Choices
It's hard to know which direction
to take when you are under the stress of a sudden catastrophe or
the major financial investment of a remodel or addition to
your home.
Where do you turn? Who do you trust?
Unfortunately there's not much of a road map for us. But there
are answers. Let's start with the
basics.
Trust
Trust is
the most important element in chosing who you want to have
doing work for you. The last thing you need to
worry about, is the integrity of a company that you are
depending on for advice, direction, and trusting your property
and money to. No one can afford to waste money, or
be taken advantage of.
We have a standard of
excellence and guaranteed customer satisfaction. We are not
finished with our work until and unless you are happy.
Period. But that's just our
words.
Safety
in numbers
One good indicator of how trustworthy a company is,
is what company that they keep, or in some cases what
companies keep THEM. Who else has already trusted
this company?
As you
are looking at us, realize that we have been scrutinized by some
of the biggest and best companies in the world, and passed
some very strict qualification standards in order to be on their
direct repair programs.
These are in some cases
worldwide companies with massive assets, resources, and
reputations to protect. They have to be able to stand
behind their recommendations to their clients. So they're not
about to recommend anything less than the best to
their clients.
These companies have pre-screened and selected us
to be on their programs. That speaks volumes about the quality
of our company.
This pre-screening includes
things you would never be able to do as an individual, like
conducting background checks of our employees, verifying our
financial stability, digging into our satisfaction rating
with customers, and things you may not even think about, much less
be able to do, like random drug testing, random inspection
of the work performed at any time, including the accuracy
and legitimacy of the estimates we write, and whether or not the
work is performed as listed in our estimate.
So the mere fact
that we are on these programs is the best indicator you could
possibly have of who to trust, and it translates to less
worrying for you.
Not all contractors qualify for
these programs, and predictably, the ones that don't are telling
people scare stories about the programs. Don't
listen to them.
The companies whose direct
repair programs we are on, are reputable, fair, accurate,
and pay the appropriate rates for the area. If a contractor
tells you scare stories, you should be afraid....very afraid....of
that contractor.
We are committed to customer satisfaction
and providing excellent service. Our inclusion on the direct
repair programs speaks volumes about this committment, as we are not
only obligated to the insurance companies to make sure you
are happy, but also to stand behind our work to both you and
them. We offer a two year warranty, double the one year
standard warranty you get with most builders or
remodelers. More safety for
you.
Beware of
game players
"Desperate
times breed desperate measures", and predictably there's
some contractors out there playing games with both insurance
companies and property owners. So before you fall victim to
these people, some words of caution:
It helps to know how the
insurance claim process works, and what you are (and are not) going
to get. First, it's not a good idea to try to "make money" on
a claim, or "save money" on a claim. That's because the
insurance company owes only the cost of repairs and only a
reasonable amount for those repairs, "reasonable" being the
average cost for the work in your area.
Therefore,
trying to submit an estimate to your insurance company
that is higher in cost than what you know you are actually
paying, constitutes insurance fraud, and you can go to jail for
that. So "saving money" by hiring a cheaper contractor, does
not work. The insurance company owes only what it cost you for
the repairs. If it costs you less, they owe you less.
Let's say for example though, that they pay you $10,000, and
don't require you to furnish any receipts, and you can get it done
for $8,500. You still run the risk of them auditing the claim
at a later date, and when you can not prove out your cost of
repairs, you will have to pay back the difference.
Increasingly, insurance companies are watching their money more
carefully, especially in tough times, when they know fraud usually
spikes upward.
But some contractors out there will try to
convince you to play these games. Be
careful.
Other tactics
Others use
more deceptive pricing tactics, not bidding "apples to apples"
with the other bids you are getting, or writing artificially low
estimates by purposely leaving things out of their estimates,
planning to add those items in later once they get the job signed
up, acting as if they accidentally missed something, or "didn't know
you wanted them to do that".
They do this to be lower
than what they hope the insurance adjuster will allow, so
that you'll think you can "save money" on the
claim....maybe enough to cover your deductible. That is
another illegal move that could land you in serious trouble.
Or, in some instances, they know the adjuster will write a tight
claim and that most other contractors will be higher, and therefore
with their lower estimate, you'll feel railroaded into using their
company.
Our itemized estimates can help you
keep everyone on the same page. Ask us for a blank scope, and
then if you're getting multiple bids, you can at least make sure
everyone is bidding the same job.
Still others will stick to
their low price, but cut corners on the work, using cheap materials
or less skilled, less qualified, and possibly risky people to do
their work, in order to still make their profit margins. The
bottom line is that the cheapest is usually that way for
a reason.
What you need to ask
yourself is: "Do I really WANT the low bidder working on my
property?" The uncomfortable feeling you get from that
question is your answer......
Don't Gamble
If you're the property owner or
insurance company, gambling on someone like that means you're likely
going to get a poor quality job, pay more later, or
both.
No
games
We don't write estimates artificially low to romance the
insurance company, or to lure property owners into signing with us,
only to raise the price later. We write accurate and fair
estimates of the work required.
Professionalism
We utilize state-of-the-art equipment and
technologies in our work, both on the jobsite, and in our
offices.
Our estimates are written with XACTIMATE, which is the "gold standard"
of estimating software programs, containing highly accurate
pricing databases of what it costs to get a specific task
accomplished in any given area of the country. The
databases are constantly updated, giving you the most accurate,
unbiased and fair pricing on the
market.
Gone are the days
when a contractor eyeballs the job and writes out a one page
"fix as required" type estimate, guessing at the costs, and then
doubling that for his profit.
Every one of our
estimates is itemized and priced line-by-line, so you always know
exactly what is included, what is supposed to be done in each room
or area, with an accurate price that is neither excessive, or
too
low.
So if you are looking
for a contractor you can trust, one that operates profesionally and
who will stand behind their work, you've come to the right
place.
