When it goes wrong
Where do I complain about a moving company?
The short answer
Start with the carrier in writing. For an interstate move within the United States, complaints go to FMCSA, which maintains a complaint database and requires carriers to participate in a dispute resolution program. For local, intrastate or Canadian moves, the route is your state or provincial consumer protection authority.
The order to work through
- In writing to the carrier, with the documentation, within any contractual deadline.
- The carrier's dispute resolution or arbitration program if one applies.
- The regulator: FMCSA for US interstate household goods, or the state or provincial consumer authority otherwise.
- A chargeback with your card issuer, if you paid by card and the service was not delivered as agreed.
- Small claims court, where the amount is within its limit and the other routes have failed.
What makes a complaint effective
- Dates, amounts and documents rather than adjectives.
- The bill of lading, the inventory, the estimate and the delivery paperwork.
- Photographs with dates.
- A clear statement of what you want: repair, replacement, a refund of a specific charge.
- A record of what you already asked the carrier and what they said.
Leaving a review is not a complaint to anyone with authority, and it does not preserve a deadline. Do both, in that order, and do the formal one first.
Also asked
Does complaining to FMCSA get my money back?
The complaint database is a regulatory and enforcement tool rather than a compensation mechanism, and the record matters — patterns against a carrier are what drive enforcement. Compensation generally comes through the claim, the arbitration program, or a court.
The long version
How to file a claim after a damaged or lost move
Build a clear moving claim with deadlines, inventories, photos, valuation terms, written demands, arbitration, and last-resort options.
Read the guide →General information about moving and about hiring, not advice about your move. Interstate household-goods moving within the United States is federally regulated; local, intrastate and Canadian moving is regulated by each state or province, and the rules differ. The authority for your move is the one to check.