THE HOMEOWNER S GUIDE To Hiring Service Contractors How to Guarantee You Never Suffer by Hiring the Wrong Company
Nobody likes to have a negative eperience with a restoration contractor when they are in need of an emergency repair or have fire, water, or any other sort of damage to their property. However, it is a fact that tens of thousands of homeowners every year file complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and other local business authorities because of negative eperiences they had with a local service contractor. Too many homeowners have suffered needlessly because they did not know what you are about to learn here. THE HOMEOWNER S GUIDE TO HIRING RESTORATION CONTRACTORS How to Guarantee You Never Suffer By Hiring the Wrong Company This guide was put together to help you ensure that you avoid having a negative eperience when hiring a restoration contractor. In this guide, you will learn eactly what to epect from your contractor, what to avoid, and what questions to ask before you hire any company. Finally, you will be provided with a quick checklist that you can use before you make a final decision and hire your restoration contractor for your home or business repairs.
Problems with Restoration Contractors: 1. Problems with money or costs 2. Problems with the quality of work performed. 3. Problems with the actual company employees who came to the house. Problems with money or costs The majority of restoration contractors prepare their order forms with legal jargon that protects them and puts the homeowner at risk. For eample, it s not uncommon for homeowners to pay money upfront (i.e. a down payment) and then never have the job completed or demand for more money to get the job started. If the company is not licensed and insured, likely you ll never get your money back. Furthermore, if you are not completely satisfied with the work that was done, or materials that were installed, you ll probably never get your money back because the company is protected with legal loopholes in the order form that you signed. Some contractors have horrible relationships with insurance carriers due to artificially inflating the scope and cost of repairs. How you avoid this is by hiring a company that been around for decades and has pre eisting relationships in place with a vast majority of the insurance carriers. If your adjuster or agent is unfamiliar with the company you are working with this should raise a red flag. In order to protect yourself from these problems, you must do the following: Never hire a company that requires any payment upfront. Never hire a company that is not licensed, bonded, and insured. Never hire a company with a bad reputation with insurance carriers. Never hire a company who has a long list of fine print on their order forms.
Problems with the quality of work performed. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for a service contractor to say their repairs are completed while leaving you unsatisfied. Usually, the problem is that the necessary restoration is done incorrectly, new equipment and the new materials installed don't live up to epectations, or it simply takes too long to make the restoration. These problems typically come as a result of poor training, a lack of epertise, and the unavailability of materials and labor. To avoid these problems, be sure to ask your contractor the following questions: What type of training do you give your employees? How many years of eperience does your average technician have? Do you have direct accounts with your material suppliers? Training is the most important responsibility of a quality service company. A respectable restoration contractor will usually spend more than $6,000 per technician on epert training that continues on a monthly basis to ensure that their technicians live up to quality standards. Additionally, a lead technician should have at least 5 years of eperience or more before they are allowed to work on your home or business. Finally, it s critical that a company has their own parts warehouse so that they can finish your job as quickly as possible, even if you call in the middle of the night or on a weekend, your restoration company SHOULD be able to start work immediately. NO EXCEPTIONS
Problems with the Actual Employees Who Come to Your House Common complaints in the industry include technicians having bad hygiene, being inappropriately dressed, using profanity while working, leaving a mess in the house, and just plain making the homeowner feel uncomfortable. To avoid these problems, you must only work with a company who does a criminal background check at least once a year. A reputable company will also have a standardized dress code and profanity ban to ensure that a peaceful and respectable environment remains in your home. To avoid these problems, be sure to observe these key elements from your contractor: Fully uniformed and in a fully marked work truck with the logos from the company. Have ecellent hygiene, be easy to communicate with and be very personable during the initial consultation and anytime during the restoration process. Be aware of any mess or trash being left behind. They must leave the site looking cleaner and better than when they arrived.
The Construction and Restoration Divisions of QwikResponse will restore or replace your property, getting you back to normal as quickly as possible, no matter how severe the damage. Our 24 hour 7 day a week emergency response crews are highly trained in the techniques needed to minimize damage and/or secure the property. A job coordinator will keep you up to date regarding the work to be done, will monitor the work, and facilitate a timely completion of all repairs. TOLL FREE & LOS ANGELES 800-655-6622 SANTA BARBARA & VENTURA 805-962-6626 ORANGE COUNTY 562-809-1532 Steve Knight, Owner
CHECKLIST Ask the following Homeowner Protection Questions Before you hire a service contractor to work on your home Does your satisfaction guarantee include a guarantee to give a refund if I m not satisfied with my repair? (answer should be yes) Do you have fine print and legal jargon on your order forms? (answer should be no) How much do you invest the training into each of your key employees? (should be at least $6,000 in training) Do you have your own parts warehouse? (answer should be yes) Do you require payment upfront? (the answer should be no) Do you have a dress code and ban on the use of profanity? (answer should be yes)? How many years of eperience does you average technician have? (should be no less than 3)? Are you fully licensed, bonded and insured? (answer should be yes) Do you pull a permit on every job that requires one? (answer should be yes) QwikResponse Other Companies??