With home improvement season around the corner, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) is urging home owners to be careful when hiring a contractor.
The consumer watchdog said it received several reports last year about people losing thousands of dollars to contractor scams, mainly due to “fly-by-night businesses using high pressure sales tactics and demanding upfront fees.”
The scammers will find believable reasons for home owners to give them money, and will complete shoddy work or no work at all.
“Hiring a reliable and trustworthy contractor is one of the most important steps for your project,” said Karla Laird, manager for community and public relations with the BBB serving Lower Mainland BC.
“Hire the right one and you can relax knowing that your project is in good hands. Hire the wrong one and you could be facing a wide range of problems from unfinished work and damage to your property, to losing valuable time and thousands of dollars.”
The scam itself can start with a knock on the door, a flyer or an ad – or even the scammer lurking outside home improvement stores or setting up fake websites and business accounts on social media. The contractor may offer a low price or a short timeframe for the work to be completed.
A common hook, the BBB said, is when the scammer claims to be working in a consumer’s neighbourhood on another project and has leftover supplies.
Once they start working, the contractor may claim they’ve found issues that significantly raise the price of the job. If the home owner objects, the scammer may threaten to walk away and leave a half-finished job, or may accept the upfront deposit and then never return to finish the work.
Home improvement scams placed third on the BBB’s 2020 list of the top 10 riskiest scams across Canada.
Tips to Avoid Home Improvement Scams
- Watch out for the red flags. Say no to cash-only deals, high-pressure sales tactics, high upfront payments, and handshake deals without a contract.
- Research and gather information. Search for a contractor’s Business Profile on BBB.org. Get free information on their history of complaints, read verified Customer Reviews, and see if they are an Accredited Business. BBB Accredited Businesses make a commitment to uphold BBB's accreditation standards including: to build trust, advertise honestly, tell the truth, be transparent, honour their promises, be responsive to their customers, safeguard privacy and embody integrity. Also search for the name of the company online along with "Complaint", "Review" or "Scam" to find different results.
- Ask for references and check them out. Bad contractors will be reluctant to share this information and scammers will not wait for you to do your homework. If you can, get references from past customers, both older references to check on the quality of the work and newer references to make sure current employees are up to the task.
- Avoid cutting corners. Work with local businesses that have proper identification, licensing and insurance and that provide detailed information about the job. Always be sure to get a written contract with the price, materials and timeline and confirm that your vendor will get the necessary permits.
