When large storms hit, especially over large Metro area’s like Atlanta, the sudden influx of calls to roofing and other contractors can overwhelm even the largest companies. Times like these present scammers with many opportunities to catch desperate homeowners unaware and take their money before they know what happened.
Many scammers are door to door solicitors and are mostly easy to spot though others are quite clever in providing a legitimate look to their truck, paperwork, websites even advertisements.
They take advantage of people’s desperation and ignorance of the roofing and general contractor business by either taking your money and running or buy cheap materials slapped together haphazardly where the victim doesn’t realize they’ve been ripped off until long after the scammer has gone! This isn’t isolated to just roofing, it happens anytime widespread storm damage is present and local contractors are booked.
Avoiding these scams isn’t difficult but requires some effort.
Fortunately, we have the internet these days that provides us with a lot of ways to judge a companies legitimacy. combined with a little common sense, avoiding these problems isn’t difficult:
1) If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
2) If they push you for an immediate decision, just say NO!
3) Never allow someone you don’t know (especially if they just showed up to your door) up on your roof.
4) Obtain bids from at least 3 different local roof contractors you find (most scammers are from out of town)
5) Do your due diligence on any roof contractor (Check the Better Business Bureau, online reviews, websites, etc)
6) Read our “Do Your Homework” section for more information on how you can check out your roof contractor and be assured you are hiring a legitimate company.
Scammers, bad roofers, even some legitimate start-ups (inexperienced and/or one man operations) can cause more damage to your roof (and wallet) in the form of shoddy work, cheap materials, property damage, and delays then the original problem!
Our consumer section on avoiding scams, “Do Your Homework”, provides details on what to look out for and what you can do to avoid a bad roofer or scam. Feel free to contact Atlanta Roofing Specialists with additional questions and for more information!
For over 27 years, Atlanta Roofing Specialists has been serving the Metro Atlanta area, offering free roof inspections with decades of experience and a proven track record of quality on exceptional customer service. Contact us at 770-419-2222 today!