MILWAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. — In a pinch, a Muskego couple needed their garage repaired. However, the company they thought they called isn't who showed up.
After reporting it to their credit card company and the Better Business Bureau (BBB), the couple contacted TMJ4's Jenna Rae to warn others about phony businesses doing shoddy garage repairs.
Watch: Fake garage repair company leaves Muskego couple with $2,000 bill:
We investigate and tell you how to protect yourself.
"There's the new spring. It's maybe slightly more than half the size," homeowner Mike Sharafinski said.
In August, during a family emergency, Mike and Dina Sharafinski were hit with an unexpected inconvenience.
"My mother-in-law fell the day before. I went out to the garage the next day, couldn't open the garage door, and looked up and saw the spring was broken," Mike Sharafinski said.
"I googled 'Joe Wilde' because we had worked with them in the past," his wife, Dina Sharafinski, added.
"We got what sounded like a call center, and the lady there said, 'Well, we don't have openings today, but we can have someone out tomorrow,'" Mike Sharafinski detailed.
The next morning, a repairman in an unmarked truck showed up.
"The gentleman proceeded to show me the springs he was going to install and insisted that I actually replace these pulleys, and then proceeded to bill us $2,016," Mike Sharafinski said.
A premium price for what Mike Sharafinski called a botched job.
"The next morning from work, I called Joe Wilde to ask why the bill was so high and why the door was not working, and by now, it wasn't working properly at all. They said, 'I'm sorry, sir, we have a record of being at your house like eight years ago, but not yesterday,'" Mike Sharafinski explained.
We took Mike and Dina Sharafinski's situation straight to the experts.
"It frustrates us. It puts a bad name on our industry and a bad name to the Joe Wilde Company," Joe Wilde Company's General Manager, Chris Krause, said.
Joe Wilde's a locally owned and operated garage repair business that spans eight decades.
“This seems like a common thing, not only in our industry but the service industry,” Joe Wilde, GM Chris Krause, said.
Krause said they often hear from customers about upcoming appointments that were never scheduled, or he sees situations like the Sharafinskis’.
“So, who showed up to their house to do this repair?” Rae asked Lisa Schiller, director of investigations and media relations for the BBB.
“Well, that’s the question. We don’t know who showed up to their house, and I don’t think they know who showed up to their house,” Schiller responded.
Schiller said fake garage door repair companies are everywhere.
“We see that fairly often. The companies switch phone numbers, they’re hard to track, they’re hard to find, the addresses don’t match up,” Schiller explained.
The BBB found that the company that charged the Sharafinskis is based in California.
We tried calling.
The person who answered the phone told us a manager would call us back. We’re still waiting for that call.
As Mike and Dina Sharafinski wait to see if they’ll get their money back, they hope others recognize the red flags they missed.
“I believe they had a standard spring change on a two-car door done, if I remember correctly. That charge for us is anywhere from $500 to $600 total,” Krause explained.
The BBB offers advice on things to consider when you need a repair company. First things first, Schiller said it’s crucial to do your research ahead of time. So, before you need the repair, know which company to call instead of waiting until you’re in a rush.
“Who are you hiring? Is the company coming? Do they have logo wear on? Are they in uniforms? Do they have a contract with their company name on it? Business address, phone number, all that information should be transparent,” Schiller explained.
“I’m so angry at myself for not asking some questions and saying, ‘You can take these springs down, I’m not paying you $2,000 for two springs.’ But I thought I was dealing with Joe Wilde, and obviously I wasn’t, so I just want people to know,” Mike Sharafinski shared.
MORE TIPS FROM JOE WILDE, THE EXPERTS:
1. A basic two-car garage door full replacement is about $2,200.
2. Most technicians who come out to do repairs, if it's a reputable company, will be dressed with the company's logo, including a company-marked vehicle.
3. Joe Wilde Company gives you a ballpark estimate and range of price you're going to pay, before they even come out. Krause said that if a business isn't giving you a range of prices from the low-end to the high-end, be cautious.
4. Local companies will have a 414 or 262 area code, not an 800 area code.
5. If the person who answers the number you called, sounds like they're in a call center, that could also be a red flag.
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