How to Deal With Contractors

Hello Folks:

There are too many contractors who have given the industry a bad rap. I would like to suggest some pointers on how to avoid being taken advantage of.

First deal with a licensed, established contractor. Ask for the persons license number.

Secondly request for the contractor to have his insurance broker fax over to you his general liability, workmens compensation coverage & auto coverage. Do not accept the policy directly from the contractor since disreputable contractors only put down the minimum payment to get a policy in their hands & then not make any further payments.

Thirdly do a background check & check references, especially on expensive jobs. A contractor who has pride in his work will usually have a portfolio of photos of jobs he has completed & even thank you letters from satisfied customers to present to you.

Fourthly use your gut feeling. Does the contractor present a confident attitude that he knows his business? Is he courteous toward you & do you feel comfortable working with him? Never go by price alone. Too many times a fella will lowball a job, work up to the deposit amount & then nail you for additional monies. If you don't pay, he walks. Now you have to find someone else to complete the job who is generally reluctant to do so since he can't guarantee the work that has already been performed.

I have had an experience where a woman needed furniture only to be taken to the dump. This was an easy job to price over the phone. She calls me an hour later & says that another fella stopped by & quoted her $45.00 less. I asked her if she checked his background and she said that she hadn't. Even though she was impressed that I had provided her with full disclosure she decided to go with the other fella. At the end of the day, when I'm already home having dinner with my family, she calls. She stated that after this fella had already loaded he wanted $175.00 more that what he originally quoted. If she didn't pay, he would drop everything in her driveway. Now she wants my advice on what to do. Since everything was already loaded, I advised her to pay the man and consider it as a lesson learned.

When you decide to go with the lowest price then you have no right to complain about shoddy workmanship. Another factor to take into place, is, do you feel safe around this person? My wife is home alone during the day and I'm hesitant to have someone working there when I didn't know something about this person.

I am the owner of Cleanout Service for over 10 years. We cleanout residences & commercial properties. Our specialty is in preparing homes for the marketplace to gain maximum value. To check on my background & read the reviews left by clients that I have helped, please go to my website: www.cleanoutservice.servicemagicpro.com

These people were not paid to write these nice things about me.