Heating Services: Do You Know Who The Good Guys Are?
Together with the air conditioners, heaters have also joined the ranks of the most essential household appliances, because if we only want to chop and burn firewood for heat then we surely would not be on the internet right now and taking the time to read about heating systems. The main purpose of a heating company is having a heater for your home installed and then keeping it rightfully maintained. But remember that not all heating services are created equal. If you want your heater to be in good hands then you will need to learn about how to tell the real article compared to the fly-by-nights. Once you know the tricks, it’s not that hard – fortunately.
The Paperwork
The number one most important thing about any heating services company is whether or not its paperwork is in order. You don't want to work with any company that can't show you:
-Their license to do business in your state.
-Proof that their workers are insured, so if they injure themselves on your premises, you're not going to end up with the bill.
-Proof that their workers are bonded, so if they injure your premises while on them, you're not going to end up with the bill.
-At least one certification from some major industry group that shows that they know how to do their job.
-At least once reference or testimonial from a happy client that had a job at least somewhat akin to the one you're asking them to do.
This might seem like just a little detail, but all of these paperworks are definitely the things that separates the legitimate companies from what amounts to just those "freelance heating techs". Of course, that is not all that you would hope to see though.
The Word of Mouth
We mentioned having at least a single reference before, but that's an absolute minimum. It used to be hard to get a solid word-of-mouth about a business, because in a city of several hundred thousand people, the chances that one of your friends or family has interacted with a specific business before is fairly slim.
Fortunately, if you can read this right now, you have the Internet, which means you have access to websites like the Better Business Bureau, Yelp, and Angie's List. You can also just Google the company's name along with some stock disses like 'scam' or 'poor' and see if any significant stories crop up. It's harder to find definitive positive reviews, but given the nature of the Internet in general, a lack of negatives is actually a very strong positive sign.
Policies
Finally, you can ask the company in question about their policies. A solid company won't hesitate to offer you at least some form of warranty on their work. They might go so far as to offer a free return trip if something breaks within a week of one of their visits, or they may just offer a free inspection to make sure that whatever happened wasn't their own fault.
Whatever the case, in addition to all of the above, you should also make sure that you're comfortable, on a personal level, working with a given company. Sometimes, there's just a personality conflict, and you don't want to feel at odds with your heating services tech every time they stop by.
The Paperwork
The number one most important thing about any heating services company is whether or not its paperwork is in order. You don't want to work with any company that can't show you:
-Their license to do business in your state.
-Proof that their workers are insured, so if they injure themselves on your premises, you're not going to end up with the bill.
-Proof that their workers are bonded, so if they injure your premises while on them, you're not going to end up with the bill.
-At least one certification from some major industry group that shows that they know how to do their job.
-At least once reference or testimonial from a happy client that had a job at least somewhat akin to the one you're asking them to do.
This might seem like just a little detail, but all of these paperworks are definitely the things that separates the legitimate companies from what amounts to just those "freelance heating techs". Of course, that is not all that you would hope to see though.
The Word of Mouth
We mentioned having at least a single reference before, but that's an absolute minimum. It used to be hard to get a solid word-of-mouth about a business, because in a city of several hundred thousand people, the chances that one of your friends or family has interacted with a specific business before is fairly slim.
Fortunately, if you can read this right now, you have the Internet, which means you have access to websites like the Better Business Bureau, Yelp, and Angie's List. You can also just Google the company's name along with some stock disses like 'scam' or 'poor' and see if any significant stories crop up. It's harder to find definitive positive reviews, but given the nature of the Internet in general, a lack of negatives is actually a very strong positive sign.
Policies
Finally, you can ask the company in question about their policies. A solid company won't hesitate to offer you at least some form of warranty on their work. They might go so far as to offer a free return trip if something breaks within a week of one of their visits, or they may just offer a free inspection to make sure that whatever happened wasn't their own fault.
Whatever the case, in addition to all of the above, you should also make sure that you're comfortable, on a personal level, working with a given company. Sometimes, there's just a personality conflict, and you don't want to feel at odds with your heating services tech every time they stop by.