Worst case
Hostage loads: when movers refuse to give your things back
A "hostage load" is exactly what it sounds like. The truck is loaded, then the price changes: pay thousands more, or the truck drives away with everything you own. It is common enough that the federal complaint database has a dedicated category for it: Hostage Goods.
Know your rights
- With a written binding estimate, the mover must deliver at the agreed price. Demanding more before unloading is illegal.
- With a non-binding estimate, the mover can only require 110% of the estimate at delivery. Anything beyond that is billed later, not held over your furniture.
- Movers who hold goods hostage face federal fines of at least $10,000 per day.
If it happens to you
- Do not pay cash on the spot. Document everything: contract, texts, names, the truck plate.
- Call FMCSA at 1-888-368-7238 and file a complaint at nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov. Hostage complaints trigger real enforcement.
- Call local police for a civil standby; some departments will attend a delivery dispute.
Prevention beats rescue: before you book, open the company report on MoverAudit and look at the Hostage Goods row. Companies that have done it before show it in their record.