When disaster strikes and home repairs are necessary, it's hard to know where to turn. After a tornado, flood or other disaster, it's not uncommon to see contractors inundate your neighborhood, promising the best deals and speediest repair.
Unfortunately, the "discounts" you receive from these contractors often show up elsewhere – whether padded into your invoice to the insurance company or in the lack of quality of the job. Either way, this costs you in the long run.
So what can you do to ensure you work with a trusted damage restoration company? Consider the following suggestions:
- GAUGE THEIR RESPONSIVENESS TO COMMUNICATION
If it takes weeks for a disaster recovery company to get back to you after your initial inquiry, it doesn't bode well for their responsiveness if you hire them.
When it comes to a disaster, you can lose thousands of dollars in hours; how quickly your disaster recovery company responds to you matters. Determine early on whether your disaster recovery company will be responsive to your communications or whether they may not be able to pay you the individualized attention you need.
- ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR DISASTER RECOVERY PROCESS
It's possible that you don't know much about disaster recovery. That's not a problem. What you're looking for isn't so much the technical aspects of their disaster recovery process but rather how in-depth and specific the response is.
As you hear about a company's disaster recovery processes, you should be learning more about how they will help you. They should be able to give you an overview you can understand — and they should be patient with your questions. Disaster recovery is complex.
- TAKE A LOOK AT THEIR REVIEWS AND TESTIMONIALS
Today, a company's online reputation is everything. But where do you get started? There's so much information online that it can seem difficult to pinpoint what's meaningful.
There are a few things that you should look for:
- Better Business Bureau complaints: BBB complaints are serious; it often means major issues have been raised with the company. Most will only pursue a Better Business Bureau complaint if the issue is significant.
- Google reviews: Some reviews need to be taken with a grain of salt; a disaster recovery company can restore your home after a disaster but cannot prevent all disasters. But if these reviews are all negative for similar reasons (such as a lack of communication), there's a trend.
- You want to look for reviews detailing the results of their labor. Are homeowners saying that they received quality work in a timely manner? Are they satisfied with the company's level of customer service?
- FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THEIR BILLING
When comparing quotes for water, mold or fire disaster restoration, it's important to make an apples-to-apples comparison. It's not always beneficial to go with either the cheapest or most expensive quote from a restoration company.
Often, cheap quotes leave off services that others include — if you go with them, you'll find hidden fees or the need for "upgraded" services. At the same time, very expensive quotes are often given for work that a business either cannot reliably do or does not currently have the volume to do.
Ask questions about your quotes, especially as they diverge from others. You may find that a company you think is "expensive" is simply knowledgeable enough to anticipate your needs for a particular service – and the other companies are not considering this.
RELIABILITY RULES
Responsive communication, proven restoration processes, quality reviews from other customers, and clear-cut estimates can all help you find reliable restoration workers when you need them most. In many cases, it's best to plan for disasters by identifying providers in advance of a disaster. Ask your insurance agent for a list of reputable companies, and keep important emergency phone numbers on hand. You never know when you may need them!
ServiceMaster DSI provides restoration services you can trust. For more information about how we can help, please call us at 844-413-3130 or complete a brief Contact Us form.
