Are you almost always confused on which snow removal services near you are the best? You always find yourself complaining about the services, and every winter, you decide you will do better next year. The next year is happening, but you still have got no clue on how to hire properly.
The problem is when you hire; you don’t have the checklist that can help you decide. Think about what happens when you go grocery shopping without a list! You get a lot of things you don’t need, and then forget some of the most important ones that you needed to buy. Ultimately, you spend more and don’t even get what you need.
It happens due to the lack of checklist. Let us solve it for you. Here’s a list to hire snow removal services.
- Proper equipment: Usually, our experts always talk first about a company being licensed and insured. It’s truly important, but with snow removal services, the equipment holds much more value. The company should have equipment suitable for regular and heavy use. Heavy duty equipment is necessary during heavy snowfall and snowstorms. They may occur just once or twice in your area but those times will be horrifying if they don’t have the equipment to cater for such situations. Checking for the license isn’t optional.
- The communication system: Email service alerts can do a great job in setting your expectations rightly and plan your day around them. You can always know about snow conditions at the earliest. It truly helps and at the same time, if you opt for a service that’s listed at samedaypros.com, you can use our app to get real-time location details of the service pros. Overall, the proper communication channels actually benefit you like never before.
- Service package details: Read the point carefully for it includes a lot of items that have to be enlisted into the checklist. While picking a service package, check if they include things like prevention of ice build-up, melting the snow and protection against drifting of snow apart from the usual snow removal. You should also inquire at what time they’ll remove the snow, what will be the frequency and when they will start working on the job (how thick the snow should be). Some more questions you should ask are: What’s included in the package – stairs, steps, driveways, sidewalks? Who pays the cost of de-icers used? Will they clear only after the snowstorm end or provide services even during the storm (after the threshold level is met)? Will they remove heavy snow from the rooftops? Any additional charges for any of the services mentioned?
- Contractor planning for various situations: Every contractor must have a written plan for different types of cases. It’s because the approach has to differ with the situation. For example, the method is almost always different for midnight snowstorm as compared to the one during rush hour. Check if your contractor has written response plans laid out and how good they are at following it.
- Insurance: Insurance costs, especially in the snow plowing industry, have risen to at least 20% over the last few years. If you hire a contractor that doesn’t have an insurance and someone files a claim against you (worse case scenario but very probable), you can be held liable along with the contractor. Legal issues are already scary, and then you run the risk of paying a huge compensation to the complainant. It’s true that an insured contractor will cost you more, but it makes sense to hire an insured one still.
- Reviews, recommendations and complaints: Don’t give into those attractive ads and exceptionally low prices. Due research is mandatory. Read the reviews even before calling the contractor and asking for a quote. Once you shortlist a few, ask for the quotes as well as recommendations. Talk to these real people and ask them a lot of questions regarding their experience with the contractor in question. Then hit back on the internet to check for the complaints against the company. You don’t need to take every single complaint or review seriously. Focus on having a general idea on what to expect from the service.
- Ask for the written estimate: Lastly, to seal the deal, you must ask for a written contract. Have an estimate with every single detail written over it? Read the fine print before signing the contract. Once you sign it, your work is done.
That’s the only checklist you need in your life for hiring snow removal services. However, we have two things to suggest you before we take your leave.
- Convert this checklist into a numbered list. Each point mentioned here will make more than 2-3 points. Deal with each of them separately.
- Use our brilliant tool to locate same day services near you. We provide you an easy, quick and hassle-free way to find any same day professionals. Try it out now!
