Most garage door contractors are very trust worthy & take great pride in their workmanship & customer satisfaction. But their are a few bad apples in every bunch & there are always imposters. Here’s how to avoid getting taken by garage door repair scams.
- Ask the technician to explain the problem & give you all your options. A garage door company shouldn’t be to quick to try to sell you a new garage door if it can be repaired.
- If parts need to be replaced the technician should show you the defective part the parts & clearly explain why.
- When buying a new garage door opener you shouldn’t be sold new springs for warranty purposes.
- Excessively high or low prices. Someone giving you a low ball price may lack the expertise or may not be doing a through job.
- Online reviews. Do a google search for the company. In this day it is easy to research any company.
- Beware of ‘to good to be true’ service call prices. This is the classic bait & switch. A company can’t stay in business with $25 service calls.
- You shouldn’t be charged unless work has actually been done. This means being charged before a service call or for the service call if the technician was not able to perform any work or solve your problem.
- If there is an unusual or difficult situation when a problem may possibly not be able to be fixed, an agreement should be clearly understood between the customer & technician.
A few common ways to get over billed.
- Springs: Lighter doors like a 16×7 non-insulated door will suffice with a single spring system. The advantage to having two springs is the next time one spring breaks it will be easier to lift the door in the morning when you are in a hurry to get to work. If this is worth the extra cost to you then buy it. Otherwise save your money.
- Garage Door Openers: Bad sensor eyes or wiring can make it look like the opener is bad. A reputable contractor will repair this, not sell you something you don’t need.
- Bent Garage Door Panels: Often these can be repaired. This is on a case by case basis & the degree of damage & if the panel needs to be replaced a new panel may be difficult to obtain. See my post on Garage Door Panel Replacement & Garage Door Repairs
- Warranty Options: You shouldn’t be offered different warranty options. Besides most extended warranties only putting money in the pockets of those selling them, in this industry it is plain wrong. Oasis Garage Doors has a 5 year warranty on all new parts & labor. The best in the industry!
- Lifetime Spring Scam: You pay extra for a lifetime spring. When it breaks & you still have to pay for the service call. What you paid extra will almost pay for the spring & a spring will last upwards of 15 years. Beside wasting your money, your fly-by-night contractor is doubtfully in business in 10 or 15 years. More on this on my Garage Door Springs post.
- Being sold lots of little parts you don’t need.
Oasis Garage Doors will always present you with an honest appraisal of all your options, whether it’s a garage door repair or purchasing a new one. Check my Google reviews & you will find many happy customers.
We are happy to answer any & all questions. Even those regarding you fixing your door your self! I service Nashville, Antioch, Brentwood, Clarksville, Dickson & all middle TN.