How to Avoid Fake Electrical Contractors
There have been a lot of clients complaining about fake electrical contractors every now and then.
These people pretend to be reliable service providers or contractors that offer their services at a very affordable rate and then running off with the client's money sooner or later.
Don't fall victims to these people and you can do this by doing the following.
Ask for Proofs Ask for license, insurance proof and roof that the business or company is bonded.
Most of the time these con artists can provide you with one or two proofs but they cannot provide all of them.
In case they can provide proofs, it is your job to verify them by contacting the offices or organizations involved.
Do not ever transact without verifying their proofs first.
Ask For Free Estimates If they will be asking for an additional fee just to make an estimate, then be alarmed.
Estimates are given by legit electrical contractors with no additional cost.
Contractors asking you to pay a small fee just to get an estimate are usually fraud and should be reported to the local authorities.
Ask a Written Contractor Just before starting the job, ask your contractor to write every details of the project in a contract.
Make sure that the contract includes the mode of payment, consequences when the job is not finished on time, what would be done if the electrical contractor does not finish the job, time of completion and other necessary details which can protect you as a client.
Verbal agreements should also be written in a contract and avoid working with those contractors that does not want to provide you with a written contract.
Contracts can be used as a ground to file against the company or certain electrical contractors once the terms and agreements were not met or if there has been a breach of contract.
Do Not Pay Upfront Paying upfront is always not a good idea.
As a client, you should only pay once the whole project has been completed.
You do not even have to pay half of the payment just to have a contractor start working on the job.
Once they ask you for an upfront payment, tell them in a nice way that you do not want to work with them.
This will help you save both time and money.
It will also be best if you will be paying via bank in order to make sure that the electrical contractor is legit.
Fraud contractors usually will insist in being paid in cash because they do not have a good relationship with their banks and in order to avoid being tracked down.
These people pretend to be reliable service providers or contractors that offer their services at a very affordable rate and then running off with the client's money sooner or later.
Don't fall victims to these people and you can do this by doing the following.
Ask for Proofs Ask for license, insurance proof and roof that the business or company is bonded.
Most of the time these con artists can provide you with one or two proofs but they cannot provide all of them.
In case they can provide proofs, it is your job to verify them by contacting the offices or organizations involved.
Do not ever transact without verifying their proofs first.
Ask For Free Estimates If they will be asking for an additional fee just to make an estimate, then be alarmed.
Estimates are given by legit electrical contractors with no additional cost.
Contractors asking you to pay a small fee just to get an estimate are usually fraud and should be reported to the local authorities.
Ask a Written Contractor Just before starting the job, ask your contractor to write every details of the project in a contract.
Make sure that the contract includes the mode of payment, consequences when the job is not finished on time, what would be done if the electrical contractor does not finish the job, time of completion and other necessary details which can protect you as a client.
Verbal agreements should also be written in a contract and avoid working with those contractors that does not want to provide you with a written contract.
Contracts can be used as a ground to file against the company or certain electrical contractors once the terms and agreements were not met or if there has been a breach of contract.
Do Not Pay Upfront Paying upfront is always not a good idea.
As a client, you should only pay once the whole project has been completed.
You do not even have to pay half of the payment just to have a contractor start working on the job.
Once they ask you for an upfront payment, tell them in a nice way that you do not want to work with them.
This will help you save both time and money.
It will also be best if you will be paying via bank in order to make sure that the electrical contractor is legit.
Fraud contractors usually will insist in being paid in cash because they do not have a good relationship with their banks and in order to avoid being tracked down.
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