The bait-and-switch playbook (so you can spot it)

The garage door industry has a recurring pattern of out-of-state lead-gen operations that buy local-looking ads, route calls to a call center, and dispatch subcontractor techs who are paid on commission. The pattern always looks the same:

  1. Ad says "$29 service call!" or "Springs from $79!"
  2. Phone call: very vague answers about parts, springs, or warranty. Push to "let the tech evaluate on-site."
  3. Tech arrives, looks at the door, and finds 5–8 "critical" issues.
  4. Final quote is 5–10× the original ad price.
  5. Pressure to authorize same-day so the tech doesn't "have to come back."

Once you know the pattern, the filter questions on the phone call become obvious. Here is what to ask.

The six questions to ask before scheduling

1. "What cycle-rated springs do you install — 10K, 20K, or 30K?"

A real garage door company will answer immediately: "We default to 20K minimum on residential; 30K for high-use households." A bait-and-switch shop will say "the tech will recommend on-site" or will not understand the question.

2. "If my door has two springs, are you replacing both?"

Correct answer: yes, always, because the unbroken spring has the same age and cycle count as the broken one. Any answer other than yes is a filter that company out.

3. "Will the door be re-balanced after the spring install?"

Spring replacement is not finished until the door holds itself at halfway on the manual release. That balance check is the proof the install was sized correctly. If the company does not mention it unprompted, they may not be doing it.

4. "What is the workmanship warranty?"

Listen for two distinct warranties: the parts warranty (from the manufacturer, usually cycle-based for springs) and the workmanship warranty (from the installer, typically 1–5 years). A company that only mentions "we warranty everything" without specifics is being vague on purpose.

5. "Where is your physical address?"

A real local company has a physical address you can drive to. A lead-gen operation will have a virtual mailbox or no address at all. For reference, we operate from 915 N. Bowser Rd., Richardson, TX 75081.

6. "Are you a real garage door company, or a general home services contractor?"

Specialization matters. A roofer who does garage doors on the side is not the same as a company that has focused on overhead doors for 25 years. We are the latter — overhead doors, full-time, every day.

What honest pricing looks like

Garage door repair is not expensive when it is done correctly the first time. The components themselves are not exotic. What you are paying for is:

  • The correct part for the door (right spring size, right opener model, right roller spec)
  • A tech with enough experience to diagnose the actual failure
  • A proper install with post-work balance, force, and limit checks
  • A warranty that is written down and honored

A bait-and-switch quote at half the price gets you the wrong spring installed on an unbalanced door with no warranty. That spring fails faster, the door damages itself in the meantime, and the next service call is more expensive than the honest quote would have been.

Red flags to walk away from

  • "$29 service call!" — almost always a hook for a high-pressure on-site upsell.
  • Refusal to give any price information on the phone. A real company can ballpark a spring replacement, an opener replacement, and a service-call diagnostic over the phone.
  • Same-day pressure to authorize repairs you didn't ask about. If you only called about a noise, the tech should not be pitching a full door replacement before you've had time to think.
  • Multiple invoice line items you don't recognize. "Hardware refresh," "calibration fee," "balance adjustment fee" — these are markup labels. Real shops include those as part of the labor on the spring or opener job.
  • No physical address, no real reviews, no website with a real company history. If the only proof of the business is an ad and a phone number, that's a lead-gen front.

Green flags — what to look for instead

  • A physical local address and a phone number that goes to a local dispatcher.
  • Specific answers to specific questions about parts, cycle ratings, and warranties.
  • A clear specialization in garage doors only — not a "home services" generalist.
  • Reviews on multiple platforms (Google, Nextdoor, Facebook, Yelp) with consistent themes — fast response, no upsell pressure, honest diagnostic.
  • A real company history. We've been doing this for 25+ years, operating from Richardson, with 10,000+ doors in the field across North Dallas. That history is verifiable.

Why specialization matters more than people think

Garage doors involve stored mechanical energy, safety-rated force sensing, structural attachment to the home, and a half-dozen precision parts that have to be matched to door weight and usage pattern. A specialist sees this every day. A handyman who does garage doors twice a month does not have the same diagnostic pattern recognition — and is more likely to misdiagnose a spring problem as an opener problem, or vice versa.

We chose to stay garage-door-only on purpose. It is the trade we know best, the trade we can stand behind, and the trade where 25+ years of doing only this work produces real measurable difference in diagnostic accuracy and install quality.

If you want to verify before calling

Read our reviews, check our about page for company history, and look at our recent projects for actual work done in your area. Then call (972) 890-8470 and ask the six questions above. You will hear the difference.