How to Spot a Shady Contractor

As a painting contractor in Portland, Oregon, Brian Erik Jamison warns people to beware of untrustworthy contractors. It has become an epidemic in the US of shady house contractors giving the prestigious ones a bad name.

Many innocent people need work done on their house, but often, they end up being badly scammed by contractors. Such contractors vanish like ghosts with the clients’ money – leaving sloppy/fraudulent jobs behind.

Brian Erik Jamison prides himself on honest communication and quality work with his clients in Portland, Oregon. The painting lifestyle has become near and dear to his heart. As Johnson said: “I always feel the pain of losing jobs to shady contractors, and have seen the frustration and pain in customers when they hire me to come in and fix damage done by shady contractors.”

To protect you from such shady contractors, in this article, we give you some tips that will not only help you spot a bad contractor but will also keep you from getting conned. Read on!

If a contractor comes to you unsolicited seeking for business, he might be fishy. In this regard, just ignore those who knock on your door and give you an offer. Good contractors are busy and do not need to go door to doo. It is important that you do proper homework on contractors in your town/area.

You need to ask him a question – it must be something that you already know the answer to! So, if the contractor answers you differently, then he is a sketchy contractor. Ding a red flag right away!

We are living in a digital age. Almost all companies in different industries have business websites to attract people and turn them into customers. While there are many classy contractors and companies that offer exceptional services, there exist deceitful contractors – such people have now stepped into the online world as well.

One of our clients, Beth Harrison, told us a horrible story about how she was scammed online. Mrs. Harrison looked for a painting contractor online, she reviewed a number of websites and finally selected one of them.

“I found a website that claimed to offer excellent painting service in Portland, Oregon. I filled the form online and made the payment via my credit card. They said they will send a technician to for a preliminary check. I waited for two weeks but no one came to my house. I filed a report against the company with the sheriff’s office. The contractor was eventually arrested and charged with fraud by a police unit, caught through an online bust” – said Mrs. Harrison.

So, you must be aware of such sketchy contractors. Also, you need to do some research. There are official, authentic, and sophisticated websites where you can look for contractors. Using websites like Yelp, you can check if there are any complaints about the contractor.

Another important thing you need to do is checking your cities board of contractors site online to ensure he is reputable. Then you can determine whether the contractor is insured and/or licensed.

Lastly, a good contractor usually does not want cash or the payment up front. However, after hiring a contractor, you need to give him a reasonable down payment and/or payments that are based on the schedule. Good luck!