When you hire a mover and they don’t hold up their end of the bargain what legal ground do you have to stand on?
In a follow up to a previous Speaker’s Corner report, we speak with a lawyer who specializes in cases like these and says complaints of suspected moving fraud are on the rise.
Rocco Scocco got in touch after Speakers Corner told you the story of a Whitby woman who hired a mover back in September but is still waiting for her cargo to be delivered. Jolette Samuels reached out to us after several failed attempts to get answers from her mover.
“I don’t know where my stuff is. If I knew where my stuff is, I’d go get it myself. I’d go hire a second moving truck to bring it back here,” she told us.
Scocco, a civil litigation attorney who specializes in fraud cases, saw Samuel’s story.
“I’ve spoken to her, and we hope to investigate,” he told us. “Her story is unusual. I haven’t seen one like this, where a moving company has taken your stuff, refuses to deliver it and won’t tell you why they refuse.”
But lately he’s been seeing more and more clients with other complaints involving different moving companies.
“I’ve seen a lot of it start up again. There was a chilling effect back in 2022 when the Toronto Police shut down a major moving scam company.”
In June of 2022, Toronto Police arrested several individuals who were accused of operating a moving scam. They allege that when customers contacted one of the several moving companies operated by the suspects, they were given low quotes to move their belongings.
After the moving company loaded the customers belongings they were then presented with a contract to sign that contained no final price.
“They give you a rock bottom price, and when they pick up your stuff, they’ll hold it and they’ll charge you whatever amount. I’ve seen increases from 100 per cent to 1,000 per cent,” Scocco said.
Scocco, who has taken on many moving scam cases, says after that bust made headlines complaints decreased.
“I saw the complaints go to almost zero,” he told us. “But today, I’ve seen them come right back up.”
While Scocco applauds Toronto Police for the efforts they made to shut down the companies in June 2022, he says many of his clients struggle to get police departments to investigate cases of suspected moving fraud as often times they are labeled as civil disputes.
“Police keep saying that it’s a civil matter, once the police start actually taking this seriously, then we may actually see the complaints go down again.”
If police won’t take your case, Scocco says you have options. He recommends that you can file a complaint with Ontario Consumer Protection. You can also sue in small claims or the Superior Court of Justice and there are consumer laws to back you up.
“The first major rule is a 10 per cent rule. It means that a company can’t charge you more than 10 per cent of a quote and in every moving scam case, there’s an increase way beyond 10 per cent of the quote,” Scocco said. “Get a lawyer involved as soon as possible, or a paralegal.”
If that’s too costly, there are services available.
“There is a legal clinic based out of Osgoode Hall law school that’s hosted by pro bono students. It’s called the consumer protection legal clinic, and they provide free legal advice to people who are having a moving issue.”
Scocco says the best way to avoid becoming a victim is sourcing out the right mover.
“If they’re giving you a very low price, be extra vigilant,” he said. “Many of my clients go for the lowest price and then end up being charged much more to get back their belongings.”
He says a good source to start searching for a mover is through the Canadian Association of Movers (C.A.M.).
“They can refer you to a trusted mover and those companies have been well vetted,” he said. “C.A.M. can also get involved if something goes wrong.”
If you decide to search out your own mover, make sure they’re taking proper steps during the quote process.
“Your mover should want to come and see the inventory before giving you a quote,” Scocco said. “I would never trust a quote that’s given online just based on a per pound weight without any kind of visual confirmation of what you’re moving.”
As always if you have an issue story or question you’d like us to look into, contact us here.