Badges Properties LLC Fix-It Brothers

Don’t Get Scammed

This article is in a on going series under “Save Money On Your House”  on my site “Houses To Go”.   I will jump right in here,  I was having a conversation with one of my clients, when she asked if we were bonded or not?   People see this in the telephone book all the time in ads.  These ads are just another advertising tactic by usually large contractors with big advertising budgets.   You don’t have to be bonded to show you are a quality and honest company.  Now,  I am sure all the companies selling these bond / insurance policies will have something different to say.  Many years back when people would give full payment down for materials and labor, back in the day where there were more honest then dishonest contractors a few would run off with their customers money.  These people then had to track these companies and sue to get any money back and have them arrested.  The advent of a company being bonded for construction work was invented to give the consumer piece of mind and put more money into a bonds companies pockets for premiums.  Let’s be honest,  who do you really think is paying the premium on the bond, that’s right you.

The bonds cover things like bond for work completion,  in other words your contractor runs off half way through the job.  Again, many years back people paid in full then lost that money and then had to hire someone else.  Now days  most people only put 25-33% down and then more as the work is completed.  Hence you can see no reason if you do it this way to have someone who is bonded.   You never gave them your money so you still have it!  You would still have to find another contractor to finish your work anyway.  The bond company gives you the remaining money to complete the work, they don’t find you another contractor who won’t scam you.   So,  you can see how some one saying they are bonded is just a “warm fuzzy advertising tactic now days”  the only ones who still demand being bonded is government contracts and that everyone can see makes all the difference when we are paying $500 dollars from a shady contractor, for one toilet seat.  Well,  being bonded really made all the difference here,  NOT!

Now, the next type of bonding is for performance.  example,  shady window contractor sells you services to reduce your old window drafts,  shows up with a caulk gun and a tube of caulk and charges $15,000 and tells you that you have new windows now.   The bond is then paid out to have you find a real contractor and have real windows put in.  Here again,  only put down 33%  and then only pay at the end if you got the real replacement windows you thought installed.  Here again,  no reason to be bonded,  just use common sense.   You need to take the time to look into who you are using for your home improvement work.  I have seen people ask,  are you bonded and insured?  Reply by shady contractor is not going to be “why no, I am here to just take your money and run”.  They are going to say yes,  problem here is most people just say “ok” and never look into anyway.  The ads in the phone book can say anything the person wants it to say,  they can say their bonded and insured for 400 hundred billion dollars,  if no one checks it don’t make a difference.  Hence, it is more of a advertising tool then anything else.  

People need to use contractors that they have heard of through others and see their work.   I had a person once even say “I am going with you, because I was standing in your work”.  This person used a bathroom at a friends house that we had remodeled for them.  She was going with us because she talked too and had seen our completed work which was of the highest quality, we did not tell her this, she saw it with her own eyes.  The large contractors out there always have in their ads that they are bonded,  you see when they bid on government work,  remember they have to be anyway.   The smaller high quality contractors have their prices set so low already buying bond would cost them more money then what it is worth.  Remember,  the big contractor sales people don’t tell you that you are paying for their high priced bonding and insurance, fancy ads on TV, radio and news paper.  Think about who is here?  That’s right you again. 

People just need to use their heads when picking people to do work on their homes.  The guy with the big fancy ads and trucks is not always the best.  People just don’t seem to get this one at all.  No,  I am not saying the guy in the 1975 rust bucket truck is the answer either.  Many large contractors spend thousands and some even millions on advertising in a effort to win people over.  Remember,  the bigger they are,  the larger crews they need.  You may ask yourself so?   Big crews normally equals high turn over and unknown back grounds on many of their employees.  Remember people,  your never going to see their work crew until they are working on your house.   In the home improvement arena many people are not Harvard and Yale graduates here, your lucky if the work crew even went to college at all.   I have heard of roofing and other crew jobs especially landscaping companies using all illegal crews and you don’t want to know where they find these people and their back grounds.  I have even had our customers say that they were afraid to let some of these contractor crews in their house.   So,  bigger is definitely not always better in this case.   You have areas where you need to be more careful then others.  I have seen many roofing guys call themselves a roofing contractor because they have a truck and roofing gun.  These guys even scare me.  The higher end trades, plumbers, electricians, home inspectors all have to be certified or hold a license.  When these guys try to scam someone they know their credential’s and living is on the line.  Again, remember anyone can say they are certified, if you think they are not, just go on line, state sites list people who have been state certified or may be decertified.   

There currently are not any certification or licenses for home improvement/handy man companies in many areas.  Show me the last certified or licensed painter or landscape company you have seen or used.  There are people out there that are over kill and end up paying way more for services,  example, the person who wants a bonded, insured, licensed, certified electrician to come in an change a light bulb or light switch in their house.  Sure, the electrician will provide theses services  at $65-$150 per hour with a automatic trip minimum most of the time equal to one hour of time.  The old saying a fool and his money are soon parted.  Now, if you are replacing or updating your electrical services to 100 or 200 amp service,  yeah,  you should be looking for a good electrical contractor.   There is a time and place for everything.

I have for many years provided and performed many repairs and improvements so yes, I understand not all people know a wrench from skill saw.  Hence, why I also get hired just to consult for people and let them know what they need done.  I save people thousands this way, they already know what they need before the contractors line up ten deep at their door steps.  I also keep a small secured network of trusted individuals that have provided high quality work for reasonable prices.  When I look for contractors, I first ask around my network of trades people I use.  Now,  it’s my business to have this network of people at my disposal, but you also can check around by asking friends and family.  Also, remember these so called screening companies you see online all the time,  the contractors they use have to pay them to get them to use them.  Sure sounds like a conflict of interest to me.  Now, free sites or forums run just to help out, thats different.  You have to be careful that someone on the forum is not just a shady contractor posing as a home owner.  You still  have to use common sense.  I would not use those screening companies just has to be a conflict of interest,  if a contractor pays money to the screening company to get customers,  come on people, that should be red flags to all.  A small contractor or consultant on the other hand will only use the best people as their business depends on it,  not a paid subscriber based fees by thousands of contractors.   

Well, it’s hard to write these articles, because I never know if people have followed the series of articles.  So, I have to repeat information to ensure that people still get the message.   As I have stated before, my sites are free, so you get information that in-person people have had to pay for, obviously their information is more detailed to their exact needs.  These articles have to cover a large general area. 

Have a home question, just ask.

Remember Safety first.