“If the price is too good to be true, it usually is.” Anyone selling a vintage restoration job at a rock bottom price must get to that very low number by eliminating essential elements of restoration hidden to the customer’s eye. Once this unethical sales effort is successful, the customer has just opened the door to and will usually be deceived in other ways. Here are some steps to help you make the right purchase decision!
- First and foremost, if at all possible, get a referral from someone who has used the company’s services. Ask: Was the work completed as contracted; did the job quality merit your approval; was the restoration done in the specified time frame.
- Check with the Attorney General in your state to see if the business is operating legitimately. Every business should have a license to operate and most states provide a searchable database on line.
- Call the Better Business Bureau in your State and local community to see if any complaints have been registered. You can also look them up on line at https://www.bbb.org/ and search for the business by name and city/state. You can also search by category and state. Keep in mind that most reasonable people have exhausted all other options before getting to the point that the Better Business Bureau is contacted.
- Ask for customer referrals, and an opportunity to speak with them.
- Shop around! The web is a wonderful place. Anyone who is a reputable business should have glowing references for their work.
We hope you get the bargain you are searching for, but take a few extra steps to ensure that you are not parting with your deposit money AND your vintage machine! It has happened!
Vintage machine restoration is an extremely small industry, and those in the business seem to know everyone else in the business!
In our next post, we will describe to you exactly what to look for in a Premium restoration. The more knowledge you have, the better the choices you can make and you can judge the type of work being done for yourself.