Most Home Improvement Complaints can be avoided with a little extra care.

You’re planning to spend a lot of money on a product that must last a long time and could potentially affect the value of your house or your ability to sell it. Spending some time on research will pay dividends.

You are the customer and the more you know, the more control you have and the more confidence you will have in your decision making.

It is devastating when your new purchase arrives, and it is not as you thought it would be.

No matter how careful you are or how much attention you pay to detail, orders do arrive with mistakes or defects. Orders are damaged in transit, deliveries are late and human beings make mistakes.

Buying from a bigger company doesn’t protect you.

Home improvement products are complex, and the range of choice is vast. The potential for error is ever-present. No wonder that so many customers abdicate responsibility for the purchase by buying from a large national company. It seems reasonable to assume that they must know what they are doing, or they would not be in business.

Feedback on sites such as Trustpilot.com and Feefo.com are evidence that this assumption is misguided. The number of unhappy customers is too high, and some of these companies are not doing enough to correct the issues.

Even the better companies are receiving poor feedback from too many customers. These are well-established companies with years of experience who should have an efficient process. No matter how diligent, mistakes happen – every company has its fair share. Those made in production and installation are usually dealt with and replacements sent out without question. It is easy to establish the root cause of these problems.

Consumers must accept responsibility too.

Mistakes made through salesperson error or customer misunderstanding are more difficult for the company to deal with. Consumers need to take some responsibility too. They must understand what they are ordering and check what they are signing for. The customer rarely reads the contract, but it would be unreasonable to expect that they should understand exactly what needs to be checked. They can only see the bigger picture and trust that the sale person will take care of the details. The onus should be on the company to ensure that the customer fully understands the purchase.  Instead of forcing early appointments, time should be taken to send a brochure and guide before the appointment.

Speed & Greed.

Salespeople and consumers are too busy. Attention spans are shorter, and they think about consequences less. They want to conduct business as quickly as possible and have their own financial motivations. Speed & greed are driving the behaviour of supplier and consumer.

• Salespeople are in a hurry to sign customers because they do not want to miss out on commission or face pressure from superiors.
• Customers are too quick to agree because they fear missing a good deal, thinking that the price will be higher if they wait.
• Suppliers are more interested in profit than customers and do not spend enough on recruiting, training and monitoring of personnel.

The outcome is that customers sign orders before completing their buying cycle and put trust into salespeople who are more concerned about commission than the order. They, in turn, are under pressure from managers who are also motivated by commission. 

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