| But over the last couple of
years, we have seen a steady shift in clients’ expectations. Their
demands are higher, which is fine, but the number of clients with unrealistic expectations
has grown from maybe one in five hundred to one in fifty.
These are the people who renegotiate their house
purchase based on the inspection results; then anything, and we mean anything, that goes
wrong after they move in is Electrospec’s fault. They argue that they could
have renegotiated for more had they been aware of the problem or perceived problem.
"Had you told me, I would have had the Vendor fix
it." These include: a missing latch on a screen door, missing caulking around a
window, and a broken electrical outlet behind the china cabinet. All cost less than $100
but clients feel we should have noted them.
They would like us to pay.
On the other end of the
spectrum are the clients who bought an older home with original, but serviceable windows.
They have called four window contractors and guess what? All four say they need new
windows. How could Electrospec miss this $9,000.00 problem?
Still others find hidden problems
that they readily admit the Vendor concealed but we should have caught. Why else would
they put down new carpet? Didn’t the fresh paint make you suspicious? You should have
predicted they were hiding something. |
One time a client asked an
inspection firm to pay $22,000 to dig up around his house to waterproof it and add
drainage tile. His basement was not wet but felt damp. Three waterproofing contractors all
said to dig.We are convinced that the quality of our inspections has
not slipped. We firmly believe that this is a shift in customer expectations and
philosophies.
We had a choice to make. We could
have taken a very heavy handed approach to our inspections. This would include coming down
hard on every potential problem and writing "cover yourself" reports. We could
never offer "most-likely scenarios", only "worst possible case"
predictions, if we offered any predictions at all.
During the course of a home
inspection, we are offering more than just the facts. We are offering a professional
opinion. If we offered just the facts, it would go like this:
"The furnace is working
today. (We have no opinion as to how old it is or how long it might last, or what your
options are when it comes time to replace it, or what a new one might cost)." or
"The basement is dry today. (We have no opinion as to what it will be like in the
spring, or what minor improvements you should make to avoid a future problem)."
|
Our opinions will
sometimes be wrong because we don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle. Often, some of
the pieces are concealed. If we got to tear things apart, we would sometimes come to
different conclusions. Other times, our opinion simply varies from another expert or
contractor.
Instead of writing heavy-handed
or no-opinion reports, we decided to keep our reports as even-handed as possible and make
sure every client signs our contract. The contract is intended to protect us against the
unreasonable client.
Unrealistic clients don’t view our
report as a professional opinion. They view it as an insurance policy with a zero
deductible and no annual renewal costs.
To allow us to continue to
provide good quality, even-handed reports to the forty-nine out of fifty people who
deserve them, we have been forced to utilize a contract that makes our clients know, in no
uncertain terms, that the inspection is an opinion and not a warranty or a guarantee.
Our colleagues south of the
border have been warning us for years that this would happen. We hate to admit it, but
they are finally right!
If you have questions that you’d
like to see answered in ‘All Around The House’, send them to Electrospec at
16852 Telephone Road, Trenton, Ont. K8V 5P4
‘All Around The House’ is distributed monthly by Electrospec
Home Inspection Services, in southeastern Ontario. Call (613) 391-8515 or toll free
1-888-394-6954 for information or bookings. |
All
Around The
House™
