Is this your first time hiring a garage door professional? While there are plenty of legitimate businesses out there, you need to be able to prevent yourself from falling victim to the opportunists lingering around. A great professional will get everything back in top working condition, and will ensure your garage door’s security lasts. In contrast, a dishonest operation is likely to leave you out of pocket and with more damage than you began with. We don’t want you to go through this hassle, especially when there are ways to ensure you are making a sound decision about a garage door service.
This blog post aims to help with that. We will give you some handy tips that will make the entire hiring process run smoothly.
Before we start on the basics, here are a few things to keep in mind:
Don’t rush on making a decision
Even if your situation warrants immediate attention, it’s highly recommended that you call a couple of businesses before you settle on their services. You need to feel confident about your decision, so try not to do it too hastily if you can help it.
Make sure your repairs professional is locally-based
A business from outside your city will most likely charge you extra for travel. Also, it’s much easier to verify your shortlisted garage door repair services if you know they have customers in the area.
- A note on address: if you can’t find one online, in the yellow pages, or elsewhere – run away. A legitimate business will be transparent about where to find their operations.
Just in case, try to be present at the day of the repairs
While we’d all like to believe that the professional we’ve hired is going to do a good job, it is not too uncommon to hear of cases where people have had to spend more money than they bargained for because of a greedy, dishonest repairs person who caused more damage to their door’s components.
Full upfront payments are a huge red flag
Partial deposits are legitimate requests, but anything more than that is not to be trusted. While we’re on money matters: avoid paying in cash and don’t hire a repairs professional without getting a full cost breakdown of parts, labor, and other repair expenses prior to giving the go-ahead for the job.
Scan websites and ads with scrutiny
A large ad with boastful, unverifiable claims like “We’re the number one repairs service in [Your Area]” should be taken with a grain of salt. Likewise, some websites may list themselves in a location where something completely different exists – so make sure to check all local addresses on Google Maps or simply by traveling to the location.
Now, on to the process of hiring a trustworthy professional:
- Word of mouth can go a long way
A credible repairs business will have a sound reputation behind them. The best way to glean this is to see what others have to say about a company. The first thing you should do is ask friends, family, neighbors, or anyone else you trust whether they have any recommendations. Note down the business names to make your own personal checks with them. Check online reviews, and investigate whether any complaints have been filed against these on your local Better Business Bureau. Make sure to check if the businesses on your list are members of the International Garage Door Association and, if you have this information handy, whether they are certified by the door manufacturers that they work with.
No problems thus far? Great! Let’s proceed to the next step.
- Calling your selected businesses is a must
There is no way to circumvent this step. The way a business answers their phone is enough of an indication of whether or not they should be trusted. Dishonest operations are likely to answer the phone with a generic name like “repairs service”. If this happens and they refuse to give you a full business name, hang up and move on.
If everything’s all clear, then it’s time to start getting all the information you need from your potential technicians.
- Asking the right questions will help you too
You need to be sure you are going to be getting great value from your garage door repairs. The best way to do this is to ask them a number of questions, including
- Getting them to provide a local client reference list
- Asking about product warranties
- Inquiring about the company’s certifications and insurance details – a credible technician will provide these for you without hesitation
- Getting information about how your selected business complies with local building regulations
- Requesting a full price quote – garage door repairs will rarely set you back thousands of dollars
- Similarly, asking about minimum charges for callouts
Bonus tip: Learning about how long your selected businesses have been around and how well their operations are going will not only help you identify if the business carries solid credentials, it will also indicate whether they will be able to uphold their product warranties in the future.
Are you based in East Point, GA? Then consider getting in touch with Complete Garage Door Repair. All of our technicians are locally-based, fully certified and field-tested. During emergencies our operators are available 24/7, and we provide free consultations and price quotes for all customers who request them too. Take the time to discuss some options with us if you need it, and we will go the extra mile to help you out.
No matter where you live, though, we hope that this blog post has made the garage door professional hiring process much simpler to understand. If you’re happy with your chosen business, save their number in case you need to call on their expertise again – and make sure to spread the word of their great job. Like we said, customer feedback helps sustain a great business’s credibility, and it will help others avoid scammers in the long haul.
Aricle source here: Complete Garage Door Repair: How to Find A Good Garage Door Service
