Topic: Health Care
Our New Roofing Contractor It seems like months have passed since we began an earnest search for a quality roofing company. There is a lot that goes in to re-roofing a home. To glean earnest estimates coupled with honest efforts proved to be challenging.by Gary Wood
(conservative libertarian)
Monday, October 26, 2009
One of the main factors impacting our decision is reliability. Most of the roofing contractors either never returned our calls or set an appointment while never showing or calling back. Then came the companies bent on putting together a skeleton bid. When asked to fill in some of the missing pieces they quickly joined their fellow roofers in the tradition of not calling back. Fair enough, this process finally yielded two main choices.
Our first choice is a long standing local company. Their detailed presentation came complete with copies of insurance, licenses, accolades, product samples and more. Whenever there was a question answers came back that made sense. The bottom line investment was reasonable with a required half down upon the beginning and half upon our satisfaction after completion. Both flexibility and a level of customization were possible while remaining budget friendly. Overall quality of products is surprising considering the final tally.
Neighbors have used this company without complaint. A few disgruntled patrons posted scathing reviews yet balanced against the favorable comments and analyzing the complaints everything seemed relatively minor. Here is a very big factor, they're reliably on time.
The second choice is BGDC Roofing, a national company with local representatives across the country. Our local rep, Sam, puts on a very good show as well. His marketing is top-notch. The contract itself is far thicker but they provide a good, sketchy outline of what is likely in it. Materiel selection is not that good but the prices are high to counteract the limited options. Sam made it clear our roof will be equal to every other roof in our neighborhood, which to me sounds promising.
From what we can tell BGDC has many other subsidiaries. Everyone we know has had some dealings with this company. Most have a very low approval of the work that has been done but they keep calling them back so can it really be that bad?
An interesting twist in funding really makes this tempting. We will be paying Sam upfront. He promises to come back in three years when the overall quality of the materiel may well be better, technology advances quickly after all. Now, when Sam comes back with his crew, in 2013, we will have additional amounts to pay but isn't it possible the future quality is worth today's upfront payment as well as all future payments? Besides, Sam assures us with BGDC's size we will be able to make convenient payments right from our paycheck.
Big government DC sounds like the company to go with on this roofing job. We likely never would have considered their terms in the past but with so many other people using them for their needs who are we to turn them down. Besides, do you think we can dare trust a local company? Reliability is proving to be not such a big factor after all.
The views expressed in this
article are those of Gary Wood only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Gary Wood is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2009-10-30 06:57:22
Hi Gary,
I've looked at BGDC also. The thing I can't get over is that they often use those higher prices to roof other homes in the same neighborhoods where folks have agreed to those prices to re-roof homes for free or steep discounts. Often those homes should have been condemned instead but with a new, free roof, the owner decides to continue occupying that home and still doing no other maintenance that they would actually have to pay for. Subsequently, when their dilapidated home does finally collapse around them they are the first to call Sam again for a "new deal."
Furthermore, when Sam's crew does these other jobs, the quality of materials and workmanship is typically questionable at best. So, Sam's promise that your roof will be as good as the others in the neighborhood might well be true but it isn't limited to just those roofs done at the regular prices with owner-selected materials; he is also including those inferior roofs done for the illusion of good will.
A good roof should last 25 years. If one intends to stay in the home a good portion of that time, or to pass the home down to relatives it makes sense to put a quality roof on the home and to also perform myriad other maintenance tasks on a regular basis to ensure the integrity of the home remains sufficient to meet those longer term goals.
The problem with Sam's company's business model is that it encourages people to do the opposite. They expect the home to eventually become worthless and also expect to be able to move into another home for a reasonable price in that eventuality; a home where the previous owner did perform the maintenance. They have that expectation because of the situation I mentioned previously; the more homes in the area that Sam has roofed on the cheap, the less valuable the homes where the roofs were redone at Sam's normally high rates.
If you have the freedom to form a community with your neighbors you can choose to prohibit Sam's company from doing business in that community; thus protecting the future value of your efforts and prudence. Of course, Sam's company invests heavily in promoting a paradigm of disunity and anti-community attitudes all the while making advocates of this divide and conquer strategy feel self-righteous about their disdain for community.
Many folks would rather play the victim and succumb to oppression one-by-one rather than form a community that has a chance to thwart Sam's tactics. Joining the LP is a common path for those who embrace the victim hood of self-righteous self-marginalization. Sam loves seeing that because his company faces no threat from such futility-glorifying herds. The only threat to Sam's destructive sales and marketing is the freedom to form community. This is why Sam loves the evangelical LP herd; they enable his continued ability to garner more business despite the track record of shoddy work and devalued neighborhoods.
If one does not have the freedom to form a community they have no freedom at all. Fortunately, the only possible way to prevent humans from forming communities is pervasive and overwhelming force...which Sam's company does not yet have even with all the support from the LP toward that goal for the past several decades.
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