There’s Another Scam In Las Vegas Residents Should Look Out For
Another scam is out there that anyone moving to, from, or within Las Vegas should know about.
The scam involves moving companies. Those that essentially keep your belongings ransom until you pay a price higher than what was agreed upon. This is what happened recently to a new Nevada resident, Michelle Burton. She recently got a job here in Las Vegas and relocated from Colorado, newslv.com reported. Burton says the company she used to move kept increasing their prices, even as they were moving her stuff.
Burton paid the moving company it’s first installment at the time of their pickup of her stuff. Then she paid again at the time of delivery. That meant she had to come up with an additional $7,000 within a 24-hour period. Altogether her total was about $12,000 (news3lv.com), even though Burton got an estimate that was about half of that.
But she didn’t feel like she had a choice but to come up with the extra money, since the moving company had all of her personal belongings. And to make matters worse, the moving company employees broke some of her belongings, and others she just never got back at all.
But these kinds of moving scams are apparently not rare in Sin City.
News3lv.com reported that the Better Business Bureau in Southern Nevada gets a lot of complaints about our local moving companies. Mostly about exactly what Burton dealt with: items that were damaged or even lost. Other issues involve items being delivered, but not as soon as promised. This leaves new residents without their belongings when they might be needing them to start a new job or for other time-sensitive situations.
If you are planning on moving soon, the first thing you should do, even before hiring a moving company, is check out the Federal Carrier Motor Safety Administration website. There is where you can get educated on what moving companies are allowed to do. And if you ever do find yourself in a situation like Burton‘s, report it to the Better Business Bureau for an investigation.
Michelle Burton did not name the company that she used in her move.
– Wendy Rush
Looks Like We Haven't Seen The End Of People Moving To Las Vegas
For Las Vegas locals, it’s hard to imagine even more people moving into our city than what we have currently seen. With concerns like water shortages, increased crime, and roads not wide enough to handle the crowds, many locals are saying “enough already”. Our city seems to be growing at a rate faster than our infrastructure can keep up with. The last thing it seems we need is even more people moving in, at least before we can expand our resources.
But more people moving to Las Vegas appears to be the reality of the situation.
Penske Truck Rental, known for its fleet of moving trucks and vans, released its Top 10 list this week. The list reveals the cities that received the most inbound one-way moving truck rentals in 2022. For the second year in a row, Las Vegas has been in the top 3 on that list. Along with Houston, which also kept its top spot.
Penske’s list also mentioned the potential reasons why people might be relocating to place like Las Vegas and Houston. One major reason is that people are looking for warmer climates to live in. Which seems surprising, since we’re always hearing about global warming and how things are inevitably going to get warmer everywhere.
Another reason could be the sudden growth of sports venues we are getting in Las Vegas. We got our professional hockey team, the Vegas Golden Knights, in 2017. Then the Las Vegas Raiders moved in in 2020. Now we just got the confirmation that we’re acquiring the Oakland A’s.
And of course, the lack of a state tax is desirable for many people. In spite of the fact that we are a hair above average in cost of living, not having to shell out an extra tax every April is very appealing, especially for those in the higher tax brackets.
The thing that’s got most locals on edge though, is that moving to Las Vegas might be a trend. Since our city kept its top spot on the list for two years in a row, it’s possible it’s going to stay there and even more people will be coming this year. Time will tell.
You can see from this list where Las Vegas lands compared to the other states in the top 10, and what might be drawing people to each city. – Wendy Rush
Wendy Rush is the midday host on one of Vegas's top stations, 96.3 KKLZ. She has been with the station for ten years and comes with a diverse career background. In addition to being a radio host, Wendy has lived the Vegas life as an entertainer. She has been a celebrity impersonator, rock band singer, and improv comedian. As a content creator for 96.3 KKLZ, Wendy writes about music, celebrities, mental health and wellness, and life as a Las Vegas local.