Author Todd Ellis balances his work life with community volunteerism.  A Critical Infrastructure communications expert, Ellis helps design systems for rail, bus and airports and was awarded two related patents.  After hours, Ellis is an Auxiliary Police Officer in his local township, teaches firearm safety courses, is an adult Scouter and a 4th Degree Knight of Columbus.  Ellis and his wife Stacey reside on their uniquely sloped property known as Leprechaun Hill in southeastern Pennsylvania.

As we get older, many folks desire a warmer climate. Sometimes, seniors are capable of maintaining a dual residence; enjoying summers in the North, then heading South as the weather begins to turn. More often, there will be a total move of a residence that requires the use of a professional moving company. Due to increasing labor and transportation costs, shipments of household goods can be surprisingly expensive. It’s natural that anyone, whether on a fixed income or not would look for better moving costs.

Recently a senior couple (we’ll call them Kay and Ted) moved from their Upstate New York residence to a long awaited move to Florida. A retired businessman, Ted made several telephone calls to local movers to obtain a competitive price. COVID issues have decimated moving company labor – and thus Ted couldn’t obtain a proposal from anyone. No local company had enough personnel to cover current commitments and none was interested in Ted’s long-haul opportunity.

Kay and Ted were becoming desperate. Having already sold their home, it was imperative to quickly find a mover who could pack and ship their household belongings before the closing date. Ted began looking online for alternative shippers. One particular firm looked pretty good – their company name sounded a lot like a familiar nationwide moving company but promised to provide better pricing. Ted was delighted to find that the company could send a representative to their home within a day and provide a written proposal. Both Kay and Ted were proud that they did it all on their own without having to ask family members for help.

Ted reviewed the contract; it had plenty of strongly written terms and a good price. The firm showed up the next week to retrieve their goods…in a rented box truck. Their excuse was that their truck was tied up on another job and their goods would be transferred into their bigger truck the next day.

Kay and Ted closed on their old home and flew to their new Florida destination. A stipulated fourteen days for delivery came and went – and no truck, no furniture, no household goods. Calls to the moving company were answered by a polite receptionist but no information was provided about their shipment. Concerned, Kay called their son Rick to see if he had any ideas on what to do. Their son, a security expert, carefully listened to the facts and then asked for an electronic copy of their contract. Within minutes Rick had determined there was a big problem; other customers had been posting complaints about the company across the Internet for the last year. He read about customers who never received their shipments and customers that were asked to pay additional funds before delivery.

This is called “hostage taking”. Unscrupulous moving companies sometimes seize goods from individuals who appear to be well-heeled and then refuse to deliver until “unexpected fees” are collected. Unfortunately, anxiety sometimes wins over good judgement and the victim pays the moving company, hoping to simply walk away from a bad situation. That approach doesn’t help the next potential victim! Several other victims had registered complaints on the Better Business Bureau’s site, but the moving company was not a BBB member and only responded in a limited way to keep complaints at bay.

Rick quickly developed an action plan. First, he had Kay call their new local police department to file a report. A responding detective called the moving company on behalf of his department and that got the ball rolling. Because the goods were shipped across state lines, Rick also contacted a friend who is a Special Agent at the FBI. Because Ted had found the company on the Internet, Rick was advised to file a complaint on the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint website (www.ic3.gov). A quick four days later, a truck arrived with Kay and Ted’s belongings. Although the goods were a bit banged up there was a great relief that irreplaceable items were recovered.

Kay and Ted learned several important lessons; they didn’t do their homework and investigate the company online or look for positive (or negative) references. They never asked the company about past customers, and they accepted the company’s odd story that the rented box truck was only a temporary measure. Lastly, they didn’t ask their son Rick for assistance which could have prevented the anxiety this situation caused. Remember, a deal that seems too good often isn’t good at all.