The Time We Broke The Terms Of Our Own Foundation-Repair Warranty
We Have The Best Foundation-Repair Warranty In Amarillo.
But Sometimes You Have To Be Better Than The “Best.”
BY CORY DAVIS, CO-OWNER
In 2015, we performed foundation repair for a woman in Higgins, TX. Her foundation was settling, so we installed some of our state-of-the-art helical piers and fixed it.
Problem solved, right?
Yes. And no.
Fast-forward to December 2019. The woman calls us and says she’s having trouble opening and closing her front door. This is the area where we installed the piers, so we went out ASAP to look at the problem. We inspected the piers to make sure they were functioning and installed properly.
They were—perfectly.
The issue wasn’t our work or products. So what was causing her misaligned door?
As we often mention on this website, foundation problems in the Texas Panhandle can happen for all sorts of reasons. And some of those reasons can’t be predicted, prevented, or prepared for. This was one of those times.
We had a few educated guesses about the source of the customer’s issue. Her home was near an oil field and fracking area. There was a good chance the drilling had caused the earth in the area to shift slightly. A few minor earthquakes had also been felt in Higgins at that time, which likewise could have moved the ground under the woman’s home.
I’m not saying those were THE exact sources of the issue. But whatever was causing the foundation trouble, it wasn’t due to the work we did in 2015. It didn’t matter, though. We may not have caused the problem… but we were going to make 100% sure we fixed it.
The customer’s door looked fine,
but it had serious operational issues.
Our Word-Is-Bond Warranty is unique in this industry. As mentioned on our Word-Is-Bond Warranty page, most foundation repair warranties in the Amarillo area are, well… terrible. Foundation companies typically go through a third-party trust to warranty your project. I won’t get into the details here, but let’s just say these warranties are worth less than the paper they’re printed on.
As the name of our warranty suggests, we keep our promises to you. Regarding helical piers, if ¼” or more settlement occurs to the repaired area due to defects in our workmanship or materials within six years of the job, we fix it for FREE. If it occurs after six years, we’ll do it for no more than 20% of the original contract price. No loopholes. No fine print. No exclusions. Period.
But we’re not afraid to go above and beyond what’s covered in our warranty if that’s what things call for. In this customer’s case, outside forces were causing the trouble (which is outside the scope of our warranty). We readjusted the necessary helical piers to align properly with the shifted earth under her home. This solved her issue with the sticking door and put her foundation at the proper level.
This was such an easy fix and she was such a good customer that charging her felt… wrong. So we did what’s right—performed the work at no charge. I’m not saying we ALWAYS fix non-warranty issues for free. But we didn’t get to 15,000+ satisfied customers by leaving people in the lurch or nickel-and-diming. Under certain circumstances and my discretion, we’re happy to make the occasional exception.