In just about a week, consumers all across America are going to be inundated with expensive advertisements and well planned press releases announcing the start of National Moving Month. It's a traditional spring ritual used by reputable members of the full-service moving and storage industry to alert those planning a local or long distance relocation [...]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is celebrating the 15th anniversary of the National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW) for 2013 on March 3-9. NCPW is a coordinated campaign of more than 60 participating federal, state, and local government agencies and business partners that encourages the general pubic to make more informed buying decisions by taking full [...]
The United States Department of Transportation's (DOT) Office of Inspector General (OIG) was established in 1978 to provide the Secretary of Transportation and Congress with independent and objective reviews of the efficiency and effectiveness of DOT operations and programs and to detect and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. The OIG's Office of Investigations is comprised [...]
According to a new ruling published in the Federal Register, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), will issue a civil penalty of $10,000 for each violation to any person, including a motor carrier or broker, that holds a household goods (HHG) shipment hostage beginning on October 18, 2012. Each day the goods are held [...]
How many people purchase, bait, and then deploy skunk traps when they're not being bothered by the stinky predatory scavengers? That was my first reaction when asked if I'd seen the new “Review Verification System” subscription service that was announced by MovingScam.com on October 1, 2012. MovingScam is the popular free “consumer oriented” trash-your-mover venue [...]
On Tuesday, September 25, 2012, Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV) sent letters to three major search engines based in the U.S. – Google, Yahoo, and Bing – alerting them to their how their popular online shopping services are being used by unscrupulous internet brokers and rogue movers to [...]
A New Consumer Protection Problem in the Household Goods Moving IndustryOn Thursday, September 20, 2012, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a public hearing to discuss the growing number of complaints that virtual household goods moving companies and move brokerage services were scamming unsuspecting consumers online. Titled "Taking Consumers for a Ride: Business [...]
If you're one of the thousands of responsible professionals involved in the full service interstate moving industry, you are probably going to want to clear your calendar (and your thoughts) for Thursday, September 20, 2012 at 10:00 AM EDT. That's when the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a public hearing about virtual [...]
Most professionals in the full-service moving industry probably don't spend a lot of time hanging out at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) consumer help website, Protect Your Move.gov – especially during the summer. Perhaps they should! Consumer centric information Last sping – just before the start of the traditional peak moving season – [...]
Normally I'm not a big fan of inforgraphics. With only a few seconds to grab their attention, however, many companies and advertisers are turning to these increasingly popular visual representations to present complex information quickly and clearly to potential customers online. Today many web developers often use these colorful (and sometimes confusing) tools to visually [...]
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