Most people have a healthy suspicion of anyone peddling goods or services door to door. But too many consumers throw caution out the window when it comes to "special deals" on home repair and remodeling.
It works something like this. A contractor shows up on your doorstep saying he's just resurfaced a driveway in the neighborhood. He's noticed your driveway also is in disrepair, but, lucky you, he has leftover asphalt from the other job. It would do both you and him a favor, he points out, if he could get rid of the surplus asphalt by using it to resurface your driveway--at a discount price, if you pay him in cash.
Warning signs are flashing all over the place, unnoticed, because the contractor had you with the word "discount." He sprays some hot oil, not asphalt, on your driveway, making it look like he actually did something. By the time you realize you've been duped, the contractor is long gone, and so is your money.
A legitimate contractor would never make the type of offer just described, says Gregory A. Miedema, president of Dakota Builders, Tucson, Ariz., and a member of the National Association of Home Builders. "That's not the way a professional markets his services," Miedema says. "We don't go up to someone and say, 'Hey buddy. I've got a deal on these two-by-fours.'"
Traveling home repair contractors aren't the only problem. Disreputable contractors may establish a local business and then do shoddy work, pad their fees above what they quoted at the outset, and stiff their suppliers and subcontractors. The latter practice leaves homeowners facing bills for materials and services they thought they'd already paid for. To elude irate customers and creditors, these contractors leave town, or they close up shop and start another company under a new name.
These various rip-offs are nothing new; they've been in the news for years. Still, dishonest contractors keep finding new prey. "People hear about this," notes Tom Joyce, director of public affairs for the Better Business Bureau of Chicago & Northern Illinois, "but they think it won't happen to them."
Insurance covers personal liability, worker's compensation, and so on, to protect the consumer's home policy against any losses incurred by the contractor--for instance, if a worker falls off your roof, or someone backs a truck into your fence. Get the insurer's name and contact information from the contractor. "Have an insurance certificate sent to you directly from the insurance company," Miedema advises. That way you're sure the policy is legitimate and in effect.
Other excellent sources for information about a specific contractor include your area consumer protection agency and Better Business Bureau. There you can find out whether others have filed complaints against the contractor. Keep in mind, though, that complaints can be bogus, just as some contractors are. But it's a bad omen if a contractor has a file of many unresolved complaints.
The national Better Business Bureau maintains files on more than two million businesses and organizations in the U.S. and Canada. You can search online, where you'll also find contact information for your local Better Business Bureau.
Check out a contractor's reputation before you commit to having any work done, Joyce recommends. What's more, always keep in mind that old consumer protection motto. "If a deal sounds like it's too good to be true," Joyce points out, "it probably is."
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