Most packers and movers companies in India operate professionally and with full transparency. Knowing the warning signs of a fraudulent company helps you avoid a costly mistake before the move even begins.
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The company demands full payment before the move begins. Genuine companies take a small advance at the time of booking and collect the balance on delivery once you have confirmed that your goods have arrived safely. If a company asks for the entire amount upfront before a single item is loaded onto the vehicle, that is a reason to walk away immediately.
What to do instead: Pay only a reasonable advance at booking and confirm in writing that the balance is due at delivery before you agree to anything. -
The company gives a price only over the phone with no written quote. A number shared verbally during a call is not a commitment. It can change — and often does — once your goods are already loaded and you are in a position where refusing is difficult.
What to do instead: Always ask for a written, itemised quote before agreeing to any service, and do not proceed without one. -
The company has no physical office address or verifiable registration. A genuine moving company can provide its GST number and business registration details on request without hesitation. A company that cannot or will not provide these details has given you the most important information you need about it.
What to do instead: Check the company name on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website or ask directly for the GST number and verify it before signing anything. -
The final bill is significantly higher than the original quoted price. This is one of the most common forms of moving fraud — a low quote secures your agreement, and additional charges appear on moving day once the goods are loaded and you are under pressure to proceed.
What to do instead: Ask about every possible additional charge before the move begins, not after, and get the full price confirmed in writing. -
The vehicle that arrives belongs to a completely different company. Some operators work purely as brokers — they take your booking and hand your goods to a third party without informing you. This breaks the chain of accountability for your belongings entirely.
What to do instead: Confirm before moving day which company will physically carry your goods and which company owns the vehicle. -
Workers demand extra payment at the destination before unloading. This practice involves refusing to unload the vehicle until the customer pays unannounced additional charges. It is a serious form of fraud and difficult to resolve once your belongings are on the vehicle at the destination.
What to do instead: Get the full and final price confirmed in writing before the move starts so there is no ambiguity at the delivery end. -
No transit insurance is offered or mentioned at any point. A reliable company always offers transit insurance as part of the booking conversation, either included in the base price or as an optional add-on. A company that never raises the topic is either not organised enough to provide it or hoping you will not ask.
What to do instead: Ask about transit insurance directly if it is not raised during the booking process. -
Online reviews are very recent, uniformly five stars, and written in similar language. Genuine reviews are specific, varied in tone, and spread across different time periods. A collection of identical five-star reviews posted within a short window is a pattern associated with fabricated feedback.
What to do instead: Look for detailed and specific reviews across multiple platforms — Google, Justdial, Sulekha — rather than trusting a single source.
A genuine company will welcome questions about pricing, registration, and insurance without hesitation. If a company becomes evasive or reluctant when you ask any of these basic questions, that response itself is the clearest warning sign you will receive during the entire selection process.
