You’re Telling Me There Are Garage Door Service Scammers?
Service industries exist for the various needs consumers have. We all know there is a fullness of gratitude for businesses out there that perform their services with excellence and integrity. Unfortunately, some people don’t create businesses and services with integrity in mind. A good business understands the market's needs and tailors their services to meet those needs in an honest and economically advantageous way. But when people start to think of what others don’t know and then use the unknown to exploit them, there ends up being a whole dark market full of fake businesses preying on people’s vulnerabilities. This is what is commonly referred to as a scammer.
There are a number of different pockets that scammers are famous for. Some of them include email phishing, online tech and support scams, social security phishing, legal authority imposters, and many more. But who would have thought of some of these scammer plots that are out there? Unfortunately, the garage door business does not get excluded from the highly deceptive mix. Yes, that is right. There are garage door repair companies out there that understand the urgent anxiety that takes place when something goes wrong with a garage door and use those circumstances to scam people for large amounts of money.
Overhead Door Company is the genuine and the original as our slogan states, and today we are writing to expose the fakes out there who are trying to scam home and business owners with their garage door ‘services.’ There are a few dead giveaways you will want to be aware of if you find yourself in a garage door emergency and need to figure out some solutions. Here are a few to be on the lookout for.
The 'Lifetime Guarantee'
One of the most common scams you can run into when encountering an emergency garage door situation is referred to as the ‘Lifetime Guarantee’ scam. Usually, these are just words. Scammers like to say this, then turn around and install cheap parts on the garage door systems. The parts then end up failing, and you as the customer must call them back contractually for them to deal astronomical repair charges. If you ever hear these words, make sure you thoroughly go over the contract and ask the right questions, like ‘what does this cover?’ or ‘where do you get these parts from?’
The Mystery Subcontractor
Another shady practice is the mystery subcontractor scam. What basically happens here is someone gets in touch with a company that says they service garage doors. Once the transaction has occurred, the company sends a subcontractor that has no tie to the company that was originally communicated. This removes any accountability from the mystery subcontractor when they come to work on the garage door. The best thing to look out for is who the technician represents when they show up for the job. Does their vehicle have the company logo? Are they wearing a uniform that shows they are employed by the same company? If there isn’t consistency between the company that was hired to do the work and the technician, then you may be dealing with a scam. Take action and be alert when it comes to utilizing garage door services.
The Rebuild Package
The last common scam is the rebuild package scam. This scam looks like a technician who comes out and examines the garage door system and gives a long list of parts that all need to be replaced. In reality, most garage doors don’t have such complicated fixes because good parts are durable for 10-15 years. Service work is generally more simple, like readjusting the photo eye sensor or changing a spring. If there seem to be a lot of replacement parts, it's possible this technician is saying this so they can buy cheap parts, mark them up, and then overcharge for the parts and services. If you ever run into this situation, the best thing you can do is go with another service provider.
Remember, unless you see the Overhead Door logo which appears here on our website, you are not getting genuine Overhead Door products and services! To find out more about Overhead Door, visit our resources page for interesting garage door content. We at Overhead Door Company of Metro Milwaukee want people to know that there are many great service companies out there who perform their work with excellence and integrity. For the most part, these scamming situations aren't terribly common. But they still happen and we want you to be informed and know what is genuine and original. Overhead Door Company of Metro Milwaukee is the only Overhead Door Company locally owned in southeastern Wisconsin. Our service area covers all of southern Wisconsin and beyond, including the counties of Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Kenosha, Lafayette, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Rock, Sauk, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington, and Waukesha. We are here if you are interested in a free estimate for a commercial or residential garage door. We also encourage you to check out our DoorView Visualizer to get a better idea of the garage door possibilities you have through Overhead Door Company of Metro Milwaukee.
