The Consumer Pledge To Select A Home Inspector

General Inspection Topics Legislation, Licensing, Ethics & Legal Issues
1

I am simply amazed at what I read on this bulletin board! Since I have started reading here I have had an interesting education on the Home Inspection industry. I will say that what I have found is most disturbing as Home Inspectors are expected to be performing a function to the benefit of the consumer. You have one small group of your members trying to further the image of the Home Inspection industry with a new pledge to help protect the consumer. They are being met by a large number of other Home Inspectors in this organization that are making baseless attempts at disparaging them and their efforts.

The significantly disproportionate efforts here against doing the right thing for the consumers has led me to create this consumers pledge. I will fully expect from what I have seen here already that many more of you Home Inspectors who feel the consumer is nothing more than a pocket to pick will be here to attack this pledge. Please by all means go right ahead and do so as that helps other consumers see what this consumer pledge will demonstrate.

The Consumer Pledge To Select A Home Inspector

I realize that I am the livelihood of Home Inspectors and they too should realize that! As the consumer of their services I will hold the Home Inspector accountable to a high standard, and I will perform my due diligence during this selection and usage process. These are the methods and standards I will use to select a Home Inspector.

I will use all means available to help research and determine which Home Inspector I will use. This will include but is not limited to:

  • Internet searches to find anything available about the Home Inspector.
  • Use of this bulletin board as well as any other that Home Inspectors use regularly or might frequent. How a Home Inspector uses these can reveal important information about them.
  • Any and all of the many business rating sites available on the Internet, and there are a significant number of these.
  • If the Home Inspector is in a licensed State I will contact his/her licensing agency to determine when they obtained their license and if they have any administrative actions against them.
  • I will thoroughly read any WEB site the Home Inspector has.
  • If the Home Inspector claims to hold any other specialty licenses they too will be checked.
  • If the Home Inspector claims to hold any special certifications these will be checked to determine if they are provided by highly recognized organizations and/or agencies, or if they are just meaningless logos intended to impress the uninformed.
  • If the Home Inspector claims extensive past experiences related to Home Inspections I will place the onus of proof for these experiences on you and demand that proof. Anybody can make fantastic claims but only the true claims can be validated.
  • I will retrieve and review or request a copy of a sample home inspection report. Your report can also tell me a great deal about you, your abilities, and how you operate.

I will require respect from you and I will give respect to you until such time that you prove not worthy of that respect. If you choose to demonstrate that I the consumer am not the most important factor of your business you will immediately lose all of my respect. If you choose to associate and support others who disrespect the consumer in any way you will lose my respect. I will also research any other business you align yourself with. It is your responsibility to align yourself only with respectable and professional businesses. If I discover a business you align yourself with is less than professional you too will be deemed less than professional and will lose my respect. I expect you to respect my privacy and confidentiality and I do not approve of you passing my personal and/or private information to anyone without a full and specific explanation of “To who”, “What information”, and “For what purpose”. You will provide this signed and in writing, and I will only provide my authorization signed and in writing. If you choose to treat me the consumer as only a monetary means to your own personal ends you will also loose that respect as money is the reward for performing your function well and not the reason for your function.

I do not want your supposedly “Free” products and services that are not completely of your own creation and effort. Nothing in this world worth having is free, and that includes your time and effort which is what I am paying you for. There is always a cost to anything worth having and by you advertising these third party products and services for “Free” it is either worthless or you are including this in your inspection cost to me. Regardless of the supposedly “Free” offer I am actually going to pay for it one way or another, and to me the consumer this is deceptive advertising. If you choose this deceptive advertising technique for these third party products and services I will remove you from any selection list and move to a more honest Home Inspector. If you are incapable of setting your service fees to a level that requires you to make additional monies behind my back, to my detriment, then you are not a business person that is worth doing business with!

You are responsible to perform a home inspection service that will have a profound effect on my financial well being. Your responsibilities will be communicated to me in the form of your written and signed inspection agreement. It is my responsibility to read that agreement and I will read every word of it! If you violate any of the following expectations I will move on to another Home Inspector and remove you from any selection list.

  • Your written and signed inspection agreement is my tool to hold you to your word. If you do not use one you will not be considered.
  • I am hiring you to perform a home inspection and your agreement will be limited to wording only for at function alone. If you attempt to add additional language that has nothing to do with your primary function of inspecting that home you will immediately be removed from consideration.
  • If your agreement is not clear and you are attempting to play any word games with it you will not be considered for this service.
  • I will compare your agreement with your advertising, with any other writings you do, and if they conflict you will not be considered for this service.

Whether I hire you or not if you fail to meet any expectations I will exercise my freedom of speech and ensure that any and all other consumers I have access to will hear about your lack of performance, dishonesty, etc. This is not only my right but my responsibility to ensure you do not subject another consumer to the same bad experience I have.

As a consumer this is my pledge to you and I will carry it out!

3

Mr. Biggs … I want to point out to you and to the others you represent that the inspectors who are making baseless attempts at disparaging those who support and promote the Client Fidelity Pledge are not “large” in number, but quite small.

Even within NACHI management, as well as the rank and file members, there are many who are tolerant … but not enthusiastically supportive … of Nick Gromicko and his support for lead brokers. Support for kickbacks associated with selling client personal data and slipping language into inspection agreements to negate a home owner’s protection under a “Do Not Call” list is not yet broad and many of those who do it … do it quietly.

It is unfair, IMO, to allow the minority of home inspectors who are making loud noises in opposition to the Client Fidelity Pledge to represent the entire industry. Most inspectors — even some who have inadvertently involved themselves with a dishonest and unethical lead broker through the use of some of his gimmicks — care deeply about the welfare of their clients.

4

Give it a rest Bushy/Biggs…give it a rest.

6

You are a total absolute frigging JOKE !:smiley:
We don’t need a new pledge !
I could post the Boy Scouts pledge and have people that would not like it.
Go back and hide under your rock.
I don’t take advice from a fictitious entity .

7

I agree.

Consumers should avoid gimmick salesmen and having their private information being sold to others.

Let the buyer beware.

8

Mr. Biggs … I want to point out to you and to the others you represent that the inspectors who are making baseless attempts at disparaging those who support and promote the Client Fidelity Pledge are not “large” in number, but quite small.

Even within NACHI management, as well as the rank and file members, there are many who are tolerant … but not enthusiastically supportive … of Nick Gromicko and his support for lead brokers. Support for kickbacks associated with selling client personal data and slipping language into inspection agreements to negate a home owner’s protection under a “Do Not Call” list is not yet broad and many of those who do it … do it quietly.

It is unfair, IMO, to allow the minority of home inspectors who are making loud noises in opposition to the Client Fidelity Pledge to represent the entire industry. Most inspectors — even some who have inadvertently involved themselves with a dishonest and unethical lead broker through the use of some of his gimmicks — care deeply about the welfare of their clients.

I also want to point out that there are very competent and experienced inspectors on both sides of this issue. As more and more consumers, such as yourself, become aware of the fact that they have a choice between a competent inspector who will sell their personal information to lead brokers and a competent inspector who will NOT … the problem is likely to solve itself.

9

No, that would be you Roy.

You are going to need new knee pads soon.:wink:

10

I want to borrow your old ones , but I heard they a wore out from your street corner escapades .

11

As usual, you have **nothing **worthwhile to say.:shock:

12

Hahaha !

13

Saved… here and on PDF… just in case someone has issue with a non-member post!

John, thank you for sharing this. Awesome job! You could not have expressed the consumers opinion any better. I wish all consumers would follow the lead this sets. Consumers need to take more responsibility for their decisions.

May I have your permission to use this “Consumer Pledge” as a method to better educate the consumers in my service area that have no real idea of how to go about locating an honorable inspector? I promise to quote it verbatim and to give your name as credit for it. I will possibly use it on my websites and other internet and print marketing venues. Feel free to email your response or questions to either address below, if you wish. Thank you in advance.

14

I do not believe the poster to be James Bushart or any of the usual suspects. As some may recall, Jim has been vocal on the subject of logos in the past, and his position may run contrary to the absoluteness of the quote above. I refer to the debate he and I had on the full time inspector logo.

I honestly do not believe John Biggs is Jiim Bushart. I already know he’s not me.

Based on the content of the Biggs’ “pledge”, It appears as if he has read virtually all of the posts across a variety of threads in this and other forums.

16

Nate,

What about those e-mails?

17

Can I sell you some oceanfront property in Arizona ?

18

What’s that I hear?

Crickets

19

One more time roy.

What proof do you have other than zip zero and nada?

20

I wasn’t talking to you .
Sit down till I call your name .