Unless
you live in a remote part of the country with no television, newspaper
or other people to talk to, there is a good chance you have heard or
read about a home improvement scam or project gone wrong. It seems to be
a fact in this country that when you go about doing a home improvement
project you will usually encounter countless problems, delays and shoddy
work.
The home improvement experience leaves most people stressed
and vowing never to do another project again! So it is not surprising
to hear that home improvement complaints rank at the top of consumer
complaints nationwide year after year. Where does the blame fall for
this epidemic of home improvement problems?
I am proud to say I
was a home improvement contractor for almost 30 years and I was
fortunate enough to win some of the industry's highest awards. However,
it has never ceased to amaze me the poor home improvement decisions that
I have seen so many homeowners make. One of the more notable mistakes I
would see done over and over again was when a homeowner would blindly
hire someone to do a project because the person was a friend or a friend
of a friend. To me this reasoning makes no sense.
Friendship and
craftsmanship are not related, but for some reason a lot of people
believe other wise. Another great example of homeowner apathy is hiring
someone to do a project without ever putting anything in writing. Who in
their right mind would ever agree to such a disastrous situation?
Another very similar blunder would be for a homeowner to blindly accept
an estimate on the back of a business card. Usually the only information
that has room on the back of a business card is the PRICE.
A
major mistake made by many people doing a home improvement project is
letting price dictate the decision on who to hire. More problems occur
because homeowners pick the lowest price they can find. Why? It is very
simple. You can only produce a high quality project at a certain cost.
High quality materials, expert labor, appropriate insurances and a
reasonable profit to stay in business, cost a certain amount of money.
If
someone can do that same project under that amount, what do you think
is going to happen when the job is being done? That's right, the person
or company is going to do anything they can to try and make a profit.
All of the possibilities that could result from the person you hired, as
the low bidder, trying to make a profit, are simply all BAD for the
homeowner. In home improvements you get exactly what you pay for.
Let's
not forget to put some of the blame on people looking to work on your
home. Over the years I have seen some of my competitors commit heinous
business practices. (Surprise!!) I have seen contractors switch
materials to lesser quality without customer approval, use unqualified
labor, overcharge homeowners for "unforeseen problems", try to up sell
the customer once the project starts, etc.,etc.,etc.......it makes you
wonder if you can trust anyone?
So where does the blame fall for
all the home improvement complaints year after year? I guess it would be
easy to blame the homeowner for not educating themselves on what to do
when attempting a project. However the next question would be where does
a homeowner get "educated"? Maybe a better question would be when does a
homeowner find the time to get "educated"? Education is a great tool if
you have the time to do the research. Most people don't have the time
or want to take the time to do hours and hours of research on how to go
about getting a home improvement done correctly.
Oops I almost
forgot Uncle Sam. A lot of people, including myself, think the
government makes it too easy for someone, who has no ethics or skills,
to do home improvement work. Why are there still some states that do not
have licensing for people doing home improvements? And in the states
that do have licensing, why are some of these states issuing licenses
without the applicant needing to demonstrate any type of competence in
home improvement work? This is like giving out a driver's license
without taking a road test. Doesn't make much sense to me.
One
last situation to blame, one that I would never forgive myself for not
mentioning. Home improvement television shows have become the latest fad
in television. You can hardly change television channels without a home
improvement program popping up. The influx of home improvement shows on
television has been phenomenal. However, most of these shows tend to
unrealistically glorify the home improvement project as being easy to do
with nothing ever going wrong. The last time I looked, nothing ever
goes perfect, including home improvement projects. Little, if any
information is mentioned on these shows, about how not to be "taken to
the cleaners" when doing a project.
One would have to conclude
that there is plenty of blame to go around when it comes to the problems
homeowners face when attempting a home improvement project.
Unfortunately, most of these problems have been around for many years
and if you are expecting a "quick fix", I think you might be waiting a
very long time.
