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Posted By: VTwireguy contract work - 03/03/04 10:54 PM
Have one man shop in VT. Got call from company wanting me to contract with them to do work . Thier name is First American Home Buyers Protection co. Was wondering if anyone else does or has done business with them. Apparently they manage home mortgage complaints and repairs. They have a rather lengthy contract and I thought I better check it out first. Any help would be appreciated.
Posted By: Roger Re: contract work - 03/03/04 11:10 PM
Proceed with caution. This type of contract needs to be scrutinized by an attorney. I would bite the bullet and spend the money to have it reviewed before signing to their terms.

Roger
Posted By: Anonymous Re: contract work - 03/03/04 11:52 PM
Ditto to Rogers comments
I can not speak about this company and it could well be worth a look. However, I have seen similar adds and have been approched. When it was all said and done I would be working for "wages", and, would not be able to cover the overhead I do have at what they pay and still make a living.
Posted By: Electric Eagle Re: contract work - 03/04/04 12:42 AM
I haven't done this type of work before, but I know someone who has. His was through American Home Shield. From what I understand, they liked to argue over if a repair should be done under warranty or not and then didn't want to pay a lot. The upside was a foot in the door of a potential new customer. If you're good at selling customers on other work, it might be good, if not you may not make much.
Posted By: Jim M Re: contract work - 03/04/04 12:57 AM
I looked at one of these a while ago. Basically they wanted a flat rate pricing for the most common repairs. It left no room for something out of the ordinary for any additional money. The repair list was also rather vague as to what was included in the price you were supposed to quote.
Posted By: Edward Re: contract work - 03/04/04 01:51 AM
I worked for them for a while. The problem is they need to know a flat rate before you begin the work. For example how do you flat rate troubleshooting. If you tell them $65.00 they will be happy but if it takes more than an hour you are screwed. If you tell them $65.00 per hour until i find the problem they will say NO.

Another problem with them is if anything is over ( i think) $125.00) you have to call them to get approval. Now the person on the other end (just a college student without any technical background)asks you some dumb questions and after taking your time for 15-30 minutes then you will get your approval.

Then when it comes to paying, i had some trouble with them. It took them almost one month to pay me $900 for a panel i replaced after faxing,mailing and many discussions on the phone.

That was my experience with them. You might have better luck.

Edward

[This message has been edited by Edward (edited 03-03-2004).]
Posted By: VTwireguy Re: contract work - 03/04/04 01:36 PM
Thanks for the responses. I feel as most of you do about having to lock in at a price and will probably let this op pass. Besides, they have my number, if they truely need something done, all they have to do is call right ?
Posted By: donles Re: contract work - 03/04/04 02:51 PM
I've done some warranty work but didn't go as far as to sign a contract. I don't think it's a good deal for the electrician for the following reason.
The calls I got were to homes that had recently been sold and there was a problem such as dead receptacles. The homeowner has a $50 deductible that pays for the visit. Before any work is done, the warranty company wants an estimate of the repair cost. It's a Catch-22 because I can't estimate this type of repair unless I dig into the circuit. The warranty doesn't cover the usual causes such as previous owner's DIY wiring mistakes or home-inspection issues such as 2 wires landed on a breaker, etc. So I have found that it's best to explain to the homeowner that the problem probably isn't covered and to let them know what my charges will be - time and material.
I haven't done the contract because I don't think I want this type of work. The jobs are small and the warranty company is the one making out. As far as I am concerned, they shouldn't even be in the equation. They are trying to marginalize (is that a word?) the tradesman by trying to impose fixed prices.
Don
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