Resolving Basement Waterproofing Complaints – U.S. Waterproofing’s Advice
The basement waterproofing business is like any other contracting or home service industry.
There are large, full-service companies and one-man-and-a-pickup-truck businesses that typically specialize in one small aspect of basement waterproofing, like crack repair.
There are companies that focus on basement waterproofing and others that do it as part of a long laundry list of services like plumbing, HVAC and general contracting.
And, of course, there are great companies, good companies and, well, not-so-good companies.
Sometimes, unfortunately, a homeowner may run into one of the latter, or may have an isolated or atypical problem with a reputable company that gives rise to a complaint about the service. The vast majority of companies in our industry will resolve that complaint with their customer without delay and everyone walks away satisfied.
Occasionally, though, these complaints can’t be resolved between the basement waterproofing contractor and the customer and other means of resolution are needed.
Resolving Basement Waterproofing Complaints
Any discussion about the right way to resolve a basement waterproofing complaint should probably include an illustration of the wrong way — just in case.
Regrettably, the availability and instant gratification of social media platforms online has created an attitude among some consumers that the way to get satisfaction is to complain loud and long in as many public forums as possible. Others choose to utilize online review sites like Yahoo, Google Reviews and the ubiquitous Yelp to post negative reviews, hoping somehow that this will get their problem fixed.
It’s not to say that a consumer who has had a negative experience with any company shouldn’t post an appropriate review to inform others that they may be in for the same. However, doing so as a means of resolving a complaint is likely only to create hard feelings and lead to no resolution at all.
One of the best ways to resolve a basement waterproofing complaint, or any complaint or dissatisfaction with a company, service or product, is to take part in the complaint resolution process conducted by the Better Business Bureau.
When a consumer has tried and failed to resolve a basement waterproofing complaint with the contractor, he or she can file a complaint with the BBB. The consumer provides the name of the company, the nature of the business transacted and a thorough description of the problem. The consumer is also asked to provide the BBB with a desired outcome.
The BBB then contacts the contractor and requests a response within 14 days; a second request is sent if there is no response in that time. Most complaints are resolved within 30 days.
A business’ response to complaints forwarded by the BBB is part of the criteria used to determine the business’ BBB rating. A company with a history of ignoring customer complaints or providing inadequate responses will see its rating drop – complaint volume and handling are a key part of determining the rating.
Considering that so many consumers turn to the BBB for help in choosing a business, BBB ratings are very important to companies, especially since the BBB of Chicago and Northern Illinois has now included customer reviews for member businesses.
At U.S. Waterproofing, we pride ourselves on our successful track record, which we began to compile back in 1957 when we were founded. Since then, we have served more than 300,000 satisfied customers around Chicago and northwest Indiana. Of course, we want each of our customers to be happy right from the start but we also value feedback from customers with questions or complaints and always try to resolve them promptly, a practice that is reflected in our A+ rating from the Chicago BBB. Why not contact us when you have water problems in your basements?