Featured Homeowner: Rabbi Levi Recaps His ServiceWhale Experience
Our featured homeowner of the week is Rabbi Levi Haskelevich. Rabbi Levi was kind enough to give us some insight on how ServiceWhale was able to find him a great deal on a fairly complex roofing issue.
Q: What was the particular issue with your roof?
A: I have a fairly large front porch at my home in Philadelphia with a flat roof that covers it. Over time, the wood began to rot and we had a major issue with animals and water getting inside the beams. It was a total mess.
Q: Sounds like a pretty unique situation. Definitely not as cut and dry as updating the roof on your actual house.
A: Exactly. I really just wanted to patch up the holes that were created by squirrels and moisture. Initially, I didn’t even want to replace the roof or the supporting beams because I thought it would be way too expensive. However, I’m a Rabbi, not a roofer, so I figured it would be best to get advice from an experienced professional.
Q: How did you hear about ServiceWhale?
A: A good friend of mine told me about ServiceWhale. He read an article about you guys and forwarded it along to me. I’m extremely busy with my congregation and rarely have time to meet with contractors, so this seemed like a great fit.
Q: What was your experience like generating quotes on ServiceWhale?
A: It was a very straightforward process. Like I mentioned, I’m not a contractor, so these things are usually like a foreign language to me. However, in the case of ServiceWhale, the questions were easy to answer and I got through the quoting process in just a couple of minutes.
Q: Great! So you found the right price for your project immediately and booked it?
A: Actually, no. Because my project was pretty unique, I needed some additional information from the contractor. In my case, I saw 5 different quotes, but they all seemed to be for replacing the entire roof on my house. Once I chose a contractor that I felt comfortable working with, I sent him a few pictures of the situation so he could see exactly what I needed to get done. That was extremely convenient, in my opinion, because as soon as he saw them he knew that he needed to adjust his quote. Ultimately, he asked if he could visit me at my house to see the roof in person before committing to a final price and I agreed to the visit. I wasn’t able to meet Andrey, the contractor, in person because of a scheduling conflict, but since he could look at the roof from outside it was totally fine. Because ServiceWhale pre-screens each contractor, I didn’t have an issue giving him my address. That was definitely nice as well.
Q: Got it. So you liked the ability to communicate with the contractor and get on the same page before having to invite him over for an estimate?
A: Absolutely. To me, that was probably the most important part of the process. My schedule is often so crazy that the thought of meeting with a bunch of contractors to get prices for this project was the reason that it took me so long to have it done in the first place. Using ServiceWhale, I was much more in control of what was happening…I generated the quotes on my own time, selected a contractor I liked best, asked him questions, sent him photos, and then agreed to have him come over. The deal was basically done before he ever came over. I haven’t seen anything like that before. I’d probably still be shopping if it wasn’t for ServiceWhale, honestly.
Q: Did you feel like you got a great deal when it was all said and done?
A: I did. The entire job cost me just over $1,800 and it ended up being quite a bit of work, so I feel like I made out pretty well. The original quote (after Andrey verified everything in person) was around $1,400, but since I was getting such a good price, I asked him to do a few more improvements on the roof and we ended up settling on $1,800.
Q: Awesome! We love hearing that. How was the quality of the work when the job was finished?
A: It was better than I expected. My wife and I went on vacation the week the roof was being replaced, so everything was done while we were away. We came home to a brand new roof over our porch – no holes, no remnants of any damage, fresh paint. We were very happy.
Q: Would you prefer to find contractors through ServiceWhale in the future? If so, why?
A: I’ll definitely be using ServiceWhale for future projects. For starters, the quoting process is amazing. That alone made the whole experience worth it. I feel like I saved so much time just by getting the prices right away. Also, the fact that all of the prices are guaranteed on ServiceWhale is really reassuring. I know that once a contractor and I agree on a number, they’re not going to try and increase it on me at the last second. And if they do, ServiceWhale covers the difference so it’s a win-win situation. All in all, I’d say this was by far the most convenient way to shop for a home improvement project. From getting prices, to communicating with contractors, to booking, it was a breeze. Thanks, ServiceWhale!
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