Here we are in October and it feels more like June, yah it is still hot, but I am speaking from the perspective of a mover. Many members are still operating at full capacity and booked out weeks in advance. After the spring and early summer, we suffered through, most are not complaining.

Saturday morning, checking up on emails, I read a message from a consumer that sounded somewhat time sensitive, so since he included his phone, I gave him a call. When he answered the phone, he heard moving and storage and saw red. Before I could share that the purpose of my call was to try to provide him with helpful suggestions and contacts, he dove into me. I am going to be your worst enemy he stated, I did not take it personally. I definitely have empathy for consumers who feel helpless as they attempt to deal with unethical operators engaged in bait-and-switch operations.

The sad news is, and I cannot restate this enough, consumers frequently make bad choices and we have to work ever harder to ensure that they have the right information to make an educated choice in the selection of a mover. Consumers have come to rely on the electronic marketplace of the internet for their shopping needs. This has been a boon for the buyer of products, everything from computers to dog food can now be compared and purchased on line and delivered quickly and conveniently to your front door, generally at a price that meets or is better than your local retailer. Not so good for the neighborhood store, but the consumer has made their choice and may someday pay a price for that decision.

The reality of moving is that it is a service and not a product. There is no standard service that can easily be relied upon by a casual consumer. Even within the same company, levels of services vary, based upon negotiations between the service provider and the consumer related to needs and expectations. We continue to have concerns about disruptors that regularly attempt to break into the household moving space. To date these “new” models have only done damage to consumers, the regulated industry and the taxpayers of California.

October 2020 - CMSA Communicator