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So you really don't like Pineapple Pizza?
No...No...No...I do not like Pineapple Pizza at all. But that isn't the question I get the most.
Since Shop Local Delmarva started I have gotten so many messages with questions from everything from A to Z.
Is it OK to promote _____ on the group?
Am I able to share _____ on the group?
Can you share _____ this on the group?
Do you know of a place that does _____?
Can you tell me why my post was taken down?
Can you tell me what I have to do to get my post approved?
Where is a good place to go and eat ____?
I could keep going but you get the point. But the one question or comment that I get quite often happens to be one of the more serious ones. I have had numerous messages from some friends and even some business owners that I don't know all that well regarding people offering services or advertising their services with out the proper insurance and licenses. Hey this guy so and so is isn't licensed or insured. Or is there anything you can do to keep people who don't have the proper licenses from advertising on Shop Local Delmarva?
We do! All of the people that are either supporters, partners, or sponsors of Shop Local Delmarva agree that they are properly licensed and insured. The many, many others that are offering their services on our group...let me say one more time.
PLEASE DO NOT ADVERTISE YOUR SERVICES ON SHOP LOCAL DELMARVA IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE PROPER LICENSES AND INSURANCE
I also ask that any business owner that happens to see someone advertising services without the proper credentials report them. And not to me. I don't have the authority to fine them or really do anything to prevent them from doing this. But reporting them to the proper State Licensing Department can.
What Can You Do
As a consumer start by checking with your state's Department Labor and Licensing. Here is a link to the Maryland Department of Labor Home Improvement Public Query.
Read reviews. And keep in mind what our group was set up for. We aren't a traditional review site and never intended to be. We are a place to promote local businesses.
In your posts make it clear that you are only looking for licensed and insured people. And if you call someone request that information. Look them up and see what experiences others have had. If you see 20 people on Shop Local Delmarva mention the same name over and over. Chances are they are top notch...but I would personally do a bit more digging if it was a major project and something that I was going to spend a good amount of money on.
What happens if I don't?
Here is just one of the many posts that have been done on our group highlighting this. I also want to point out this comment from this posts from one of our moderators who shared a personal story of the nightmare she dealt with...
I’ll try to keep my story short and concise about our experience in this matter earlier this year. Pregnancy, covid, let’s just throw a huge mold issue in there too #2020
This spring, we found out we had mold behind our all three of bathroom walls/ floor/ ceiling. The company our insurance recommended was booked out for months due to COVID, so they agreed to let us find a licensed contractor to do the work. We went off of a recommendation from someone that had done work commercially at local restaurants, and that we knew personally from years of being a regular at the bar I used to work at. I am pregnant, so my husband didn’t want me in the house, therefore our insurance put us up for a month while the work was being done. When I finally got back into the house at the end of May, I was devastated. The bathrooms were almost still down to the studs. Not only was ONLY one shower almost complete after a month, it looked terrible. I called my uncle that lives in Baltimore who has been a licensed contractor for 30 years, in the industry for 40. He’s built thousands of homes and has done thousands of bathrooms. The pictures of the work they did concerned him so much that he immediately drove to see the work in person. He said in over 40 years he’d never even seen a DIY hack job so bad, let alone one from a licensed contractor. That’s when looked up the “license” number that had been included on our quotes and invoices- the number didn’t exist! The man tried to charge me $4000 for a “bathroom” that was put in so shotty that everything needed to be replaced. Since I had someone that was in the industry, I knew the work was illegal and we refused to pay. We gave him a very small amount for the plumbing, and he took the check right to the bank and cashed it. Come to find out, plumbing also had to be redone. I don’t say this to trash this man, but just to say to be careful getting work done on the side. If I hadn’t know any better, we would have kept going with this project and in a few years we would have had to replace everything again. It’s worth it to spend the time to look up the MHIC number in Maryland, and to pay the people that are licensed! This is about protecting the consumers as well at the legit businesses. It’s experiences like this ^ that give the legit guys a bad name. Had I not had someone I knew personally in this industry, our family would have paid $4000 for a bathroom that had to be taken back down, AND out all of the supplies since we purchased all the tile and whatnot. Basically just saying, go look up the MHIC site as soon as you are thinking about hiring a contractor! The risk isn’t worth it, otherwise.
David
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