Every year, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and the North American Consumer Protection Investigators (NACPI) collects and analyzes consumer complaints gathered from local agencies, to better understand macro-level consumer trends.
Last July, they looked at information from thirty-agencies from across the United States and published the top ten industries that received the most complaints:
Auto: Misrepresentations in advertising or sales of new and used cars, lemons, faulty repairs, leasing and towing disputes
Credit/Debt: Billing and fee disputes, mortgage modifications and mortgage-related fraud, credit repair, debt relief services, predatory lending, illegal or abusive debt collection tactics
Home Improvement/Construction: Shoddy work, failure to start or complete the job
Retail Sales: False advertising and other deceptive practices, defective merchandise, problems with rebates, coupons, gift cards and gift certificates, failure to deliver
Utilities: Service problems or billing disputes with phone, cable, satellite, Internet, electric and gas service
Services: Misrepresentations, shoddy work, failure to have required licenses, failure to perform
(Tie) Internet Sales: Misrepresentations or other deceptive practice, failure to deliver online purchases; Landlord/Tenant: Unhealthy or unsafe conditions, failure to make repairs or provide promised amenities, deposit and rent disputes, illegal eviction tactics
Fraud: Bogus sweepstakes and lotteries, work-at-home schemes, grant offers, fake check scams, the grandparent scam and other common frauds
Real Estate: Timeshare sales and resales, retirement communities and assisted living facilities, real estate fraud
(Tie) Household Goods: Misrepresentations, failure to deliver, faulty repairs in connection with furniture or appliances; Home Solicitations: Misrepresentations or failure to deliver in door-to-door, telemarketing or mail solicitations, do-not-call violations
Do you think this ranking is fair? What can the industry do to improve its reputation?
With the economic turn down and building crash the competition for remodel work has become fierce. As a result consumers are able to collect more bids bringing costs to a minimum. This is where short cuts develop. I would suspect that most of the consumer complaints come from consumers taking low or lowest bid in this fiercely competitive business. You get what you pay for. You go cheep that’s what you get today.
I believe that Contractor and Home Improvement licensing should be the result of a knowledge and performance test of the trade. Paying a fee and and knowing your way around the code book does not make you a skilled tradesperson.
As a general contractor, I think it seems like a fair ranking - the home improvement business obviously attracts more than its fair share of charlatans.
Most successful and ethical home improvement professionals focus on their own reputations rather than on the industry reputation. It may distress us that bad contractors are so common and attract so much attention, but the industry is so large, and the financial incentives so great, that the general problem seems unlikely to be solved. The goal for most of us, particularly in the more custom part of the industry, is to build a pipeline of working projects and prospective sales that is based on referrals from existing customers. In that situation, the general industry reputation becomes much less relevant.
I have been a contractor here in Johnstown, PA for over 30 years and I honestly believe that all contractors should have to pass a real test to become licensed. There are far too many people out there calling themselves contractors that I would not let work on building me a dog house!
Every state should have a council of experienced construction professionals who are responsible for testing and only granting licenses to qualified construction company owners who can prove that they are able to do quality work. With that said, it won’t likely happen so homeowners and potential customers will have to do their homework and get testimonials from every contractor that bids on their project. Get references and check them.
As said above licensing needs to be a test based on skills and knowledge and not wether or not your check clears. Also there needs to be more enforcement and consequences for those who do not follow the guidelines.
As already clearly stated in previous comments, licensing and accurate assessment of skills are a must. Beyond this, I find that clear and effective communication with the customers is so important and oftentimes not accomplished by the contractor. Scamming situations set aside, I find that most of the customer dissatisfaction dealing with honest legitimate contractors could have been avoided. We hear over and over again that the last contractor did not take the time to explain the situation, nor answer questions. It is also common for the customer to indicate that an estimate for previous work was not detailed, which led to a misunderstanding on the authorized work to be completed.
I believe it is fair. I recenly searched for remodeling contractors on Facebook in my area and found a page created by a couple that has done some work in their own home, marketing themselves to others for “sidework”. And they have projects going! When everyone is looking for a deal, there will be a plethora of options for cheap work. Those of us who invest in our companies, continue to be educated and do our very best to serve our customers will never be able to (or frankly want to) compete with Joe and Sally DIYer. After all, if something goes wrong for them, they can throw their hands up and go back ot their day-job.
