Comments on: Money Pit

By: Sandy

Sandy — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 04:34:50 +0000

My cat died the same day the roof to the brand new extension caved in. The same day a soccer ball cam flying through my window. These are all unrelated except for the fact that hey all happened in a 8 hours period.

By: Western Dave

Western Dave — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:11:19 +0000

Try asking a realtor that you know for a recommendation and then follow up with the contractor that you will be talking with the realtor. Mrs. Western Dave gives referells (sp?) all the time and follows up with her clients to check to make sure that the contractors do a good job. The contractors play nice because realtors are a major source of recommendations and they know if they screw up it will dry up. A word from a realtor can lead to an apologetic phone call from “hard sell guy” (who maybe was just having a bad day, as you point out). We got hosed once on this before my wife became an agent, the firm was previously had been reputable but tanked our job. There appears to have been shift in who controlled the family business with Dad retiring and alcoholic son taking over. A. S. appears to have run the business into the ground.

By: Timothy Burke

Timothy Burke — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:13:09 +0000

We were in a similar service when we first bought, Bill, but they’re the ones who directed the hard-sell exploitative plumbers at us. I got the sense that their referral base was primarily large contractors whose main vetting was the ability to pay. But they did connect us with a couple of good services as well.

By: Bill McNeill

Bill McNeill — Wed, 30 May 2007 18:58:19 +0000

Here in Seattle, I use the Homeowner’s Club. The Homeowner’s Club maintains a list of contractors in the area. When you need work done, you call them and they set you up with a contractor. Billing and dispute resolution is handled through the club. Membership is $50 a year, and the peace of mind is well worth it. Basically the problem they solve is the fact that the business relationship between a homeowner and a contractor is often a one time thing—you’ve never hired them before and you’ll probably never hire them again, so there’s reduced incentive on the contractor’s end to do a good job. However, contractors do have a protracted relationship with the Homeowner’s Club, and want to get getting referrals from them, so the incentive is there.

Presumably you could get the same effect if everyone posted contractor reviews online (and not just when they were displeased), but in this instance I’m willing to pay a little money to have someone manage that feedback loop for me.

By: mgelman

mgelman — Wed, 30 May 2007 15:13:44 +0000

The Center for the Study of Services (a.k.a. Checkbook Magazine) takes a crack at this. It’s a little more statistical than, say, Angie’s List, but serves as a trusted resource. I think they have recently moved into the Philly area. They were started in DC.

Another difficulty is the sheer number of service providers. I don’t think I ever had a recommendation from a friend who also showed up on the list from Checkbook.