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• By NJ Great Movers
• In How To

How to Spot Real vs. Fake NJ Moving Reviews

When planning a move, you’ll probably do some research on the professional moving companies before you hire them. After all, you don’t want to get stuck with unlicensed or uninsured movers. Or, worse, a scam. For many people, reading online reviews can help them decide whether to choose one company over another. Even a few bad reviews can turn people away from an otherwise great company. The problem is that while online reviews are useful, they should always be taken with a grain of salt. After all, you can’t verify the legitimacy of said review. A NJ moving company with nothing but glowing reviews might not always be the best one for you and, in some cases, these reviews might not even be real!

That doesn’t mean reading reviews is a waste of time. Instead, you need to critically evaluate the comments in order to distinguish real reviews from the fake ones. Once you understand what to look for and how to evaluate these comments properly, you can apply this knowledge to other areas like when you’re researching a large purchase like a car, computer, or home!

Why Online Reviews

Before we get into how to evaluate customer comments, it’s important to understand the power and influence of online reviews. Since its introduction, they have been a way for people to figure out whether the service or product they are considering is right for them and if there are any deal breaker issues. In the past, reviews were relegated to the domain of subject matter experts, but the popularization of online shopping has allowed everyone to share their experience. And since these comments are from normal people, many trust them more than reviews from experts who might have received some kickbacks or payment leading to them being less trustworthy. In a way, it’s a different form of word-of-mouth recommendation.

It’s no surprise then that around 84 percent of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations and that an overall positive online review makes folks trust a business more. Naturally, with something as important as moving, people will always veer towards companies that have positive comments since they want to make sure the people they hire are professional and won’t break their belongings! 

Why Businesses Create Fake Reviews

Considering how much of an impact reviews can make on customer decisions, it’s no surprise that some companies will drum up fake reviews. There are usually two reasons companies craft these comments:

1. To boost their ratings so they can look more reliable and attract customers
2. To leave negative reviews on their competitor’s page to damage their reputation

While some movers will create a fake account and post reviews that way, others will hire people to leave reviews for them so it looks more natural. Ultimately, the impact of fake reviews has a huge impact on both the customers and businesses. For the customer, fake reviews can lead to confusion and poor choices. They might think they are hiring reputable NJ movers, but instead they end up hiring either a bad company or get scammed.

For actual moving companies, especially those targeted with negative comments, the consequences can lead to loss of revenue and damage to reputation. Depending on the platform, they might be able to remove these fake reviews, but in many cases it can take days or even weeks to get it removed. In the meantime, hundreds of customers will avoid them because of these fake negative reviews. This can have an especially big impact on smaller local movers. 

But what about the companies that get fake positive reviews? They might see an uptick in customers in the short-term, but customers will quickly find out the truth once they hire them. Depending on how bad the movers were, they could face legal repercussions.

How to Spot Fake Reviews

With so much competition in the NJ moving scene, many companies will utilize fake reviews to hopefully catch your attention. So how can you spot fake reviews? It can be difficult, but once you develop an eye for it, you should be able to root them out on almost every site.

• Overly positive language – if a review sounds like an ad for the company, chances are it was written by the movers or someone they hired. Look for phrases like perfect experience or flawless service as these often lack authenticity.
• Generic – while not everyone wants to write paragraphs about their moving experience, many will at least explain some parts of their move like where they moved to, if the movers went up flights of stairs, etc. If the review has zero details, you might want to take it with a grain of salt.
• Timing of reviews – Yes, lots of people move on the 1st of the month, especially if you live in a place with a lot of renters. But not everyone writes reviews at the same time. If you notice multiple reviews posted on the same day that read similarly, chances are they are fake.
• Low pricing – if a reviewer specifically mentions an exceptionally low price, beware. Most professional movers are priced similarly with maybe a $10-30 difference. If something is $50 or more cheaper, it’s probably a scam or there are a lot of hidden fees.
• Comparisons – reviews claiming that one company is a lot cheaper or better than another without any clear reasons are suspicious. 

Analyzing Reviews

Not all reviews are super obvious. Sometimes you’ll need to take a little more time to determine whether it is real or not. The biggest indicator of a genuine review is that they often provide a story or personal experience. Many times they will name the movers or an aspect of the move that stood out to them. These are very rare in fake reviews! Another good tell is if the reviews portray the company in a consistent manner. Don’t mistake consistency of service with consistency of the actual words in the review. If you see a lot of comments that use the same phrase or wording, they’re probably fake!

Finally, if you’re unsure about a review, many sites allow you to click on the name to see their posting habits. A new profile with minimal activity or only activity on specific services or products could potentially be a red flag. If they user has made several posts, check them out and look for things like overuse of marketing jargon words, the same exact words used across multiple reviews, and strange posting patterns.

How to Find Reliable Reviews

It’s hard finding quality online reviews, but there are a few places to look. Google Reviews allows users to provide an array of customer feedback on a variety of services. On the other hand, Yelp allows users to provide detailed reviews and to filter these by location and service quality. Both sites utilize algorithms to detect and remove fraudulent reviews, although they can’t always catch all of them.

There is also the Better Business Bureau, which lists accredited moving companies in addition to complaints, resolutions, and a general overview of the company’s performance over time. All companies listed on the site have to go through a strict process in order to be listed.

Finally, professional movers must all register with the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), which requires them to provide proof of insurance, incorporation, etc. Once they receive all of this, the movers will receive a USDOT number which customers can look up to ensure all of the information is up-to-date and if there are any complaints.

Hire Reliable NJ Movers

Finding a good moving company takes time, which is why you should start looking for one at least a month before your move date. You want to take your time doing your research so you don’t accidentally fall for scam. If you’re in the market for a NJ moving company, give NJ Great Movers a call. We are licensed and insured and have been in business long enough to rack up hundreds of positive reviews. Reach out to us and we’ll work with you to make your next move seamless.

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