Looking around for the best price for snow removal this season? Be careful. If the deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Local snow companies the past few years have made their way onto the news for collecting money and never showing up. Or showing up once or twice, then asking for more money to finish the season. Others claim it is OK to not come because their truck had broken down, or using the holidays or the Superbowl as an excuse to not show up.
Internet lead companies and the clients they signed up eventually also find their way onto our service routes. Online services promising a low seasonal rate then assign sub contractors to arrive at homes that had nothing to do with the seller of services.
Going into EVERY season, and during EVERY season, we have other snow companies and landscape companies in the area approach us to take on their accounts due to being over extended. We politely declined and suggested to not over promise and under deliver.
Oakland County Snow Removal DOES NOT accept sub contract work, DOES NOT sub contract our accounts to other businesses to service our client’s properties, and provides the highest of commercial and worker comp insurance coverage on every truck, employee, and piece of equipment that step foot on our client’s properties.
Before you hire YOUR snow company this Winter, ask the following questions before you trust them at your property the next 5 months, in the dead of Winter, in the middle of the night.
1. Do you have commercial/business snow plowing insurance? Can you provide me your declaration page for my records?
Oakland County Snow Removal carries Commercial Snow Plowing Insurance that offers a $1,000,000 Property Protection and Liability coverage.
2. Do you have worker compensation insurance? Can you provide me your declaration page for my records?
Oakland County Snow Removal covers all employees under a policy through Accident Fund each year.
3. Do you have references from clients in my city from previous years?
Oakland County Snow Removal has had clients sign up in just about every city in Oakland County in previous years. If your home does not fit routes for the upcoming season, we will let you know.
4. What happens if your truck breaks down? How will you plow my snow?
Oakland County Snow Removal has 6 or 7 plow trucks, depending on annual inventory. We normally only activate our 4 most dependable for the season, and keep the other trucks ready in case of emergencies. If truck or equipment failure occurs when a driver is out, they are instructed to switch vehicles.
5. How long have you been plowing snow in our area?
We started our snow removal services in 2011-2012. After three seasons, the company name was changed to Oakland County Snow Removal. This will be our 10th year servicing our community.
6. How can I tell where my truck is when it snows?
Normally all you have to do is email us and you will have a response about your truck whereabouts and an ETA within 15 minutes of your inquiry
7. Do you have salt on hand to do my property when I need it done?
Oakland County Snow Removal has a commercial agreement with a local supplier that provides us bulk salt for commercial properties. As for residential, we have normally have 10,000 pounds of bagged salt in storage and on hand to service our residential clients
8. Do you flag our property to ensure the plow stays off the grass?
Oakland County Snow Removal flags all properties the first week of November each year.
9. Are your trucks commercial trucks? Do they have work lights? Strobe lights? Safety systems?
Oakland County Snow Removal have work lights and strong LED strobe lights when they are in action. Our larger vehicles have additional lights, back up lights in addition to tail lights, and back up/alert warning systems.
10. Is your company actually going to service my property? Or are you hiring someone else for cheaper?
Oakland County Snow Removal does not accept or assign subcontractor work.
We keep out routes as short as possible, but we also try our best to accommodate our clients that we have had for several years. We believe you pay for what you get in snow service. We are not a discounter. You pay for reliability and professionalism when hiring our company.
We get a few new clients each year because they went with a cheap competitor and they fell short of expectations. We hear all the stories – their truck broke down, they went out of business, they came once and never came back, they ran out of salt, they wanted more money to finish the season, they did a bad job, they never answer when I have questions or concerns. With this upcoming season forecasting to have 100 inches or more of snow, snow removal clients deserve a company that has all their ducks in a row long before the first flake falls!