“What to do when a contractor doesn’t deliver and how to avoid shoddy or unlicensed contractors in the first place”

What do you do when a contractor you’ve hired delivers shoddy, overpriced or incomplete service?

Or better yet…how do you avoid them in the first place?

One of the most useful resources for any Arizona Home Owner is the Registrar of Contractors.

Your first stop before calling a contractor

Here’s what you do.

Follow the circled link on the main page. This will take you to the ‘license query’ page.

Enter the company name here

After you’ve done this search enough times, don’t be surprised to discover that a service provider who represented himself as fully licensed, bonded and insured is not licensed at all.

Usually, you’ll find the company’s information right away. But if you can’t locate a contractor’s record in the Registrar of Contractors, ask them for their contractor license number or ROC number.

Make sure this number corresponds with the name they are doing business as.

Here’s an example search result.

A good first sign is nothing appearing in the ‘action’ field

“The three words that almost always get you immediate satisfaction if something goes awry”

Recently, an electrical contractor sent me an invoice for two billable hours for what was supposed to be a free estimate. When I called their billing department to explain this, their response was: “Pay up.”

So I sent them a little note explaining my dissatisfaction and mentioned that I would be contacting the Registrar of Contractors about it.

Voila…the three words.

The very next day, the owner of the company left a voice mail apologizing for the misunderstanding. He not only said forget about the bill but offered discounted work in the future if I would give him another try…which I did.

Others have had similar experiences.

Will this work every time? Of course not.

But for the contractors who value their reputation, these three little words accomplish much.

And if you do have to file a complaint, the form is available on the ROC site. My experience with this agency is they are very responsive.