By Cheril Lee
Omaha, NE – Whenever there's any kind of catastrophic event, whether it's a tornado, hail or prolonged flooding, there's a good opportunity for scam artists.
Jim Hegarty is the President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Nebraska and Western Iowa. He says eventually when it comes time for cities to clean up, these out of town firms move into the area and offer deals that seem too good to be true. Hegarty says these companies usually have less than desirable track records with customer service. He says the issue is by the time customers realize there are problems with the work, the firms have left town and are on to the next city that's experienced bad weather.
Hegarty advises residents to be wary of door to door salesmen, "Take your time. Be patient and allow an independent third party, such as the Better Business Bureau to vet the company for you. It's likely that if this is a well-established firm, they are going to have a positive business review at the Better Business Bureau that's going to give consumers that level of comfort that they are looking for. People want to know they are dealing with a firm that's going to take care of any warranty issues that emerge."
For more information, the website is www.nebraska.bbb.org