You have decided to upgrade to new garage doors and are going to hire a garage door service company to complete the project. You have narrowed your search down, and all that is left before deciding is to check the references. But, how do you do that?
During the interview project with your garage door contractor, ask for a list of three to four references. Ideally, you want past customers that have done business with the contractor over a period of time – some recent, and some historical.
Then, call the references. Do not be embarrassed about asking for references, or for calling and checking references. When you call the potential reference, simply identify yourself as a potential customer of the company, and ask a series of questions. Plan on the conversation lasting less than 15 minutes.
Some questions to ask include:
- What type of project did you have done?
- How satisfied were you with the work completed?
- Would you use this company again? Why or why not?
- Can you recommend this company to perform my project? (Elaborate here a bit on what you are having done, unless the work performed for the past customer was identical to your anticipated project.)
- If you had one suggestion for improvement for this company, what would it be?
- Did the company clean up their mess afterwards, and were there any additional expenses?
- Did you need to have any warranty work done, or any repairs on the project? If so, were they responsive to your needs?
- Is there anything else you would like to tell me?
For more information on how to hire a garage door contractor, see our post on hiring.
