Warning

Before you choose a Gutter Protection company ask them these 10 Simple Questions first

  1. Do they have an effective way of checking your roof for problems? – If this step is not completed you can run the issue of delays for your installation and worse still some other companies have been known to charge clients more because they haven’t measured the meterage correctly, or found other problems.
  2. Is the product made / manufactured in Australia? – Unfortunately there are a lot of imitation imports which do not pass Australian Fire Ratings. Putting a cheap imported product on your roof could mean less protection and possible problems in the near future which could be very difficult to have rectified. It could be very difficult to be compensated if the product is from overseas. Buy Australian made.
  3. Do they use saddles to install the product? – By not using saddles to secure the product to your (tin) roof during insulation, you run the risk of warping and possible lifting leading to more debris catching and staying on your roof instead of blowing off.
  4. Ask to see their Public Liability Insurance Cover – What if someone is severely injured or your property is damaged? Most house hold insurances won’t cover this type of claim. Once again YOU may be at risk.
  5. Do they Guarantee their workmanship in writing? – Verbal guarantees may sound good on the day but are totally useless. Good companies will have written warranties.
  6. Do they offer a written product guarantee? – Again, verbal guarantees sound great at the time but are totally useless if a problem ever occurs and then becomes ‘he said, she said’ which we all know how that ends. Get you guarantee in writing.
  7. Do they clean your gutters before installation? – Some companies don’t even bother; others have you do it before installing their product and some charge extra for this service.
  8. Do they supply you with a detailed quote outlining all preparation to be undertaken, material to be used and type of work to be performed? – Unfortunately the value of a well written proposal is often only understood after a problem develops. It’s only what’s written down that will count. Lack of detail leaves you with no leg to stand on should a dispute arise
  9. Ask to see references – Can you see references from satisfied customers?
  10. Do they explain the preparation that is required? – Correct preparation is the key to the long term sustainability of the protection of your gutters. Try to find out what they propose to do.

Beware! Cheaper is not always better…

We all know you get what you pay for but how can we tell the difference between good quality and an inferior product?
Like any business you deal with each one promotes a similar product to the next but not necessary the same quality or the same service you will receive. Some may use an inferior product that cost them less money, some may use cheap unskilled labour or take short cuts, some have hidden extras that you are not aware of until it’s too late and others don’t have insurances just to save themselves some money.

What may initially seem a better deal can potentially cost you more money. We all have at some point purchased something before that sounded like a bargain and ended up costing us more money. When making any investment ask good questions don’t feel pressured and compare Apples with Apples…

For the best gutter protection contact us here at Gutter knight

The dirty tactics and lies of gutter guard salespeople EXPOSED!

Here is something you won’t see anyone else telling you about and we are the first to do this after reading you will see why…

Bad mouthing competitors

Wow this is a great one! Companies who badmouth their competitors just to make themselves look better?
Seriously?

If some companies ‘sales strategies’ are to badmouth others to try and win a job you have to ask yourself this question: this person’s moral ethics are obviously lacking so could I trust what else they tell me and would I really want to ‘risk’ them working on my job?

High pressure sales buy NOW and SAVE!

This one is a beauty and gets used a lot; the salesperson pitches a high price and sometimes the customer just agrees and accepts the quote. If not, the salesperson says something to the effect of “I shouldn’t really be doing this but I want to help you out” and then pulls out a discount voucher for the customer to use but the ‘catch’ is they have to use it right now and if they don’t sign now the ‘special deal’ will not be offered ever again.

Don’t fall for this one you are allowed as much time as you want to make an informed decision don’t be pressured by anyone.

You need to have your partner available before I will come out

Believe it or not this one is generally said to the female when they book an appointment. C’mon, this is bad sales strategies of the 80’s having both parties there to do a high sales spiel so they can sign on the spot without having the objection of ‘I need to ask my partner first’

How rude is that to even suggest that a female can’t make up her own mind, understands or can even pass on the info correctly to her partner.

Warranties and Guarantees

This one is always a concern as the majority of the time the salesperson / business owner ‘verbally’ tells you about how wonderful their guarantees and warranties are to entice you to buy. We all know when an issue occurs that’s when the warranty is valuable and a ‘verbal’ one given at the time is generally useless compared to a written one.

Deposits

Now, there is nothing wrong with asking for a deposit as virtually every business does. We all understand that businesses do have to incur some upfront costs to do your work and if you simply change your mind the business owner can lose money and really that’s not fair either.

What I am saying here is be careful of how much the business owner is asking for as this can be a reflection of the financial strength of their business.

Unfortunately, I have heard more than a few times now from some customers how they were asked for the FULL amount UPFRONT in CASH! Now, that has to ring ‘alarm bells”!!

Good businesses take a small deposit if any.

Insurances

We all know the cost of having annual insurances and the gutter guard industry is no exception. In our business, we pay thousands of dollars a year and it just keeps going up but we still pay as it is a must-have.

Insurances protect YOU the property owner from any damages that could occur. Gutter guard businesses can save a small fortune by not paying for insurances and some don’t. It is your right to ask them to show you a copy, if they don’t have it, make excuses, that’s up to you then.

Aluminium mesh thickness

Some companies out there love to tell people how thick their mesh is and even show you a sample to prove it, then go on to baffle you with science on the GSM of it.

Aluminium mesh is not measured by thickness but rather weight, GSM is the measurement used for ‘paper’ you probably have heard or seen 80gsm paper that just relates to the thickness. Aluminium mesh is actually measured by ‘weight’ (grams per square metre) which is more accurate.

Aluminium mesh is made by using raw aluminium, then holes are punched into it then the sheet is stretched, as it is stretched there are always slight variances in thickness along the length.

Now here is the ‘sly trick’; some salespeople will show you a sample of a ‘thick’ piece of mesh and say theirs is superior when in actuality all they did was find a section of ‘thicker’ mesh and cut it out.

Mesh / fittings strength test

Here’s another doozy! The sales rep tells you their product is stronger than all the others and then brings out products from other companies (apparently) and proceeds to bend them in front of you till they break and usually they break very quickly – the magician trick here is the sales rep pre-bends / stresses the products before they see you and of course the product breaks quickly and the rep says “there you go not very strong are they?” The reality apart from this cheap party trick proves absolutely nothing is the mesh / fittings once fitted to your roof do not bend back and forth like in the demo.

Fire resistant

Would you believe there is a gutter guard brand promoting fire retardant gutter guard and in the small print on ‘another’ page under ‘disclaimer’ says; may not meet some fire ratings in bushfire prone areas we do not accept responsibility for use – c’mon make your mind up does it work or not?

If fire resistance is a concern for you; just stick with Aluminium or steel mesh

Second-hand components being used

I have seen companies advertising that they don’t use second-hand (or factory seconds) components like others – now I have never seen anywhere where you can actually buy ‘seconds’ but some companies want you to believe that others do.

If ‘seconds’ are actually available anywhere good companies wouldn’t waste their time with this anyway.

Colorbond® warranty

Salesperson says Warranty is fully covered by Colorbond – Colorbond does not make gutter guard or any components nor does it provide warranties for this (as confirmed by Colorbond).

Maintenance

The reality is that all gutter guards require some form of maintenance some even need to be pulled out and cleaned every 3 months (bet they don’t tell you that at the time) A good quality gutter guard may only require very minor maintenance such as a quick flush out with a hose once a year even less depending on rainfall.

Why am I telling you this?

Why have we exposed these tricks you may be asking? I’m a consumer too, and it makes me fuming mad when people don’t fully tell the truth or just plain out blatantly lie just to get a sale, and once you have paid the money and find out later well that’s just too late – and yes its happen to me and it’s wrong. The way I look at this is; if someone needs to lie, cheat, make up stories to their customers then they don’t deserve your business.

Servicing all of Brisbane and beyond for all gutter guard needs.

To see how we can help you solve your blocked gutter problems just contact us we would love to hear from you. Looking forward to speaking with you very soon!

Brisbane Gutter Guard servicing all types of roofs including valleys for both residential and commercial gutter mesh installations.