Unfortunately, almost everyone you speak to about contractors has nothing good to say about them. Fortunately, for us here at Professional Services Inc., we have never had this problem. However, we would like to point out exactly why things of this nature are stated by consumers every day. Below are the two main reasons why this takes place.
At some point in time, we have all heard someone say that they hired a contractor to complete a project at their home or apartment and it turned into a nightmare. Home Improvement Contractors (HIC) have more complaints lodged against them with the Better Business Bureau than just about any other industry every single year. For those of you out there who use unlicensed contractors there is no agency out there to report them too simply because they do not fall under anyone’s jurisdiction.
The reason for such horror stories concerning contractors is a two part problem. The first part of the problem is that you have many unqualified individuals or companies posing as true professional contractors, weather they are licensed or not. Secondly you have home and apartment owners hiring these companies or individuals simply because their price to complete your work is much lower than a truly qualified contractor. A qualified contractor has honed his skills for many, many years, and has real documented work experience, true industry education, and apprenticeship programs under his belt which taught him the business from the ground up.
Consumers simply get free estimates from contractor after contractor. They pick each one’s brain as they go along until finally one, or even a few, show up at the home and gives the home owner a price that they can either afford, want to believe is correct, or are willing to pay.
Quite honestly, the average consumer has no idea how much it costs to complete their project or how great the cost of overhead is for a real contractor in New York. What makes matters worse is the fact that the majority of Home Improvement Contractors (Licensed or Unlicensed) in New York have very little idea themselves as to how to figure out the cost of a job properly as well, which means figuring in all the required insurance costs, labor costs of employees who are insured, all overhead, and profit for the company.
Anyone can figure out the cost of the materials required to complete your project. The majority of all Home Improvement Contractors lowball the cost of your work for two reasons. One because they do not have good business sense, and two, because they are all worried about competing against each other (and unlicensed contractors as well) which forces most of them to give these lowball final costs simply to get the project.
Contractors who do not charge appropriately for their services will not be around for very long. In many cases, the average contractor is not business savvy enough to know that they are not making a profit on the work they do for their clients. Again, just about every so called contractor knows how to figure out direct costs. However, most of them really have no idea on how to account for profit and overhead, or how to apply an appropriate markup to cover their insurance costs, and all other associated costs which are part of your bottom line number.
So, firstly, you have a group of so called contractors quoting costs to you without understanding how to really come up with the correct price. Secondly, you have a group of terrible businessmen competing against each other to give the lowest price to the potential client because this is the only way these so called contractors perceive that they can get work.
Which ever low baller succeeds in being awarded your project will still be stuck in the same position they are always in, which is not making a profit, or a living, for completing your project. When an individual or a company can not make a profit on what they offer you, how good of a job do you think they are going to do for you? How attentive do you think they are going to be to your needs or concerns? What do you think your overall experience with this company is going to be?
Don’t hire a contractor based on lowest price alone. The basis of a contractor’s price is important. Do not simply hire a contractor with the lowest estimate. Examine and breakdown each estimate. Is the price of materials low compared to other estimates? Is the bid exceptionally detailed? If one contractor’s price is lower than another’s his standard of professionalism and workmanship may not be up to par with a much more qualified contractor. It is also possible that the contractor may have made a mistake on his final price. Weigh all factors-price quote, references, professionalism, and most of all your gut feeling before making a decision.
Sadly, many of the individuals or companies who operate in the fashion stated above desperately need to sign up the next job up so they can obtain a deposit and use some of the money from their new client to finish up the project that they are currently working on for their existing client. This is simply because they also low balled the cost of that project as well in order to get the work and have run out of money before completing the work.
It’s a vicious cycle for these types of operations, however there are so many out there. This takes place every day in New York. No wonder why there are so many horror stories regarding horrible contractors. The consumer is equally responsible for these scenarios, and until they understand that there is a major difference in quality, craftsmanship, professionalism, and cost, between an amateur posing as a contractor and a real contractor these problems will never go away.
Unfortunately, you the consumer must live with the serious problems which come along with these tactics, and in one way or another, it is you that will suffer through your renovation. Either due to shoddy handyman type finish work, in your normal day to day dealings with the unprofessional company that you hired, or with the endless time frame it takes for an inexperienced and unqualified contractor to finish your project, if it gets finished at all, or finished to your satisfaction.
Not paying enough money to have your work done is far worse than paying a little too much to have it completed. If you ended up paying a real contractor more money to complete your work in a professional quality oriented fashion, at least you end up with a beautiful finished product that you can enjoy when it’s completed. By under paying, and not being happy with your end result, you will suffer and agonize over the mistake you made every day you come home and look at the horror that you paid an unqualified contractor for. At this point, the Great Price you thought you were paying is really not a Great Price at all. It’s a waste of money.
Consumers must understand that you get exactly what you pay for when it comes to hiring a contractor, or for that matter, anything in life. All contractors are not created equal as some consumers may think, or want to believe, because of price differences in the free estimates which they receive prior to beginning their work. Fraud involving Home Improvement Contractors is at the top of the scam list. Hire a pro.
Professional Services Inc. is an exceptional General Contracting Firm located in New York specializing in High End Remodeling, Renovation, & New Construction projects. For additional information please visit our Web Site http://www.professional-services.com
