Charles B. Oceanside, CA

I had a garage door problem and my immediate thoughts were recalling all the garage door repair ads you get in the mail from various companies who immediately say they are going to take $100 off your next call.  That got my attention in a negative manner because how do they know they are going to take $100 off when they haven’t even got there yet.  I interpreted that to mean you call one of those people and you are going to get over charged to the max.

Because I am cheap, I called 3 different garage door numbers including Best Bet Garage Door/Caleb Ward.  Caleb agreed to come at noon to the residence and the other companies agreed to be there between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., each to give me an estimate of the repair cost. The third company’s number was disconnected.

While waiting til 12 p.m, the other company – who was going to be there between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. – called back and said they were available now also and I explained I had someone else coming who would be there at 12 p.m. and that when he left, I would give them a call because I was shopping for the best rate.  The man said okay,  10 minutes later my cell phone rang again and it was the guy from the 1-4 appointment and he said “One of my employees could be there in 5 minutes.”  I told him to go ahead and send the guy, I would meet him there and he could look at the garage door while he was waiting for my arrival.  The 1-4 guy showed up long before me, called me on my cell phone and told me the repairs I needed were normally $269 but with $100 off, it would only be $169 and why doesn’t he begin immediately to do the repairs?  I told him someone else was coming to give me a comparison rate.  He said okay he would wait there.  I go to the residence and saw the 1-4 garage door repair man talking to the 12 appointment  guy.  As I parked my car the 1-4 garage door repair man got in his truck and simply drove away.

I wasn’t sure what was going on but I had the 12 guy (Caleb) look at the garage door and give me an estimate.  Caleb said he would do the repairs for $99.00.  Obviously I employed Caleb to take care of the garage door problem immediately and he did so in about an hour and a half and the garage door works perfectly since he fixed.

The big deal to me is the 1-4 garage door repair man was giving me a great discount and still charging me $70 than Caleb was.  Caleb explained he was acquainted with the 1-4 guy and the 1-4 guy obviously knew Caleb was going to beat his price, that’s why he drove away. It has happened before.

Charles B.