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Online competitors move in on shippers
A renter packs his things into a UHaul.
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TEXT OF STORY
KAI RYSSDAL: Moving can be a nightmare. The packing and unpacking. The changing of addresses. All of it just adds up to one big, fat bad experience. So nobody does it unless they have to. Throw in falling house prices and a still-weak job market and more people are simply staying put. That means moving companies have fewer customers nowadays. But it is not just the recession that's causing headaches for traditional movers.
Lenora Chu reports.
Lenora Chu: When Jerry Eldred had to relocate from New Hampshire to Texas, his new employer gave him a shoestring budget for the move.
Jerry Eldred: I definitely could not do one of the Cadillac moves, Mayflower, those kinds of companies.
The quotes he got from full-service movers came in at seven grand and up. So he hopped on uShip.com. That's the online site where movers bid for your business. Eldred listed the contents of his three-bedroom house and stated his price.
Eldred: So I put my lowball figure on there, the lowest I figured somebody might possibly be willing to take.
The bids started coming in. Eldred read the online reviews of companies who submitted quotes and eventually chose a local trucker. Eldred says he was nervous at first about trusting his belongings to someone he found on the Internet. But he met with the trucker first before signing on the dotted line. The final price? A touch over three grand. And his stuff arrived safe and sound.
Eldred: So for a lot less money I got a lot
faster delivery. That was kind of the amazing thing to me.
And it's been amazing for uShip.com. The company's revenues have doubled over the last year. That's despite Census data that shows fewer Americans moved in 2008 than at any time since 1962.
uShip CEO Matt Chasen.
Matt Chasen: So I think people are just changing their behavior and going to places like uShip where they can try to get better pricing and more competitive quotes.
Enter the new landscape for the moving industry, where buyers and sellers connect on the Internet. Steve Weitekamp is president of the California Moving and Storage Association.
Steve Weitekamp: Ten years ago the average consumer went to the Yellow Pages, opened up the section that said "Movers," and the traditional movers had the large ads. Now most people go onto the Internet, they type in movers and they get all kinds of options.
Traditional movers are having to get creative to find new customers and inspire loyalty. Especially when plummeting house prices mean people are staying put.
In Santa Monica, Anne Burkley is watching movers roll a BBQ grill into her new home. Her mover, Ram Katalan, is supervising a half-dozen workers on the job. He says his full-service company, Northstar Moving, has seen year-over-year growth screech to a halt.
Ram Katalan: These days we're about a 12 to 14 percent decrease from previous year.
So Katalan is going the extra mile on branding and service. He's greening up his moving trucks with biodiesel, slashing prices when customers ask for recycled boxes and putting pets in a luxury daycare free of charge during a move.
Katalan: We understand that being a moving company is not just about moving boxes from one place to another. It's about making sure we address all of our clients' needs.
Katalan's not worried about the online competition, he says, because he has loyal customers like Anne Burkley. Burkley has hired Northstar before, and she says she'd do it again.
Anne Burkley: Putting everything you own in the hands of some company that you don't really know is sort of, for me, uncomfortable.
Burkley says moving is too personal to trust to the Internet.
In Los Angeles, I'm Lenora Chu for Marketplace.
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I'M MORE CONFUSED NOW THAN EVER.
What is the real truth behind USHIP?
The more I read, the more concerned I become about that site. What kind of wool is really being pulled here?
In response to this article and related comments, Mr Chasen Founder and CEO of Uship.Com, stated within his response on 08/17/2009, the following:
QUOTE: we do perform identity verification and fraud detection as well as provide you with tools that make your required due diligence as easy as possible.
But yet in their User Agreement they state the following: http://www.uship.com/user_agreement.aspx
1. uShip is a Neutral Venue. uShip is not a Transportation Service Provider (TSP), freight forwarder or broker.
Furthermore, due to the difficulty of individual authentication, especially on the Internet, we cannot and will not in any manner verify or confirm the identity or ability of members to pay for the provided services
In his response his states that Uship performs identity verification, but in their User Agreement they claim that individual authentication is so difficult that they don't even bother?
Is he saying that it's easy enough to perform identity verification on carriers so they do that. But it's to difficult to perform on the consumers (Shippers)?
I'm confused. How can they do one group of people but not the other?
I'm equally confused as to why Uship doesn't take action against the carriers that are in violation of Uship's User Agreement.
If you take the results that I came up with after reviewing only the 1st 10 carriers of Uship's top U.S. household movers by uShip Sales Rank and it's without question that 7 out of the top 10 carriers don't have Motor Carrier authority according to the Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA) database.
Find the Carriers at: http://directory.uship.com/householdmovers/nationwide/.
Then review the User Agreement at: http://www.uship.com/user_agreement.aspx
Extracts of the User Agreement
2. Membership.
Our services are available only to individuals who can form legally binding contracts under applicable law.
16. Transportation. You must legally be able to transport the shipments you bid on.
18. Information You Submit You further represent and warrant that any and all of your online communication, content and/or information:
Will not violate any federal or state law, regulation, rule, or statute;
Will not violate the terms of this Agreement;
So what kind of song and dance is being done here?
I personally could write a book on all the things that are in question and/or indisputably outright wrong concerning Uship's site rules and deceptive practices. But I'm only going to mention one of the dozens by complimenting my previous post concerning operating authority (MC and DOT#'s).
The Federal Trade Commission states:
Vague labels like "Terms and Conditions" are not enough to direct consumers to important restrictions or qualifications.
In addition, information that is significant to the advertised offer should not be buried at the end of a long web page that requires consumers to scroll past unrelated information.
Consumers should not have to wander through an electronic maze to discover important conditions or limitations of an offer.
But yet Uship has this entry at the bottom of the page of a carrier's profile when the information to be verified "Company Snapshot" block is at the top.
* Profile information provided by member. Please verify all credentials.
Additionally, it's very light in color compared to everything else on the page?
Just another of the dozens of examples that portray the real story.
Extremely good guidance can be found on the Federal Trade Commission's web site.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/resources/guidance/adv.shtm
Care to continue this discussion for the world to see, or is it time to make things right?
Matt I see that you still didnt answer my one question and I would like for you to please go back and read my post and just answer my ONE QUESTION. It isnt that hard to do, or is it that you dont want everyone to know the truth about the so called GUARENTEE that you talked about is nothing more than BS. Hey look I am not here to bust your _SS I am here to offer a solution to the problem you have on your web site that we all know you have but for some reason you just wont face up to it. Which brings me to my next point, can you tell me how long USHIP.COM is going to let this CARRIER take these peoples money and do nothing about it? I have emailed uship about this TSP but as of today 08/27/2009 I see they are still active and bidding on the uship web site and still asking for deposits by either "MONEYGRAM or WESTERN UNION" which us TSP's were told was illegal to do and if we did do it we would be suspended. But here is your #245 carrier as of today still doing it so do you care to explain? Please Matt clean up your site it could be a big money maker for the right type of legal motor carrier. Here is a link to the TSP's USHIP PROFILE. http://www.uship.com/profile/scottgable/
There was a slight error in my previous post on the Story #1 entry.
I wrote:
DOT is inactive and you can’t have an MC# without an active DOT #
What it should have read was :
DOT is inactive and you can’t have an MC# without an active DOT # unless you have Broker authority.
I’m not a member of Uship(suspended or otherwise). But I’m going to shed some indisputable facts on this topic.
FEEDBACK FEEDBACK FEEDBACK
The issue is NOT about FEEDBACK! It’s about the numbers of people using your site to transport in a “For Hire†capacity across state lines without the Federally mandated credentials.
I read where someone wrote that UShip is to the Transportation industry what Craigslist was to Prostitution until the Feds got involved. We’ll keep working on the issue.
Yes, you do provide fields for a Carrier to enter their Department of Transportation (DOT#), "if they even have one". This number is required (in most cases) for conducting transport “For Hire†operations WITHIN state lines (Intrastate). It’s issued totally free from the Government within minutes and is meaningless for interstate transport operations).
Correction: It’s issued within minutes providing that its applied for online.
Yes, you do provide a field for a Carrier to enter their Motor Carrier (MC #), "if they even have one". An MC# is issued at a cost of $300 and is required for crossing state lines while conducting transport “For Hire†operations.
Note: For the most part, this number will remain valid for as long as the carrier maintains their COMMERCIAL financial responsibilities and doesn‘t have any major or repetitive infractions.
These fields are ELECTIVE fields on your site. The absence of these fields is never detected by probably 99.9% of the average consumers (Shippers).
Once again, the DOT# is required in most cases when transporting for hire intrastate (within state lines). The DOT# is NOT the green light for interstate operations (across state lines). The DOT must be accompanied by a MC# to conduct interstate operations.
THE FIELDS SHOULD BE A PART OF YOUR CARRIER’S PROFILE PAGE BY DEFAULT!
It would "incentivize" Carriers (TSP’s as Uship calls them) to become legal transporters. But that would end up being the end of the “UP TO†80% savings. It would also possibly be the end of Uship.
An actual example from Uship pulled off at random:
Company: CAMPBELL CONSTRUCTION CO LLC
DOT Number: 1333331
MC number = NONE
http://www.uship.com/profile/CampbellCo/
This carrier’s profile states interstate transport, they have conducted such transports and yet they don’t have Motor Carrier authority (an MC#)to do so!
They have a DOT number shown on their profile. When clicked upon it does cause a pop-up window to appear from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). But the popup is outright deceptive to those who don’t know, that information is intentionally omitted by the FMCSA because of the fact that an MC# number was never issued and therefore the omitted information does not apply!
Uship is totally aware of the fact that having legal authority imposes an enormous financial overhead on Carriers. Uship on the other hand comes to the table claiming 60-80% savings and the customers eat it up because they have no understanding, nor do they care as to why it‘s so much cheaper than a nationally known trucking company. If you will, “A PROPERLY LICENSED CARRIERâ€
The reason that there so much of a “savings†on Uship, is simply because the Carriers on Uship that transport via pickup trucks and various style trailers are doing so Illegally (without the huge Commercial Liability and Cargo Ins required by Federal Law)!
Additionally, most people have no idea that even something like a pickup truck pulling boats, transporting property via various style trailers are required to follow the same laws as a semi!
The identity verification that you mentioned is simply validating that a valid Credit Card number was used upon a Carrier’s registration. It’s so that you’ll get your money when applicable. It’s a pinging process so to speak.
QUOTE:
While uShip does not and, in fact, cannot legally qualify movers on your behalf, we do perform identity verification and fraud detection as well as provide you with tools that make your required due diligence as easy as possible
The key to this sentence is that you can’t Legally qualify movers "on behalf of the Shipper", but you can uphold ALL parts of your User Agreement! When it is brought to your attention along with the proof that an individual is engaging in transport for hire operations illegally, you should remove that person from your site just like you would for someone advising a shipper to check for a carrier's MC#. By not doing so, you are contributing to this type of activity and not enforcing "all parts" of your own User Agreement.
QUOTE:
uShip utilizes sophisticated systems to protect our users against fraud, and reported fraud on our site is far below moving industry averages. We stand behind our service with our “Ship with Confidence Guarantee†(http://www.uship.com/learnmore/guaranteelearn.aspx), and fraud is so rare that since we launched our Guarantee 2 years ago over $70,000,000 has transacted on our platform and we have had fewer than 5 claims.
Uship's guarantee.
http://www.uship.com/learnmore/guaranteelearn.aspx
What is not covered?
Problems that arise from not following our Fraud Prevention Guidelines.
UShip's Fraud Prevention Guidelines
http://www.uship.com/community/fraud_prevention.aspx
One of the Fraud Prevention guidelines is to:
Verify credentials
Verify the credentials of any service provider you choose to do business with. Federal government sites such as Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Safety and Fitness Electronic Records System (http://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov) may provide you with useful information about your service provider.
So what you’ve said is that you’ve had less than 5 claims by Shippers that have used properly licensed Carriers in the last 2 years?
Now how many Shippers have not followed the steps 100%, have gotten taken, have approached you about the guarantee claim only to be turned away because they had no clue how to identify a properly licensed Carrier?
Ramblings of a small group of disgruntled suspended Carriers? The majority of Stop Illegal Trucking (SIT) members are actually active on Uship for entertainment value only. The rest of them elect not to use Uship even though they have active accounts, or don‘t have accounts on Uship at all.
Most SIT members elect not to use Uship because they can’t compete with all the illegal activity while paying their average $600 monthly COMERCIAL Ins premiums in order to remain legal carriers.
Random sample of Uship stories
Story #1
http://www.uship.com/community/stories/uShip/49110/Great-piano-shipping-...
The carrier’s profile that’s referenced in the story
http://www.uship.com/profile/chimera/
Company: Heartland Movers
Indiana
DOT # 187907 shown on profile
The record matching USDOT Number = 187907 is INACTIVE in the SAFER database.
DOT is inactive and you can’t have an MC# without an active DOT #
Story #2
http://www.uship.com/community/stories/eBay/56213/Fantastic-First-uShip-...
The carrier’s profile that’s referenced in the story
http://www.uship.com/profile/IRRL/
They don’t have an MC# nor DOT# shown on their profile and have NO authority of any kind within the FMCSA’s database.
So what do the stories really reflect?
They reflect that some Shipper was extremely happy with how things worked out and at how cheap it was when compared to the cost of a “Legal Carrierâ€! Funny thing is, they didn‘t even know that they had used an improperly licensed carrier! Not only did they not know, but they have no clue as to the risk that they exposed themselves to.
On the other hand, hundreds of others that have used UShip found out the hard way after it was to late.
Debate with www.StopillegalTrucking.Com on countless times? There’s been no debate of any kind. For there’s no debate warranted. How funny.
Yes, it is true that a quick glance by the FMCSA has determined that that Uship (the site itself) is in compliance with the applicable laws. The issue is NOT nor has it ever been with the Uship site itself, but rather the numbers of folks that post as Carriers and then transport illegally!
It look like Mr Chasen and UShip.Com aren't looking like all that!
This article supports what I said in my previous comments.
Matt as you are well aware my name was dragged into this because I was sent a email from Mickey asking if I made a post on here with the name "DURATRANS" which I DIDNT which is my USHIP NAME. I have been since reading all the back and forth and I have to say it is pretty sad that this has to go on and that the TRUTH CAN NOT BE TOLD, On one side you have a site that makes you big money and that is OK I have no problem with that and then on the other side is a site that is trying to EDUCATE the PUBLIC about ILLEGAL TRUCKERS on the road and for some reason you just dont seem like you want that known and I have to ask one question. WHY? We all know they are out their and they will always be out their so why not try to stop them before they steal or damage someone's property or KILL SOMEONE? Or how about the SEX OFFENDER you have on your SITE as a carrier, do you want me to post his REGISTRY PAGE? It would be a WIN WIN for you MATT stop the illegal truckers on your site because you would not have the posts on all the consumer web sites how USHIP is a scam web site, I know I most likely shouldnt of written this but I wont hide behind the keyboard and told Mickey this in my email to him but I will say this one thing and one thing only and please Matt answer this without all the dancing around the truth OK. Did the USHIP GUARENTEE help all the shippers that got scammed from this CARRIER ON YOUR WEB SITE from this link? NO BS just the TRUTH a YES or NO will DO because we are talking THOUSANDS of DOLLARS HERE and this is just one of HUNDREDS of people I can post about if you want me to. Also Mickey has my email & phone number if you would like to talk to me or better yet, I would even FLY to TX to sit down and talk to you face to face to see if our site can help your site clean up the ILLEGAL TRUCKERS you have on your site but again it would have to be a meeting to rid the ILLEGALS or it isnt worth my time to fly to TX to just say HELLO. Their is so much our site can offer to help USHIP to get the illegals off your site all we would need to do is work together to put a plan together to make it work. Here read these poor peoples storys and tell me if your GUARENTEE helped them. A YES or NO will do http://www.stopillegaltrucking.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=186&t=476
As a an active member on uShip, (#1 piano mover in fact), I will say its been a mixed blessing. On one hand, we have met a lot of grat customers and filled some slots in our routes. On the other hand, the "pickup truck and trailer" movers are a dime a dozen. These people are well intentioned and its extremely simple to become a carrier. Unfortunately, they run about 20 shipments and gain a good reputation, then once the money starts rolling in, its all too easy to overcommit and under deliver without reprocussion from the burned customer. Hoeany of uShips's supposed 150000 carriers are legal, active, and have recent feedback. Being an active legal carrier, it appears to be approximately 300 are legitimate. Unfortunately just like all internet commerce, buyer beware!
As a an active member on uShip, (#1 piano mover in fact), I will say its been a mixed blessing. On one hand, we have met a lot of grat customers and filled some slots in our routes. On the other hand, the "pickup truck and trailer" movers are a dime a dozen. These people are well intentioned and its extremely simple to become a carrier. Unfortunately, they run about 20 shipments and gain a good reputation, then once the money starts rolling in, its all too easy to overcommit and under deliver without reprocussion from the burned customer. Hoeany of uShips's supposed 150000 carriers are legal, active, and have recent feedback. Being an active legal carrier, it appears to be approximately 300 are legitimate. Unfortunately just like all internet commerce, buyer beware!
I read the comments of Mr. Chasen and the detractors of uShip with interest. I have used uShip with great success. And if used the way it was intended it is a fantastic resource. The key is feedback. If you choose a carrier with good feedback and low prices you will rarely go wrong.
What I see in the negative comments are unhappy moving companies that are finding it more difficult to gouge the consumer. Competition is a good thing. And uShip allows consumers to benefit from increased competition amongst the moving companies.
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