A word about Moving Labor

[paxwest]

Hello everyone! I am new to the forum and I hoped to express my condolences to all of you whom have been scammed. The moving industry can be quite difficult at times and I am truly sorry for everyone that has had to experience a scam.

My name is Brandon Scivolette, the CEO of [advertisement removed by administrator] which is a labor only firm based in the DC Metro area. We are an ethical and socially responsible corporation that strives for success at every turn. We have made it our duty to fight scammers as well by reporting fly by night operations.

I personally wanted to note that I have seen a lot of scammers or irreputable moving labor and full service companies on Craigslist. While I do think CL is a great source for finding services I wanted to express my caution.

Best of luck to everyone and to all the Moving Scam moderators and Administrators thank you for your help in cleaning up the moving industry.

[MusicMom]

Brandon, without naming your company, since a sudden post like this sounds like an advertisement, can you tell me first of all, how long have you been in business (The BBB hasn't even got a report on you), your website is less than a year old, and Maryland has you incorporated in June of 2005, not June of 2004 as your site says?

How have you had the time to expand into FL and CA already?

I would also an explanation of your loophole at pretending to be a full-service mover (since you say upfront you originally intended to be a full-service mover, but labor was more profitable). Customer rents a truck with their own insurance and money. They hire someone from your company to be the driver, with his own personal auto insurance (but can't drive the really big trucks, no CDL licenses), then your guys load and unload. How does this NOT make you a commercial driving company? And if the driver gets in an accident on the way home, whose insurance covers it? The customer has signed a contract with the rental company to cover all expenses with their own insurance, so why even say that your drivers are using their own personal insurance? Would you even admit responsiblity on such a thing?

Your rates seem awfully low compared to some others quoted by established movers hiring out their own guys. Do they all have Workman's Comp and benifits? What kind of training do you give your guys?

[paxwest]

Hi MusicMom,

I will attempt to answer all those questions for you. We have been in business since June of 2004 but we did not incorporate until June 2005.

We have been in touch with the BBB and we are working on putting together a report. The BBB contacted us after several clients contacted them wanting more information and we are going to join the BBB so we can be a part of the network.

As for expansion, we served over 500 clients within our first year and we found the vast majority of our clients needed help in Florida when they moved out of state. We have established our own crews for labor in South Florida to better assist our clients.

As for the 'loophole' , Pacific West Moving LLC was originally created for the intent to be a full service express moving going direct east to west. This was primarily to capitalize on the extremely high number of people leaving the state of California. We found the labor industry to be more profitable with less overhead so we stuck with it. We usually do not do the load, unload, and driving as you suggested. Many of our clients either load locally and move long distance, in which case we do not drive or unload. This also works reciprocally as sometimes we unload clients coming in from other states. We do offer drivers for clients who may need an extra driver for whatever reason. So far we have encountered clients with suspended licenses or clients who wish to drive their own vehicle and need one of our guys to drive.

Lastly, we do have Workman's Comp for our guys and we do provide training. Our training consists of a probationary period in which a new employee must work 10 jobs with one of our experienced supervisors. It is our supervisors who teach them how to pack the truck and load and unload with extreme care.

I think it is also important to note that many of our guys are not full time. We began by hiring Marine Corps and law enforcement and we found that our clients really enjoyed these types of people. It is because of this that many of our movers are active service members, police officers, fire fighters, and the like.

I hope I answered all your questions and I would be happy to answer any more you may have.