My husband has been in the heating and air conditioning business for 43 years.
Back in January 2023, we gave a woman a price for a heater and air conditioning system. She has to sell her grandmother’s house to pay for Assisted Living. We did not hear back from her.
She calls today and tells me that she stupidly went with someone else, a friend from high school that would give her a great deal. She gave him $5,000.00 in January and took him to April to deliver heater and water heater and as of today the equipment is still sitting in the basement in the boxes. Still no air conditioner delivered. He has many excuses.
She has called contractors and nobody wants to help her. That’s when she called us. So our sales guy is going out this morning to see how we can help her.
She is in the process of reporting this contractor to the State Licensing Board and Consumer Affairs. She trusted this guy who is supposed to be a friend. Make sure when you hire a contractor look at the BBB, Consumer Affairs for complaints. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Cheaper isn’t always better.
It’s absolutely horrible. People who have lost everything, living in FEMA trailers and are desperate to have a roof over their head again.
They are suffering emotionally from the shock of losing everything and these sleazy people take advantage of the situation.
The Chinese drywall situation was horrible. Houses were already gutted and then had to be gutted again because it’s the only option.
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I am shocked at how many 'handymen' come with nothing more than a tool box and a big ego. We're undergoing some major renovations here and the due diligence has been unbelievable. It's to protect us, and I'm glad, even though it seems to take forever to get something done.
My DH can do most things--but there are some things I will NOT have him do-one is 'scamper up the ladder to the roof' and the other is plumbing. Just too many possible bad things.
We paid a LOT for new windows, but have had zero problems with them.
Going on the 'cheap' is enticing, but can often come with some really bad endings.
The climate of business is rife with unscrupulous contractors. We are GCs and it is sickening how low the bar has become for licensing and quality of workmanship.
Buyer beware!!!! It is how you have to approach any contractor. Get a copy of their bond and insurance certificate that names you as additional insured for the work. This at least gives you 2 avenues to be made whole without having to go to the law. If they can't provide both, DO NOT use them.
If you find yourself in a situation like this, contact the local registrar of contractors, some states have really good laws to protect the customer AND write a review on the BBB website, it helps others to avoid these jerks.
Lisa, well done for trying to help this customer, many companies won't touch situations like this, leaving the customer in a tough situation.
You’re right to say that cheaper is not always better.
It’s sad that people are ripped off by unscrupulous businesses, especially someone who claims to be a friend.
We must do background checks of everyone that we are considering to hire for any job.
I always check before hiring anyone. Good comments and bad comments are posted. Also traffic accidents blocking the roads, lost pets, and weather alerts. Also questionable people in the community, like the guy in a blue truck who drives around and yells at people, accosting them in their yards. Got rid of him by police before he did anything drastic.
It's one of the unforeseen benefits of moving to a retirement community.
I live in South Jersey. Just had a water heater put in, the old one was 20 yrs old. Had to pay big bucks because we weren't up to code. Township inspected the work and Okd it.
Handel on the Law always has these stories of someone getting things done on the cheap, ending in a disaster to the tune of 1,000s.
I am afraid we elders are particularly at risk. In my own city of San Francisco, elders in their homes are sometimes house-rich and cash poor. And it's often difficult to get a "handyman" at ANY price. Last week we had an estimate to look at a light switch of 200.00 an hour.
My partner used to do a lot of things himself; now at 83 ladder phobia's a thing' so that's not happening. This switch, it took TWO "electricians" to mess with? Turned out to be the Lowe's light fixture itself.
The switch was fine. Hee hee.
One expensive fixture now in the tenant's bathroom!
Just a sort of "this-is-why" part to the story about why seniors try to go on the cheap and thereby get themselves in trouble.
Thanks for the warning!