What Moving Company Reviews Don’t Tell You

You’ve narrowed it down to three moving companies. The people on the phone were all polite. Their websites all look about the same. Their ratings all cluster over 4.5. You have the sense that there’s something behind the numbers that will signal which of these companies will give you a better experience than the others… you’re just not sure what to look for.

Well, you’re right. Those numbers are a starting point. The language people use when they leave a review often contains hints that they are genuine, or that they may have been planted or filtered.

What a Star Rating Actually Measures

A star rating is generally a simple average taken from all the ratings left by a company’s customers. But it can get more complex. Some platforms weight recent reviews more heavily than older reviews. Some platforms filter out reviews that raise trust or quality concerns. And different platforms handle disputes differently, sometimes removing reviews when asked and sometimes not.

And quantity matters. Two moving companies with a 4.8 average, one built on fourteen reviews and the other built on two thousand reviews, are not sending the same signal. Fourteen reviews can be shifted by a single bad crew on a single bad day, or padded by a handful of reviews from friends and family posted the week the business opened. Two thousand reviews collected over a decade have absorbed slow seasons, busy seasons, staff turnover, and probably a few legitimately rough moves. The average still held.

While volume is important, recency also matters. A moving company can build a strong reputation over several years, then lose experienced dispatchers, drivers, or crew leads and quietly decline over a period of months. If most of the five-star reviews are three or four years old and the last twelve months look thinner and more mixed, that shift matters more than the aggregate at the top of the page. If the platform allows it, sort by most recent ratings before sorting by highest rated.

Another thing to keep in mind is that star ratings are subjective. What one person thinks is a five-star experience, another might think is a two. Or the reason a person gave a rating might not matter to you. Especially for ratings that seem to be outliers, look for consistent narratives in the comments. If all of the one-star reviews mention the same problem, that might affect your decision.

The Details Inside a Moving Company Review That Tell the Real Story

Generic praise doesn’t tell you much. “Great job, would recommend,” could describe almost any move that didn’t go badly. But if you have make-or-break needs, reviews that offer specifics that speak to those needs are the most valuable. For example, if you need to store your things before you can move into your new place, you’ll want to look for positive reviews that discuss that service.

Aside from any specific needs you might have, look through the reviews for a narrative. If all the good reviews mention showing up on time, taking care with delicate pieces, wrapping mirrors and upholstered furniture, and a final invoice that was close to the original estimate, that’s a good sign.

At the same time, if a slew of negative reviews all cover the same issues similarly, that’s a bad sign! That’s not a company having a bad day or a bad fit with a single employee, but suggests a systemic problem with their processes or management.

Another issue to keep in mind, which you can read in reviews, is how companies handle problems. A review that describes damage that got handled well, with a clear process and a fair resolution, suggests a company with clear processes that understands accidents happen and owns up to its mistakes.

How a company responds publicly to a negative review matters too. Look for a response that names the specific issue, admits what happened, and explains what changed as a result. That suggests a business that treats a bad review as useful information instead of a PR headache to smooth over.

How To Spot Reviews You Can’t Trust

Some patterns suggest when reviews are less than trustworthy, and they’re easy to spot once you know what to look for.

A cluster of extremely favorable reviews posted within a short timeframe, especially from accounts with no profile photo and no other reviews ever posted, suggests bots may have posted the reviews and aren’t organic feedback.

Vague, adjective-heavy praise with zero real details is another tell. Real reviews will give dates, general locations, crew names, and specific services. Fake reviews will use padded language like “great” or “amazing” without saying exactly what was so great.

Looking at a few different platforms can also be revealing. A moving company that looks close to flawless on Google but has mixed reviews on Yelp or with the Better Business Bureau may be managing which customers get asked for a review at all. Texting a Google review link only to customers who reported a good experience on a post-move survey used to be a fairly common practice, and is still done today.

In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission published rules on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials. Review gating (filtering out negative reviews), paying for positive reviews, and hiding relationships with reviewers, among other deceptive practices, are banned under the rule. If a company knowingly breaks the rules, they are subject to fines and other civil penalties. But that doesn’t mean fake reviews have disappeared.

The Proof Reviews Never Show

Reviews describe how a move felt. They don’t verify whether a company is legally authorized to move your belongings across state lines in the first place. Interstate movers are required to hold an active U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) number and Motor Carrier (MC) operating authority through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Any company’s USDOT number can be looked up for free through FMCSA’s SAFER system, which shows whether the authority is active, how long it’s been on file, and whether the carrier has an insurance filing on record. Before signing an agreement, taking a few minutes to check that the moving company is legitimate can do more than bring peace of mind.

Another good place to verify a business’s legitimacy is the Better Business Bureau. Its accreditation status and complaint history can help you compare a shortlist of companies.

If you’re managing a relocation for a business or institution, ask for case studies from similar relocations, references from facilities managers or office leads who can describe how a decommissioning or a phased office move actually went, and a track record with specialty work such as lab equipment and healthcare facilities. A company confident in its work hands that over without hesitation.

Check the Track Record for Yourself

Checking ratings, reading the reviews, and looking at verified credentials can all help you make an informed decision. Olympia Moving has earned its reputation helping both residential and commercial clients safely move their possessions and equipment across town and across the country.

Read our reviews to learn the specifics about how our teams operate. You can also contact us for references and case studies, and we can walk you through how we would run your relocation from start to finish.

Our full-service residential program, Move360™ by Olympia, is designed to help your move go as smoothly as possible. We handle packing, storage, installation, junk removal, and post-move support.

For businesses, we offer Scope 360 to help manage larger projects, phased office moves, or a relocation with a hard deadline.