How to Use Online Reviews to Find a Contractor
Choosing a contractor to replace a roof or repair gutters can seem daunting. If you’re going to invest your hard-earned money to maintain or upgrade your home, you deserve a high-quality contractor committed to providing top workmanship and excellent customer care.
These tips will help you use online reviews to find a contractor for roofing or gutters.
Read reviews rather than relying on star/numerical ratings.
Ratings alone, like a 5-star rating, can provide some sense of how a contractor treats their customers. But it alone rarely provides a full picture. For example, stars or numbers can be skewed if the roofing or gutter business has only a few customer ratings. Plus, simple rating systems don’t offer the details you need to make a wise home improvement investment.
Reading actual reviews, written by other homeowners, takes more time, but it provides a much better sense of how the roofing or gutter contractor works with customers. As you read online reviews, look for these red flags within complaints that suggest the contractor may not be the best choice for your home:
- Unclear pricing
- Last-minute requests to change payment arrangements (For instance, the contractor agreed to take a check but then asked for cash when the project was finished.)
- Disrespect toward the homeowner or their property
- Poor workmanship
But don’t be afraid of a few bad reviews.
No one is perfect 24/7. Not even the most reputable home contractors. While a bad contractor will have a pattern of poor reviews, a high-quality gutter or roofing company will have a pattern of good reviews that is perhaps sprinkled with a few negative ones.
When you use online reviews to find a contractor, don’t automatically write off a business with a few bad reviews. Instead, look for signs that the contractor took action to correct the mistake or make the customer happy. Sometimes you’ll see the company’s response to the homeowner’s complaint on the review website. In other cases, the homeowner will amend their original review to reflect the contractor’s solution. Responsive customer service is a sign of a reputable contractor.
Confirm your contractor list with the Better Business Bureau.
Once you narrow down the list to three contractors, check those companies out with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). In addition to finding customer reviews and the BBB business rating (which ranges from A+ to F), you can also access information about a company’s history, including bankruptcies or deceptive advertising practices.
Call the contractors for an inspection and quote.
Always schedule appointments to talk with the contractors before making a final decision. A good roofing or gutter company will do an onsite inspection. It will also provide a quote in writing while at your home or shortly after the inspection.
Work with a reputable company to repair/replace your gutters or roof.
The Best Contracting team are your go-to contractors for roofing and gutters in countries like Lancaster, Lebanon, Chester, Berks, and the surrounding areas. We’re accredited with the BBB and work hard to ensure our customers receive quality workmanship and excellent customer service.
