ScammedByMovers

What FMCSA can and can't do about your moving complaint

If a mover has overcharged you or is holding your goods, “report it to FMCSA” is good advice — but it is widely misunderstood. People often expect a federal agency to step in, get their belongings back, and recover their money within days. That is not how the process works, and going in with the right expectations will save you a lot of frustration. This is general information, not legal advice.

Where the complaint goes: the NCCDB

Complaints about interstate movers go to FMCSA’s National Consumer Complaint Database (NCCDB). You can file online or by phone:

The database collects complaints against motor carriers, brokers, and movers and feeds them into FMCSA’s decisions about which companies to investigate.

What FMCSA cannot do

This is the part most people are surprised by, so it is worth stating plainly:

When it is bigger than a billing dispute: DOT OIG

For egregious or criminal patterns — coordinated fraud, extortion-style schemes, networks of shell companies — there is another door. The U.S. DOT Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigates household-goods moving fraud and runs a fraud hotline.[2] The OIG is not where a routine overcharge goes; it is where a documented, repeated, deliberate scheme belongs. Its work has supported criminal cases and large enforcement operations against the worst operators in the industry.

A realistic sequence

In practice, the most effective path usually layers steps rather than relying on any one of them: confirm the federal rules even apply to your move with the Coverage Checker (the NCCDB handles interstate movers; a move inside one state goes to that state’s regulator instead); document everything and file with the NCCDB to build the federal record; pursue your own money through the mover, arbitration, or court; and, for clearly criminal conduct, report to DOT OIG. Where each of those fits is laid out in the escalation steps below.

What you can do, step by step

  1. Get all your paperwork in hand

    The written estimate(s), the bill of lading, your contract, and any texts or emails. Every step below needs these. Photograph everything.

  2. Calmly point to the contract and the rule

    Show the mover the estimate and the 100% / 110% release figure, and ask for an itemized bill in writing. Many disputes end here. It won’t force release if the mover refuses.

  3. File an FMCSA hostage complaint — interstate moves only

    File with the National Consumer Complaint Database and upload your estimate and bill of lading. It puts the mover on the federal enforcement radar. It cannot recover your money or act instantly.

    NCCDB: nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov  ·  1-888-368-7238 (1-888-DOT-SAFT).
    How to file, step by step →

  4. File with your state attorney general’s consumer-protection division

    This is the office that can actually investigate — and the only real path for an intrastate (in-state) move.

    Find your state’s office →

  5. File a BBB complaint

    Public pressure and mediation. No legal force, but it creates a record and sometimes moves a mover to settle.

  6. If you paid by credit card: a dispute may be available

    The Fair Credit Billing Act lets a cardholder dispute a billing error in writing — including a charge for services not delivered as agreed — generally within 60 days of the statement. Whether a charge qualifies depends on the facts.

    How a card dispute works →

  7. Local law enforcement or a civil attorney

    For a true refusal to deliver, a police report and a consultation with a civil attorney are the paths to getting goods back or recovering money.

Sources

Every legal claim above links to one of these official sources. Rules change — check the source if you're acting on this.

  1. FMCSA National Consumer Complaint Database (NCCDB)
  2. DOT Office of Inspector General — Household Goods Moving Fraud