How to Choose a Good Garage Door Repair Service
So your garage door has run into some
trouble and now it needs fixing. Maybe a part is getting stuck and messing with
the opening and closing. Maybe there was some damage done. Maybe it just got a
tad too rusty for comfort. Whatever the case may be, repairing your garage door
may not be such a great idea for a DIY project. When it comes to home repairs
of this caliber, calling the pros tends to be the best way to go. But how can
you decide whom to trust with your repair needs? Here is a neat little cheat
sheet for making a smart choice of a garage door repair service.
Start
with a recommendation from a trusty source…
When we need to look for a service company
(whatever the niche may be), we tend to rely heavily on recommendations of
other customers, especially if this is the first time that we find ourselves in
need of such a service. This is one reason why so many companies make such a
big deal out of their online reviews and why we all get pestered for feedback
by basically every app and website we ever use. Click
here to learn more about why this happens all the time.
However, online feedback can be misleading
– people can leave lousy reviews out of spite, or go overboard with praise to
artificially boost a dying business, and unflattering reviews can be taken down
to save face. Therefore, many people will still opt for the word of a friend or
neighbor over the results of a Google search. If this is your first time
looking for a garage door repair company, it might be a good idea to combine
these two recommendation sources.
…
but know not to take it for granted.
Even if your friend or neighbor is thrilled
with “what an awesome job these guys did”, keep in mind that everybody’s needs
are a little different. The best thing to do, if at all possible, would be to
find several different people who have had experience with the company you are
considering. Getting independent feedback from different sources will help you
form a more realistic idea of the service quality.
Also remember that any given service is
ultimately comprised of people. Even if they claim “high standards” or “expert
teams”, there is still a chance that one repairperson or team will be
drastically different form the next in terms of technical skill, niche
experience, attention to detail and so forth.
Do a
thorough background check.
Before you decide to ask any one given
company to come over and fix your garage door
for you, you should take some time and do a little digging through their
background. It may seem tedious and nitpicky and even unnecessary, but it will
save you all sorts of trouble down the road. There are some things that are
critically important.
First of all, you want to be sure that the
company is registered and has a valid license. Next, see how they are rated by
the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and if there are any filed complaints that
were left unresolved. Check for whether their ratings are consistent across
several review platforms, like the BBB, HomeAdvisor, Google Reviews, and the
like. You can get some tips for finding trustworthy reviews at this link: https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/reviews-recommendations
Finally, make a point of ascertaining how
many years of experience they have in the field. While every young business
deserves a chance, this is your home, and you should trust larger tasks like
this to tried and tested professionals over enthusiastic beginners.
There are two more important factors to
take into account before you make your final decision: location and pricing
system. The further from you a company is based, the greater the chance that
you will face additional fees - travel, parts transport etc. Location will also
dictate the time it takes from making the call to finishing the repair,
especially if the job is done in phases. Also, different services factor
different things into their prices, so make sure you understand what those are
to avoid breaching your budget!
