How to Find a Good Garage Door Service

You can have the very best garage door in Lawrenceville, GA but sooner or later, it will need service. You might need to have one of your safety sensors adjusted. A spring might have snapped. One of your sections might have fallen out or maybe your opener unit is acting strangely. There are dozens of working parts to your basic garage door so it stands to reason that one of them will need repair, replacement or service at some point. When that happens, finding the right garage door service is all up to you. Do you go with a local handyman to save money? Do you hire the most expensive garage door repair shop in town in your quest for excellence? Do you put the job off for a while until you have more funds to spend on this? There are so many things to consider. Lawrenceville Garage Door Repairoffers these tips on what to do to find the right service shop for you.

Be proactive

Find one now. You may not actually need a garage door repair service right at the moment but why wait until you do? Here’s what most people do. They go about their business, scarcely thinking about their home or business garage door. They may be going to work or on vacation. They may be coming home with a car full of groceries. They may be opening up the garage door because the hot water heater exploded and water is now pouring onto their driveway. The one thing that they all have in common is that they are not thinking of garage door service and they all fully expect their doors and openers to work on demand, just like always.

Panic sets in when your trusty garage door does not do its job. Who do you call? How much will this repair cost? Do you need to replace parts or just repair them? Whose fault is this? Where is the nearest phone book or laptop so that you can call someone? A hundred thoughts race through your head and all you can think about is that you need to do something NOW!

So, what does being proactive have to do with any of this? Everything! If you already have a solid, well established garage door repair service picked out and entered into your smart phone, all you have to do is tap a button and your problem is 90% over! Isn’t that simpler?

All shops are not the same!

You knew that but it never hurts to reinforce the idea. When looking for a good garage door service, your criteria will be the same whether you are here in Lawrenceville or in faraway Honolulu – insist on quality! Resist the urge to get the cheapest help available. This often results in unlicensed service from folks with questionable backgrounds and experience. Keep in mind that these service people are coming to your home or place of business. You don’t have to go with the most expensive service in town, either. There are more important criteria that you need to look for than just price.

Start by actually making some calls or visits. Notice how the people answer the phone and respond to your questions. Do they avoid answering you and put you off with call back promises or vague answers? Do they give free price quotes and offer no-cost consultative assistance to help you better understand their service?

Is the business licensed, bonded and insured? Are they happy to show you proof or do they shy away from your questions? Is emergency service available? Is it offered on a 24/7 basis? Is there a huge mark-up for after-hours service? Do they simply service the garage door itself or does their expertise extend to opener units, springs, safety sensors and other needed components?

Conduct a poll

Not really. You don’t actually need to conduct a poll but it does help to ask around! You have many people that you can get opinions from. People love good service and they hate being overcharged or having to endure rude behavior. Talk to your family members, co-workers, neighbors and other close associates. Ask they about garage door service they’ve received. Not every shop will get all bad or all good reviews; that’s not normal or to be expected. But, as the saying goes, “where there’s smoke; there’s fire” and in this case it holds true. You can usually learn quite a lot by this ask around method. Try it, and just consider it the local, in-person version of checking reviews online.

Angie’s List

Angie’s List is a membership organization designed to be a rating service for contractors of all kinds. You can join as a consumer or as a contractor. Once you do, you’ll get access to ratings for thousands of contractors all over the country including garage door repair, plumbing, attorneys, chiropractic, painters, household movers, landscapers, home chefs, roofers and hundreds more.

BBB

The Better Business Bureau is another membership organization that gives out reports and ratings on members and non-members alike. You can check on ratings, licensing, complaints on file, complaints that went unresponded to and other pertinent data. Non membership in either Angie’s List or the BBB is not a red flag so don’t worry if the shop you are checking on is not a paying member. Be more concerned about unresolved complaints and the number of unhappy customers, if any.

Ads and billboards

Some garage door repair shops will spend quite a bit of money on yellow page ads, internet banners, postcards, direct mail, television commercials, billboards and other forms of advertising. Too often consumers equate big ads with quality service. Don’t make that mistake. Don’t be afraid to call these shops but good word of mouth and referrals are most often a better way to judge a garage door repair firm than just another pretty ad. Remember; your garage door needs to work correctly and safety; every time. Do what you need to do to find the shop that can make that happen!