Don’t Get Cheated by Your Garage Door Opener Repairman

Just when you thought something as simple as buying a new garage door opener was simple – a girl like me comes along to smarten you up to a few ways that you can get scammed!
Scams have been around since the dawn of man (and woman)- after all, didn’t somebody scam Adam and Eve to get a mouthful of forbidden fruit? Fast forward to a few thousand years later and a declining economy, and scamming is running wilder than Hulkamania in the 80’s.
So how have the criminal masterminds of our time found a way to scam you on something as simple as a garage door opener? Let me enlighten you to 3 of the most common scams in this Geraldo Rivera type expose.
– Safety Eyes – These are the sensors that stop and reverse a garage door if a child, animal or object passes in front of them. It is critical that these are always functioning properly. When you purchase a new garage door opener, they ALWAYS come with new safety eyes. Now here’s the an attempt to save time, pocket some money and have a new item for listing on eBay, a serviceman may try leaving your existing safety eyes installed. When the job is done, make sure to inspect the work and be sure that your NEW safety eyes are in place!
– Wall Button – This is the wall control panel to open and close your garage door. Just like the safety eyes, you’ve already paid for this item. It’s part of your package deal and needs to be installed! Make sure that serviceman doesn’t try hooking up your old wall panel and pockets the new one so he can sell it later. Remember to inspect the entire job and make sure that all your new devices have been installed before you pay.
– Tax Fraud – labor for installation is NOT taxable! Garage door openers are considered a home improvement, and thus not taxable. If your technician is trying to charge you tax, he is trying to defraud you!
– I know I said three, but here’s one last thing you should keep in mind – make sure that your devices are installed properly. You don’t want your tech doing a job where he’s already setting up his next visit as a repair service call. You’re probably asking, “I don’t know the first thing about garage doors, so how would I know if it was installed correctly?” Check out this short video. Although it starts out like a commercial, it quickly shows you what you need to know to identify proper installation.
So, when the time comes to invest in a new garage door, garage door opener, or garage door repair, be sure to keep a look out for some of the most common shady tricks of the trade!