{"id":1498660,"date":"2026-04-20T13:46:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T18:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=1498660"},"modified":"2026-04-22T14:21:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T19:21:51","slug":"bbb-has-storm-scam-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=1498660","title":{"rendered":"BBB has storm scam warning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"TYLER – Saturday\u2019s hailstorm may be over, but the Better Business Bureau (BBB) says another danger is rolling in behind it: opportunistic \u201cstorm chasers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The BBB advises residents to be cautious of storm chasers who arrive unannounced and offer to repair storm damage at a low cost. Be wary of those who require advance payment or make extravagant promises they have no intention of fulfilling.<\/p>\n

Here are some homeowner safety tips from the BBB:<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>Vet the contractor carefully: Confirm they meet state and local requirements, ensure licenses are current and check BBB.org for reputable options.
\n<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>Contact your insurance company: Confirm what your policy covers and how to file and keep all receipts for expenses like food or temporary lodging that might be reimbursed.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>Seek at least three bids: Ensure each quote uses the same criteria and remember the lowest price isn\u2019t always the best choice.<\/p>\n

*Resist high-pressure sales: Don\u2019t rely on unsolicited calls or door?to?door pitches and never feel pressured into a quick decision or hiring someone you don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>Get everything in writing: Insist on written estimates, don\u2019t start work without a signed contract and never sign anything incomplete.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>Be wary regarding places you can\u2019t see: Don\u2019t let someone you don\u2019t know inspect your roof or hard?to?see areas like attics, crawl spaces or ducts, since an unethical contractor could create damage to get the job.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>Never pay for work in full in advance: A good guideline is the rule of thirds: pay one?third upfront, one?third at 50% completion and the final third when the job is done.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>Hire locally whenever possible. If a company isn\u2019t local, they may be less likely to return for repairs if issues arise, so keep that in mind when choosing who to hire.<\/p>\n

\u201cEncountering high winds, thunderstorms and the occasional tornado are a part of living in East Texas,\u201d Mechele Agbayani Mills, President & CEO of BBB East Texas, said. \u201cThat means it is important to be wary of fly-by-night repair businesses who are ready to pounce on storm victims as soon as the weather breaks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TYLER – Saturday\u2019s hailstorm may be over, but the Better Business Bureau (BBB) says another danger is rolling in behind it: opportunistic \u201cstorm chasers.\u201d The BBB advises residents to be cautious of storm chasers who arrive unannounced and offer to repair storm damage at a low cost. Be wary of those who require advance payment … Continue reading BBB has storm scam warning<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":1498767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2022\/11\/bbb-150x150.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1498660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news-archive-archives"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-08 20:48:01","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2022\/11\/bbb-150x150.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1498660"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1500044,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498660\/revisions\/1500044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1498767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1498660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1498660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1498660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}