover, movers, moving, singapore