Rockefeller assists government efforts to crack down on scams by online moving companies

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) this week encouraged the Obama administration to use the results of his committee's work to aggressively prosecute companies that he says over-charge people and hide the true costs of moving services.

Rockefeller's committee last month completed a study on "Internet moving brokers," which sell services to people moving across state lines. That report said these brokers often charge an "exorbitant markup" to complete the move, often after the carrier doing the work has already picked up the consumer's furniture and other personal items.

"[T]he companies failed to disclose that they were moving brokers and that they would not be performing the actual moves," Rockefeller wrote in his letter to Attorney General Eric Holder. Other letters were sent to the Department of Transportation Inspector General, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Rockefeller said these brokers usually collected their own fees that were separate from those charged by the actual moving companies.

"On moving day, these consumers were surprised when a different moving company showed up to conduct the move and demanded additional fees, which were often thousands of dollars more than the amount quoted in the so-called 'binding' estimates previously provided by the Internet moving brokers," he wrote. "When consumers refused to pay these exorbitant charges, movers frequently held consumers' goods hostage."

Rockefeller said he hoped his committee report would help the government learn more about the brokers' questionable practices, and said he hoped the report helps their effort to "protect American consumers and hold companies accountable."

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