BUYER ALWAYS BEWARE!!!!!!!!
Hurricanes are not the only thing that can cause frustrations and pained hopes. Even when you are taking responsibility for your own home emergency preparedness there can still be a lot of problems not of your own doing. Just ask Dr. Mark Thomas of
The contractor has been charged with theft by deception of non-delivery of the windows. A supposedly good Samaritan who promised to pay for all the windows were never got the windows installed. And there were in NON-HURRICANE damaged times!
When yu read the article realize that his is not due to a hurricane occurrence. Now reflect on the additional amount of frustration and pain this would cause if it was a result of a actual hurricane event.
Here are some Emergency preparedness tips for disaster preparedness home improvement projects and tasks:
- When dealing with hurricane preparedness everyone needs to do a great deal of checking to ensure that what you are trying to achieve will come true. One of the most important thing when it comes to large ticket items like hurricane shutters is to do your research and get as much disaster preparedness information as possible on the task you want to accomplish. This is going to take a great deal of time and effort that will not occur in just a few minutes or even a few days.
- By spending the time to do your emergency preparedness research on the products and contractors you will have a much better idea of what to expect and how to go about achieving your goals as quickly as possible.
- Get everything in writing from the estimated cost, to when the items will be delivered and by whom to even as detailed a description of the items you are ordering and a copy of the company product brochure WITH the signature of the home improvement contractor stating this is the product you are going to receive written in the contractor’s own handwriting along with a date.
- Keep a second copy of contract and notes on project performace and material for your records. It is wise to place this second copy of all business information and notes in a second location just incase something should happen to your original.
- The more expensive the project the more notes you want to keep on the ongoing process. Make a note of each day and time the contractor is on your property, Note when you call the contractor and when they return your calls. Always provide a summary of all important topics discussed and what were the agreements of the discussions were.
- Have an independent witness when signing contracts with a contractor. This will let the contractor know upfront that you are a highly responsible person who takes contractual agreements seriously and that you intend to hold them to their contract.
- ALWAYS have a penalty clause in the contract that says if the work is not done to your satisfaction and on date agreed to then there is a SIGNIFICANT penalty PER DAY for every day that the job is not completed to your satisfaction.
- Have you own personal emergency preparedness checklist for all items being done. The more detailed it is with as specific as possible points to be considered by YOU the better. Remember the more comprehensive your checklist the more likely you wil be happy, safe and satisfied with the product and work performed.
- Have all completed work inspected by an independent home inspector if the job is worth 1% or more the worth of your home. So say your home is worth $300,000 and the emergency preparedness project costs more than $3,000 then you may really want to have an INDEPENDENT home improvement inspector review the work of the contractor BEFORE you give the final payment to the home improvement contractor. Have that written into the contract. IF the contractor does not want that then BUYER BEWARE! This inspection may add to your costs about $300 or so but well worth the cost. That can save you a lot of time and trouble later should the work not be done correctly. The more you pay for a project the more it should be independently inspected.
- Speaking of independent home improvement inspectors ALLWAYS research the home inspector and their knowledge of hurricane realted issues you are trying to address and find an inspector that does NOT do inspections for real-estate companies or for home improvement contractors. There could be in some cases a conflict of interest. By being a completely independent impartial inspector they will be more likely to be fair with all parties involved and that is the best goal to have.
I hope this is of help to you and that all your emergency preparedness projects go well. These are just a few of the suggestions that are helpful. If you want more information on what to consider about hurricane preparedness please consider getting your personal copy of my new book Train For A Hurricane. This book deal with how to Prepare for a hurricane, Survive a hurricane storm and how to Recover from a hurricane physically, emotionally and financially!
COMMENTS WELCOMED!
Are you or have you been in a hurricane disaster? Do you know someone who is recovering or has been affected by a hurricane in the past? Please share your thoughts and stories here on this blog. All I ask is that everyone be respectful and sensitive of each other and that identifying information about a person who is not the author be limited to protect their privacy.
Be Safe!
Terrie
Dr. Terrie Modesto, Critical Incident Thanatologist
Customers Receive Hurricane Shutters
By Rose Ann Haven Anchor and Community Coverage
Last Updated: October 01 2007 - 10:51 pm
He hasn't.
But, after WKRG News 5 got involved, someone else did.
"When the wind comes in and blows like this it just you know pushes it up tight against this..and doesn't move."
A clear space age material called lexan, made by General Electric, will help protect his home from hurricanes.
Thomas paid Jerry McQuillan five thousand dollars for the shutters. But, that's not where he got them.
He says the shutters on his home are actually worth about ten thousand dollars, and they came from a company that never made a dime from it.
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