Some people seem to be born suspicious. Others are far too trusting, no matter how often they get burned. Both ways of being have merits, but they speak to the same essential conflict: You have to find the best roofing contractor in Lynchburg, but you have to be careful to not get scammed.

The last thing you want is to pay someone for roofing work, only for them to never show up to your house and screen all your calls. So, to help you with that, here are three signs your roofing contractor is trying to rip you off. This will give you an idea of what kind of people scammers are.

1. Suspiciously Low Prices

This is the most painful trick to turn away. But that is exactly why it is the trick you will see most often. Luckily, the language most scammers use is pretty consistent, which can make this scam easy to catch. Generally, you want to be on the lookout for one particular phrase: “We will beat any price.”

This should be alarming because while this does mean that the company will work for cheap, it also means that they are not telling you how they value their labor. A professional not setting their own prices means they are not setting their own standards. Paying a fair wage is more expensive, but more worth it as well.

And besides, this does not mean you cannot negotiate. Negotiation is an important part of any business/client relationship. But if the business seems ready to give you, the client, whatever you want no matter how low the cost, then they might not be planning to provide what they say they will provide. Many have ulterior motives and plan to add a variety of extra charges when the work is complete.

2. High-Pressure Sales Tactics

When you are talking with a business about whether or not to hire them, they will generally want to do the work you are offering them, since it means getting paid. Some people assume that a business would rather just not work, but this is not the case. Businesses are smart enough to know that working means making money.

But some businesses treat getting hired as more important work than the work they are actually hired to do. That is to say, they will put a ton of effort into getting you to hire them as a roofing contractor… But once they are actually on the job, all that motivation suddenly dries up.

You can tell there is a difference between a business’ interest in a job and their willingness to do the job by how aggressively they pressure you for the job. The most casual way they will apply pressure is by making their offers seem time-sensitive: “Hire us within the next hour and get 90% off the price!”

That is a best-case scenario though. Most of the time high-pressure sales tactics mean berating you with questions like “Who else will give you this price?” and “What do you know about this business?” These are more commonly directed at female clients, so be on your guard if a business starts posing these questions.

3. An Unusually Large Down Payment

This is the last one on the list because it is important for people to not get too hasty about judging a business for wanting a down payment. Almost all businesses will want one, and literally all of them should seek one. But what is important is how much they try to get you to pay through this down payment.

A down payment that is 20% of the total cost of the job, for instance, is incredibly reasonable. If the business you are hiring asks for that much, it is a good sign. The most you should be willing to accept is 40%. If a business asks you for 50% or more in advance, then they are almost certainly trying to scam you.

Final Thoughts

The unfortunate truth of the roofing business is that no roofing business is that recognizable. There is no Walmart or Amazon of roofing. This means that in order to hire the right roofing business, you cannot just rely on public reputation. You have to know how to tell a scam apart from a real business. Hopefully, this list helped! Need a quote in the Lynchburg area? You can trust us. Fill out our form here.