Many home improvement and remodeling companies use questionable tactics to convince you that you are getting a great deal on your project. Don’t be FOOLED by the false promises, slick sales pitches, and pretend promotions offered by other contractors. Let’s take a look at some of these claims and see how they pass the truth test
–“60% OFF LABOR” Seriously, would YOU work for 60% less? Of course not, and neither will the workers of this company. The company is either starting off with an inflated price just to apply a pretend discount, or charging extra for materials to make up the difference.
Free installation isn’t really free!
–“FREE INSTALLATION or $29 installation for your entire home” This one is very common with floorcoverings and kitchen countertops. Really, a 3-man crew will work for 2 days for $29? They must be extremely skilled! It’s important here to look at the overall bottom line cost for the project. It’s very common for these sellers to inflate the material cost significantly in order to hide the installation cost, or to charge exorbitant amounts for tearout and disposal to cover the installation cost.
-A “$500 discount for placing an advertising sign in your yard”. Most contractors are going to put a sign in your yard anyway, and not charge you for the privilege. A company who employs this tactic is falsely inflating the cost just to apply the discount.
Is your discount really a discount, or just mind games?
-A discount for paying the entire contract up front. Read your contract very carefully, and then have your attorney read it very carefully. You’ve probably heard horror stories of contractors taking a down payment and then you never hear from them again. While this tactic isn’t automatically a red flag, do proceed with caution.
-A discount for allowing before and after photos to be taken of the project. Again, every contractor is going to take photos. This tactic again means that they are inflating the initial cost just to provide the pretend discount.
If the price is too good to be true, then it probably is!
-A ridiculously low price with very few details of what is and what is not included. This usually results in a lot of change orders for the items that were not included. Read your contract carefully and have your attorney read it too. How specific is the scope of work? Does it just say “finish basement $20,000” or does it include a line-by-line scope of work specifying exactly what will be done and what materials will be used? Sadly we hear many stories of clients accepting vague terms, only to be slammed with change orders after the job begins for items that were not included, resulting in significant additional costs.
The list can go on forever, but you get the idea. At Allrounder Remodeling, we promise to be upfront and honest at all times. No high-pressure sales people work here. Instead, you meet with our company owners who listen to what YOU want and provide a proposal that is fair for the level of service that we provide. The gentleman in this photo was pretty excited to find a low price on his tattoo, and it seems that he’s getting his money’s worth! As we like to say, “the bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of a low price has been forgotten!”
There is always somebody who will do the job for less money!