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"Know
Your Consumer Rights Brochure"
This brochure is required by the Illinois States Attorney General's Office to be
provided to homeowners with home repair projects exceeding $1,000.00 total
materials, sales tax and labor. If your contractor did not provide this to
your prior to starting your project and problems have occurred, you may wish to
contact your local AG's office for options.
Home Disasters
CONSUMER FRAUD HOTLINES
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Chicago
800/386-5438
TTY: 800/964-3013
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Springfield
800/243-0618
TTY: 877/844-5461
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Carbondale
800/243-0607
TTY: 877/675-9339
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If you have had a problem with a home repair,
replacement or remodel contact the above phone numbers for Consumer Fraud
Hotlines or click on this link to take you to the
Consumer Protection
Division of the Attorney Generals Office. Our local
BBB Office is another source and resource for
assistance with this type of problem.
What you should ask a home service company
before they "knock on your door" to avoid having a "Home Disaster" in
your own home.
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Is the individual you are sending to my
home an employee or a subcontractor? A legitimate service company
should be using their own employees for their primary services. If they
use subcontractors, how can they be sure they are properly trained and capable
of completing your repair? The primary reason a service company uses
subcontractors is to save on training, employee taxes, benefits and insurance.
As a home owner, I want a happy, properly trained, properly compensated and
properly insured service employee in my home who is less likely to take
advantage of me in lieu of subcontractors who may only be able to make his money
by selling me things I don't want or need. Or charging for services I was
expecting to be provided as part of the service.
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Is the individual coming to my home safe
for me and my family? All service companies should have completed
drug testing and back ground checks on any service employee that is entering
their clients homes. You have the right to be safe in your own home and
today the only way to know is to check.
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Is the technician you are sending to my
home a journeyman and properly licensed? A journeyman means they
have passed a four year training program for their trade and capable of doing
your repair. Otherwise, you may be paying them to learn on your problem.
Roofers, plumbers, locksmiths, pest controllers and alarm companies need to be
licensed in the State of Illinois. Electricians need to be licensed in the
City of Belleville. Heating and Cooling contractors must be licensed to
handle refrigerants including recovery and disposal.
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Does your company carry workmen's
compensation on your employees, liability insurance on your work and vehicle
insurance? If the company you hire is not properly insured, you
maybe liable for an accident that happens on your properly. If their is
faulty workmanship or a defective part that does damage to your home, will your
insurance cover the repairs? Some insurance companies may not cover for
damage created by the service company. It is your responsibility as the
home owner to hire licensed and insured individuals working in your home.
Don't be afraid to ask for a certificate of insurance from the service company.
When you have it, call the provider to make sure it is still active. An
old construction trick of a bad service company, is to take out a policy, get
certificates of insurance and then cancel the insurance after a couple of
months. He gets is money back and you as the home owner are now caring the
risk for him. If there is a problem, he can always close he doors, change
his name and start all over again while you deal with the mess.
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Do you warranty your repairs? All
legitimate service companies should have a written warranty on the service order
they provide to you for your signature. If the warranty is not in writing,
you are depending on the honesty of the service company to take care of any
problems after you have paid them. Regretfully there are too few honest
service companies in any market place. Make sure you have a written
warranty for the sake of both parties.
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Do you have a satisfaction guarantee?
If the product you just paid to have installed is constantly requiring
repair over the warranty period, how will your service company address this
problem? As consumers, we make purchases to solve problems not create
them. Your service company should have a program to take care of problem
products. You have the right to be satisfied with the purchase you made.
Regretfully, the one thing that no one, not
even the State of Illinois can protect us from is ourselves. Most home
repair disasters are caused by trying to save money in the wrong places with the
wrong people. Some of the biggest culprits are;
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accepting a bid that is too cheap. If
the price is too good to be true, then it probably is. If a service
provider cuts their pricing to close to their costs, then they will probably
have to cut corners to make a profit. Remember, it is your corners they
are cutting. If they are not profitable, they will not stay in business
for long. Then who picks up the warranty on your repair, replacement or
remodel. You do, at your expense,
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hiring an individual who is not licensed or
insured. Of course they may be cheaper when the project starts, but if
there are problems where damage to structure or your possessions take place that
becomes your problem,
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make sure you get a certificate of insurance
before signing the contract. Call the insurance company listed on the
certificate to make sure the policy is active.
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if they are not properly insured and licensed,
your insurance company may not pay for any damage related to the repair,
replacement or remodeling,
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make sure you get references on similar jobs
recently completed. If they have no references on previous work, you may
be paying them to learn on your job at the very least or you may be paying for
problems that others have already had with this service company,
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contact your local Better Business Bureau to see
if there are any cases pending against the service company you are considering,
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contact your City inspector to see if there have
been any problems with this service company,
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make sure the employees of the service company
that will be coming into your home have been drug tested with a complete back
ground check having been completed. Remember this is your home and you
need to know you will be safe in it with the people who are coming into it.
There is no magic formula that all service
companies use to identify their costs, because the cost for each company is
different. When you hire a service company you are paying for;
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the phones, pagers, Nextel radios, the lights,
insurance, computers, software, rent, mortgage, maintenance upkeep for their
office and equipment,
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training, licensure and continuing education as
technology changes,
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the support staff who answer the phones, schedule
the work and provide the estimate,
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the trucks, oil, gas, tires and maintenance to
keep the vehicles operational,
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parts inventory, tools and equipment,
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warranty for the parts and service provided,
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the parts and labor for your unique service,
just to name a few relative expenses.
These are the costs that are part of every service, replacement or remodel.
Rather than comparing prices for the service, you may be better suited comparing
the companies that are providing the service. Just like there is more than
one type of automobile or one type of steak house, there are more than one type
of service companies. Make sure you find what you need rather than finding
the cheapest. You will always pay more for less with this scenario.
There are very stringent guide lines a
legitimate service company has to follow to provide Home Remodeling and Repair
in the State of Illinois. The costs to maintain and adhere to these guide
lines is part of the overhead that is charged as part of the service provided.
We as consumers have rights available to us during any home repair or remodeling
project. The State of Illinois has the
Home
Repair and Remodeling Act to help protect us from
dishonest service companies in our market place.
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