Contractors teach lesson in marketing

Katrina damaged the roof of my house, and I'm now working on getting it repaired. I've dealt with three roofing contractors, whom I'll dub A, B, and C. I want to give the work to C. Why?

• I spoke to Contractor A on the telephone. His attitude turned me off. He seemed to be spoiling for a dispute with my insurance adjuster over the scope of the work. I felt uncomfortable heading into this project with the assumption that there's going to be a dispute.
• Several weeks ago, I spoke to Contractor B briefly while he was in the neighborhood to inspect a neighbor's roof damage, and told him that I need similar work. He took down my contact information. Several weeks later, an estimate arrived by email. By this time, I'd forgotten that this was the contractor I'd spoken to. It took me several days to connect the estimate with the conversation of several weeks prior. I had a few follow-up communications with the contractor's office. The lady I communicated with was courteous, but she had to talk to "the roofer" to answer my questions. So I wasn't communicating directly with the person responsible for the work.
• Contractor C had just finished doing the job next door, completing the job in two days. My wife, who was home while the work was going on, told me that the crew was professional and courteous. So when I saw their folks outside my neighbor's house, I mentioned that I was interested in having them do my work too. One of them gave me a business card with his own phone number hand-written on the back; he said to call the office, but if for some reason I had any trouble getting through, to call him. Here's the timetable (so far) of my dealings with Contractor C since then:
  
  • Wednesday, Nov. 16: Telephone Contractor C's office, tell them I have a job for them; describe the job.
  • Thursday, Nov. 17: "Johnny," employee of Contractor C, telephones me at my office. He has been to my house to take measurements. He gives me the timetable for getting the work done and an approximate payment schedule.
  • Friday, Nov. 18: Johnny stops by my house to drop off the estimate. It's the same guy I talked to on the phone; the same guy who worked up the estimate.
  • Monday, Nov. 21: I telephone Johnny to verbally accept the estimate. We discuss a few additional items not included in the estimate (i.e. damaged weatherboards). Because mail delivery is sporadic in New Orleans, Johnny offers to stop by my house to get my signature on the contract and accept a $100 deposit.
  • Tuesday, Nov. 22: A few minutes ago, Johnny's assistant, Earl, stops by (Johnny was unexpectedly tied up). Johnny had been scheduled to stop by at 8:00 a.m.; Earl was here at 7:55 a.m. Earl knows everything that's going on; answers all my questions. So far, everything has proceeded exactly as Johnny told me it would.

In sum: Contractor C responded immediately to my phone call, jumped on the project, told me exactly what to expect and how much it would cost, and has timely done everything promised—no surprises. This is how I like to be treated when having work done that's important to me. I'll wager that clients and potential clients like to be treated the same way by people who do their important legal work.

Comments

[Jennifer]

You're very lucky to have found such a good company. Stories of bad contractors abound right now, so it's great to hear a good one. My favorite "roof repair" story is from one of my friends who had a live oak fall into her living room. She got three estimates for removal (not repair of the house, just removal of the tree) and they were all $20,000! For that much money, I might just be inclined to live in a "treehouse". :)