No one wants to be ripped off or taken advantage of. Some industries have a bad name think used car sales, real estate agents and unfortunately removalists are now on that list. It’s the perfect storm in Melbourne, Victoria at the moment. As the cost of living becomes higher staff are getting paid larger salaries, business costs are rising and some customers are looking for the lowest hourly rate to move. The issue is the dodgy removalists out there know this and build their offering and advertising to target and rip off desperate people moving.
Based on 20 years of listening to customers horror stories, I will help you today to spot some red flags with moving companies to be aware of.
Quote does not include GST
As most people moving as residential customers, they cannot claim back the GST portion of their move, and it is a real cost as opposed to just cashflow for a business. If you are a residential moving customer and the moving company quotes you ex GST, then you need to think what else are they hiding?
Extra charges for stairs or steps
If the movers are trying to charge you extra for stairs or steps in your home, they are double dipping. The stairs will already make the move take longer and thus increase your bill, so don’t get caught in the “stairway to upsell” trick.
Extra charges for a larger truck
Some movers will start off with what seems to a cheap rate and then size your job and recommend you upgrade your truck size for a higher hourly rate. The truck size you need for your job should be based on what is the largest truck that fit all your items and move you in a single trip.
As they say the house always wins, if you don’t upgrade your truck size then it takes longer to load and may require multiple trips costing you more and if you do upgrade your truck size, you move costs more per hour. The only exception is you have bad access and require a smaller truck to be able to park close to the load and unload points, then overall the job would be cheaper with a smaller truck as apposed to a larger truck.
Hourly rates are lower than 179 per hour
The cost of staff, rent, fuel, maintenance is larger than you might imagine when running a removals business, and the company needs to be able to make a profit and still pay GST and TAX.
A rate of $179 to $220 in 2026 is a fair hourly rate, depending on the experience of their staff and their rating on review platforms. If you have a business charging under this rate including GST then be aware that there are probably going to be many hidden costs and the men are going to slow right down to maximise the job cost.
No transparency or breakdown of one-off costs
Most professional movers charge one off cost to cover the cost of getting to the job, returning from the job and fuel used on the entire move.
These costs should be fixed, some movers will say a one-off fee back to depo, where is their depo, what happens if there is traffic, what happens if the driver needs to stop on the way?
Fixed costs should apply. A fixed cost to get to you pick up address. This is called a call out fee and is usually under $35, it covers the driver and offsiders pay to travel to your pickup up, as you can see $35 does not cover much time for two people.
A fixed cost to cover fuel on the job, again this should be under $35 and is called a fuel levy, it will cover the fuel used to travel to your pickup, between your pickup and delivery back from your delivery to their destination.
Lastly the return to base fee, this should also be under $35 and covers the drivers and offsiders pay to get back to their destination.
All up, most professional movers would charge $100 for these three fees including GST. As mentioned, they would be a fixed cost, shown to you upfront and not a time based unknown or undisclosed amount added to the bill at the end.
Accurate estimates
A professional moving company would offer to send you a quote showing their rates and an estimate showing how long they think your job would take. If they have been around long enough with a great rating, then they should be able to give you a realistic estimate based on decades of experience and thousands of moves.
If they shy away from written communication, or stall when you ask for job times, rates and total job costs then its time to look elsewhere.
Booking Deposit
When you book a mover, they should request, a security deposit. The deposit would come off your total bill. Moving companies that don’t request a security deposit are keeping their options open and not reserving the truck and men for your move. These are the companies that call you with the excuse that the truck broke down just don’t show up because they found a bigger job later in the week. Like any good relationship, if you’re not committed to them, they are not committed to you.
Another thing to note is flexibility to change the date and time, are you ok with them changing the date and time of your move and can you change the date and time of your move? Professional long-standing movers won’t allow changes and won’t change the booking on you, they expect a fair and equal relationship.
Confirmation in writing
Once you are booking in, the company should send you an email with your booking confirmation, with all the details discussed such as rates, date, time and addresses. They should also provide a copy of their insurance terms and conditions if they have not already done so.
Insurance
When requesting a quote, they should email you the quote, along with the terms and conditions of their insurance. When the job completes, they should get you to sign off the insurance document for OH&S and even is there is no claim.
Payment
The remining balance is processed on completion of your move. If you pay cash, card, PAYid or any method, you should always get a receipt including GST. This makes sure that the men are covered in case of injury and your furniture is covered in case of accidental damage. If they want to add 10% GST because you don’t have cash, run a mile. GST is always applicable so you can have a receipt and so the men are covered if they discover an injury after the fact.
Reviews
Go look at their reviews and sort by negative, no negatives are impossible but a few negatives are expected if their moving company has been around long enough. Ask them how they dealt with the situation and see how long ago the last negative review was and are they all about the same thing? A 4.4 rating is verry different to a 4.8 or 4.9 rating, so if their rates are lower then maybe this is why?
Lowest price and expectation
If your house is being smashed down as a knock down and rebuild and you just need someone to take everything to the tip, then don’t worry, choose the lowest rate and the lowest rating but be aware they could still be slow and draw out the process costing you more.
If you want your furniture to arrive in the same condition it entered the truck then choose a reputable company, with great reviews with great transparency.
Whoever you choose to focus on the overall cost of the job, not just the hourly rate!
Goodluck, as an industry insider I can now spot the dodgy red flag removals our there instantly and now, hopefully you can too!