Slight of Hand???
Who are you really doing business with?
A lot of people will toddle of to a display village and walk up and down the street, speaking with a number of different sales reps from various companies and they'll all spin you a yarn.
How do you work your way through the maze and find the right builder and the right product for your needs?
Do you go with the guy or gal that smiles nicely and tells a good joke, or laughs loudly at yours? Or is it the snappy dresser who looks like a charmer, or maybe he looks super professional, busy and very serious about what he or she is doing? Perhaps it's the guy who "listens" to you the best and gets your ideas down on paper and shows some interest in what you're looking for, rather than swamps you with what they want to sell to you, with some slick delivery method???
Personally, I'm looking at the product, not the personalities - although, they do have an affect on the atmosphere that you're walking through.
But be aware of the sales rep who starts talking about their competitions supposed short-comings. Not all is as it seems and many times you'll find if you dig a bit deeper, they're providing a false picture and hoping you don't do your homework.
Couple of examples of this sort of tactic that I've heard recently are as follows;
- Colorbond gutters and fascias are a much better option than those galvinised options that you paint. You'll be painting them every 5 or 6 years. What they don't tell you though is if you do go with the Colorbond and you damage the gutter, fascias, downpipes, it's almost impossible to match the paint to repair and in the end you may have to replace a whole section at great expense, or end up looking at a patched up repair that detracts from the overall appearance of your home.
- We use acrylic render, rather than the painted sand render, because it's a much better product. Again the problem here is if the acrylic render is damaged and then moisture gets in between the render and the brickwork, it will blister and bubble and becomes a nightmare to fix and looks unsightly if it's not repaired. Once it's started to bubble and blister, yo may find yourself chasing your tail, trying to stop the spread of the problem and have to remove and replace a large section to stop the rot. The painted render is an easy fix if it is ever damaged. You mix up a bit of sand-cement, apply and paint.
- Our windows are the best choice and all the best builders use this type of window. We won't mention any names, but another brand that a lot of builders go out of their way to rubbish, are actually the best product for a couple of reasons. Firstly they meet Australian Standards and secondly, if you want "Crimsafe" to your home, these are the only windows that you can fix it straight onto, without having to make costly modifications. I've actually spoken with several glaziers and they actually recommend the windows some of these building sales reps try to tell you are inferior.
So, as you can see, sometimes not everything is as it seems, or as someone would have you believe and you really need to do your research. Ask questions and go with the gent or lady who listens and also answers by telling you what they can do, rather than trying to knock the competitions product - a positive attitude is what you're after and not negativity.
