Housing...Inside and Out

June 18, 1999
Home Improvement Schemes

If you are contemplating a major remodeling project, you should be aware of sales schemes and gimmicks.

In a demonstration home scheme, the person selling the home improvement will tell you that if your home can be used as a demonstration home, you will receive discounts or cash payments for each person who sees the demonstration home and also purchases the home improvement.

It is misleading when you are led to believe that you can easily pay for an inexpensive purchase merely by showing the home to other owners who would also buy the improvement.

Bait and switch advertising is a scheme in which a seller advertises a product or service at an attractive price. After you have been baited into responding to the ad, the seller then attempts to switch you to a higher priced item.

Beware of the knock-on-the-door salesman who claims your house needs new roofing or siding or other repairs and attempts to sign you up for this job on the spot.

Often, this is what is known as fly by night company which comes into town, has the homeowner sign a contract, takes a down payment, may do some work and then leaves town. The homeowner then cannot locate the company to get unfinished work done or faulty work corrected.

Be wary of lifetime guarantees. If goods or services are guaranteed for life, it pays to find out if this is for the life of the product, the homeowner, the home or the seller.

All product information should be read carefully. A homeowner should remember that a guarantee is no better than the person or company making it.

A written warranty on a product must be designated as "Full Warranty" or as "Limited Warranty." Read the warranty carefully and know what the warranty is before deciding to purchase.

If advertising practices of a company appear deceptive, do not deal with that company. A company that is deceptive when advertising is likely to be deceptive in other ways.

Take adequate time to make a decision before undertaking a remodeling project. A rushed remodeling project is an unwise remodeling project.


Written by Dr. Francis Graham (Retired)

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