06/28/2019
STORM CHASER WARNING - THIS MESSAGE IS FROM ANNE PAUL, a 30 YEAR PLUS RESIDENT OF CALCASIEU PARISH, WHO IS THE WIFE OF ERIC PAUL / PAUL'S ROOFING, INC:
As of this evening, I have been approached by my fourth storm chaser to give me a roof bid on my house and wanting me to sign an agreement for roof replacement contract. These are initially salesman for the out of town roofing companies with nice folders looking professional and trying to obtain a quick binding contract to begin the process of making a claim, working with your insurance company and making you feel obligated to use them. Some of them even obtain a local cell phone number to appear as a local company. These sales people make a commission off your roof (usually fifteen percent or more marking up the cost). However, that is not my warning. My main point is reminding everyone that these are the same contractors that came in to do large numbers of roofs after the hurricane in 2005 and some of them in 2008. For years after these contractors were gone, a large percentage of people in Calcasieu Parish had problems with their roofs, because of the substandard workmanship. As home owners and business owners had problems with their new roof systems, they found phone numbers disconnected or contractors that lived too far away to make a trip to fix warranty problems. Even contractors that were from Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Alexandria, Houston would not come back to fix their problem roofs. Your local reputable licensed and insured roofing contractors are not going door to door looking for business. This evening, when a young man tried to commit me to his re-roofing contract program, I took his folder and went through the paper work realizing how the out of town contractors were working their new scheme in my neighborhood. In addition, he wanted me to know about the BBB rating, so of course, I honored his wish and checked it out and yes, the company is brand new in Lake Charles with a nice roofing website just developed attached to his BBB (copyright 2019) information. Better yet, I check out the copy of the state license provided, it was not a roofing license, but a general license for doing home improvements, such as interior painting. A license that my 21 year old daughter could apply for (no punt intended Christie). Basically, the entire folder from the storm chaser looked great to the untrained eye until you start to investigate, so please do not be scammed like so many from the 2005 and 2008 storms. One last thing, if you signed the roof replacement contract with any of the sales people coming by your home, you are not obligated to use the company. This is not a legal binding agreement., so don't be bullied by the storm chasers. Confirm you are hiring a local ROOFING contractor that provides quality workmanship and honors warranties.