Many homeowners are reluctant to pen less-than-perfect reviews because they are fearful of blowback by contractors/home service professionals. The reality is, however, most pros strive to do a good (or great) job. In our experience, when a good pro hears about a homeowner who had a less than perfect experience with their organization, they are more than willing to fix the issues in order to make their clients happy, especially if they receive a poor review.
To help homeowners write more effective reviews, and provide a more realistic rating, the following are suggestions that may help you when rating and reviewing a home service professional.
Who?
Think about who you dealt with at the company. From your first call to your final meeting, what were the people like?
- Did you feel confident that they represented the company and are experts in their field and provided the right solutions?
- Did you ever feel uncomfortable, or were you ever unhappy with the professionalism of the company representatives? Were they courteous, respectful and professional?
- As well as evaluating the performance of the pros who actually did the work, think of the office staff. How would you evaluate the work of each person you dealt with in this company? Would you give all of them a 10?
- Tip: DO NOT include any full names in your review as this is against our review guidelines.
What?
Consider the work the company performed or intended to perform.
- Did you understand and agree upon what exact work was going to be undertaken?
- Was the work done as expected?
- Were you unpleasantly surprised by any of the work that was completed?
- Or, did they go over and above to deliver a superior product?
- Did they properly finish their work?
- Was the job site thoroughly cleaned up after the close of each day?
Where?
Did your contractor understand any restrictions surrounding the location they are working in?
- If you’re a condo dweller, did the contractor understand the rules around workday hours, parking, loading, garbage disposal, noise restrictions etc.?
- Many condos have restrictions around what kind of renovations and upgrades can be made. Was your contractor knowledgeable about restrictions in your building? Did they know what to ask?
- Did your contractor know how to obtain the right permits for your area – municipal, parking and any others that are required in your specific location?
When?
Think of the timeline of the work and how the company communicated what was happening during the project.
- Did the company do the work when they promised to?
- Did the company give you a realistic timeline for your project?
- If there were delays, were you made aware of them?
How Much?
How a budget is managed can make or break a project.
- Were you provided with an estimate you both agreed to prior to the work commencing?
- Was this estimate adhered to?
- If the budget went over, were you made aware in time enough to approve the overage?
- Did you understand the budget increase?
Now that you have a better idea of what to include in your review, there’s only one thing left to do — write that review. Whether it’s been a week, a month or a year since the project was completed, the company will always be happy to receive feedback. In addition, everyone in the HomeStars community will gain knowledge based on your experience and make a better hiring choice as a result. Your opinion matters, so make sure to share it by writing a review today!
Article updated May 2020.
