Ric Borski, president of the Kitchener office of the Better Business Bureau office, which covers the Barrie area, says people calling in with complaints after giving deposits to contractors is quite common.

“Absolutely,” he says. “It’s always been in the top 10 complaints, always has been and always will be.”

He agrees with everything Alan McLellan of Renovations by Rodgers states in the previous article.

“The thing most people don’t do is due diligence,” Borski says. “They don’t check out a company. Sometimes, they’re just people looking for some extra work in the summertime. We suggest – number one – is it a company? Do they have a location? A cellphone number on a business card isn’t enough. Many individuals just hand out flyers and hope to land jobs.

“The size of deposit should vary. It’s not uncommon for a contractor to ask for 10 per cent or 25 per cent down to cover cost of materials.

"We recommend go to Better Business Bureau website and put in your postal code. We have over 30,000 businesses on our website.

“Number two – always get references and take the added step of contacting at least one of them. If you can, even go see the work a company has done. Get more than one quote, too. Remember, if you pay for a cheap job, you might not get the quality.”

A great read is an article by Alex May titled Finding the Right Tradesperson found by clicking the link provided.