Warning: heard a contractor say something sketchy at my local coffee shop

I was sitting at that little place off Piedmont, the one with the mismatched chairs, and overheard this guy talking to a homeowner. He was pushing a full roof replacement for a house that maybe just needed some flashing work. Quoted her $12,000 on the spot without even walking the property. I don't know her situation, but it made me think twice about ever hiring anyone without getting at least three quotes first. And definitely get everything in writing, not just a napkin estimate. Has anyone else run into a contractor who tried to upsell you hard before even looking at the problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

hugo_cooper1mo ago

I mean, that "quoted her $12,000 on the spot without even walking the property" part really got me. That's just sketchy. Honestly, I used to be one of those people who thought you could just trust the first guy who seemed nice enough. But after hearing stories like this and seeing my neighbor get burned on a patio that started leaking six months later, I'm totally with you now. Three quotes minimum and paper trails for everything, that's the only way to go. It's wild how fast some people will try to take advantage of someone who doesn't know better.

sam_anderson1mo ago

Honestly, $12k for a full roof replacement isn't even that crazy in some markets, lol. I just had a buddy pay $14k for a mid-tier roof in Atlanta. @hugo_cooper I get the three quotes thing but that guy could have been totally legit and just bad at selling. Sometimes contractors quote high on purpose to filter out tire-kickers. And nobody's forcing the homeowner to sign on the spot. If she's dumb enough to hand over a check without doing any research, that's kind of on her too.

valthomas1mo ago

Used to be more on the fence about this kind of thing but honestly this one changed my mind. It's easy to say "well she should have done research" but not everyone thinks that way when someone's standing at their door being pushy.