Three for Thursday 07.23.2020

Todays Lesson on how to be a Savvy Consumer!

Today's seven-point lesson on: Finding a community-based, friends and family service provider

Fast - Do they want your money NOW? When your brother or neighbor recommends a provider, it's easy to be tempted to pay them up front. NEVER do it!

Funds - Is the investment required relevant to the promised payoff? If not, it's likely too good to be true. Community service providers can offer somewhat lower prices if they depend solely on word of mouth advertising. Make certain you get a written agreement spelling out specifics, and a guarantee spelling out specific protections.

Found - A person who intends to rip you off will make certain he can't be found after he gets your money. Contractors who "say" they work in your neighborhood don't necessarily mean they really do. Con artist works hard to be convincing, and then not be found. (See authenticate below).

Define - Products, Offers and Prices. It's easy to believe local providers are less expensive, because they can be. They know that too, so its easy for them to inflate prices. This is why you always need to gather at least three estimates!

Ensure - Your deal with an Ethical negotiation, an Equitable contract and an Effective Guarantee. It's easy to do a "handshake" deal with a neighborhood provider. That's a risk for you. Get it in writing and make certain your concern over harming a friendship doesn't get in the way of being treated fairly.

Authenticate - Your deal by requesting References, checking Reviews, and examining government and watchdog reports. Small neighborhood providers often don't have pages on the BBB, or other well-known vetting sites. Smaller platforms such as Nextdoor or church networks can be helpful, but you should make certain those reviews aren't fabricated. Real reviews usually don't follow a similar pattern.

Legitimize your deal by determining if the company has a business license, liability insurance and is Lawsuit and background checked.This is perhaps the riskiest step when hiring a community service provider. If they don't have a business license, it's likely they don't have liability insurance. Yes, this might allow them to offer you a lower price, but my experience proves the pain of discovering your contractor has cut corners or has failed to delver to code is much worse than the upfront thrill of false savings.