What if the maintenance estimate or bid is too high?

Tanner with Hemlane
  • Updated

Hemlane's maintenance coordinators work with licensed and insured service professionals, and the majority of these professionals are also bonded. Therefore, you are not going to get the cheapest rate, but you will receive a reasonable price with quality which will save you costs in the long run. 

 
Does Hemlane provide second estimates?
 
We will provide you with a second estimate only when:
(1) The original quote is over $500 and you request a second estimate. Then the maintenance coordinator will provide you with a second quote from another service professional of similar quality. The reason for this is:
  • (A) Tenants complain if they have to take off work and/or arrange to be available too often. Two quotes is at least 3 times they would need to make themselves available.
  • (B) Two service call rates - Often, service professionals will charge a Service Call fee for an estimate which will make the difference in price, if any, quite negligible and not worth the time and effort spent. 
 
(2) If under $500, then we ask you to provide the second service professional for the job. If you are very price conscious and are looking to work with less expensive labor that may not fit our licensing and insurance requirements, you can add your own service professionals under Your Team and we would be happy to coordinate with them and manage the request. 
 
What should I expect on the invoice?
 
Hemlane does it's best to get the invoice broken down into parts and labor. While we cannot guarantee it, based on each situation and service professional, we are here to provide as much transparency as possible. 
 
For receipts, many service professionals purchase the materials in advance or will charge a "trip fee" if you want them to do a store visit for them. Therefore, we do not guarantee receipts with what is quoted.
 
What about emergencies?

When an emergency arises (check definitions here), you will see that service professionals can double their service fee. However, part of the responsibility of maintenance is to address these urgent requests as quickly as possible. You may find cheaper rates but (1) they will schedule for a non-emergency time (days or weeks later) or (2) they may not be licensed for that trade, which makes them cheaper. 

 

HVAC and appliance jobs often have the highest sticker shock. Here are some recommendations if you want to save a bit of money or have more control during the process:

  1. HVAC replacements: You can purchase an HVAC online (e.g. UsedACDepot.com) and then recommend your own professional to install it. 
  2. Appliance replacements: You can purchase appliances online and read more here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keywords: price, estimate, repair, invoice, maintenance, service professional, cost, quote, bid

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