A guarantee on a website or during a sales call is not yet an operating instruction. You still need to know what happens when a caregiver misses the agreed work, who decides whether the guarantee applies, and what you must submit to get the promised remedy.
Do this check before signing. Keep the advertisement, quote, email, guarantee language, and proposed agreement together. The Federal Trade Commission tells advertisers that conditions and limits on a guarantee should be disclosed. Its consumer guidance also tells buyers to get spoken promises in writing. Those federal warranty materials focus largely on consumer products, so do not treat them as a ruling about your home care agreement. Use them for the practical point that matters here: a promise needs visible terms. (Public sources: Federal Trade Commission, Advertising FAQ's: A Guide for Small Business; Federal Trade Commission, Warranties.)
1. Copy the exact promise
Do not write “They guarantee good care.” Copy the complete sentence from the advertisement, quote, email, or proposal.
Exact words: ________________________________________________
Where the words appeared: __________________________________
Save the page as a PDF or print it. Save the email with its sender and full subject line. If the promise was made by phone, send a short follow-up: “I wrote down that your guarantee provides __________ when __________. Please confirm or correct this before I sign.”
Listen for an answer that repeats the promise and identifies written terms. Write down hesitation, a change in wording, or a reply that says the salesperson cannot put it in writing.
2. Ask what event activates it
Use one concrete failure from the proposed job. Do not ask, “What if we are unhappy?” Ask what happens if the scheduled caregiver does not arrive, an agreed task is not completed, or a replacement cannot cover the accepted shift.
Ask: “What specific event must occur before this guarantee applies?”
Covered event: ______________________________________________
Proof they require: __________________________________________
Events they exclude: _________________________________________
Listen for observable conditions. “We review every concern” describes a process, not a guaranteed result. “Management decides” leaves the standard open unless the agreement also says what management will decide and against what record.
3. Make them name the remedy
The word “guarantee” does not tell you whether the provider will replace a caregiver, repeat a visit, credit an invoice, refund a payment, investigate a complaint, or merely call you back.
Ask: “If the guarantee applies, exactly what will you do?”
Remedy: ____________________________________________________
Who approves it: ____________________________________________
When approval is communicated: ______________________________
Ask whether you choose among remedies or the provider chooses. Ask whether accepting a replacement closes the request for any other remedy. Record the answer without translating it into friendlier language.
4. Find the claim procedure
Search the proposed agreement for “guarantee,” “satisfaction,” “complaint,” “notice,” “credit,” “refund,” “dispute,” “remedy,” and “limitation.” Check attachments and policies named in the agreement.
Then ask:
“Where must I send the request?”
“Must it be submitted in a portal, by email, or by mail?”
“What information must I include?”
“Is there a deadline measured from the shift, the invoice, or the discovery of the problem?”
“Who confirms receipt?”
Notice destination: __________________________________________
Submission deadline: ________________________________________
Required records: ___________________________________________
Receipt comes from: _________________________________________
A usable answer gives you a destination and a confirmation method. Walk away from reliance on the guarantee if the provider will not identify the written procedure before signature.
5. Read the contract for a collision
Put the guarantee beside the proposed agreement. Look for language saying the signed agreement replaces earlier statements, sales material, or oral promises. Look for clauses that give the provider sole discretion, exclude the failure you discussed, cap the available remedy, or require a different notice route.
Ask: “Does any clause in this agreement limit or replace the guarantee you sent me?”
Contract section named in the answer: _________________________
Conflict found: _____________________________________________
Written correction requested: ________________________________
Do not solve a conflict by adding your own note to your copy. Ask for the provider's revised agreement, signed addendum, or other written contract document showing the same promise and remedy. If the provider says the sales page controls, ask the provider to identify the contract clause that says so.
6. Run one claim from start to finish
Give the provider a plain scenario based on the actual schedule: “The accepted shift is not staffed, and no replacement arrives. I send notice through the required channel. What happens next?”
Write the sequence exactly as given:
First action: ________________________________________________
Decision maker: _____________________________________________
Decision notice: _____________________________________________
Remedy delivered through: __________________________________
Ask which document will show the result. A credit should have a record. A replacement should have an assignment confirmation. A refund should have a written approval and transaction record. The point is not to predict a dispute. It is to see whether the promise can travel through the provider's own paperwork.
7. Mark the signs to stop
Do not count the guarantee in your comparison if any of these remain unresolved:
___ The promise exists only in a phone conversation.
___ The provider cannot produce the full terms.
___ The trigger is “dissatisfaction,” but nobody will define who decides.
___ The remedy changes between the salesperson and the agreement.
___ The agreement disclaims the advertisement or oral statement.
___ The claim deadline or notice address is missing.
___ A policy controls the guarantee, but the provider will not give you that policy.
___ The provider will not confirm how a completed remedy appears in the record.
You do not need to decide whether the wording is lawful. You need to decide whether the written promise is complete enough to use. For contract interpretation or private legal rights, take the actual documents to a qualified attorney.
8. Build the guarantee file
Keep one folder containing the advertisement or page capture, the quote, the provider's confirmation email, the full agreement, every referenced policy, your test scenario, and the final signed version. Label each item by what it is, not by where you downloaded it.
The Missouri Attorney General's consumer complaint instructions tell consumers to include copies of transaction records such as contracts, invoices, warranties, brochures, receipts, letters, and other communications, and not to send originals. That list is also a useful model for the file you keep before a problem occurs. The office enforces state consumer protection law but does not act as a private attorney. (Public source: Missouri Attorney General, Consumer Complaints.)
Final guarantee wording: _____________________________________
Controlling contract section: _________________________________
Claim destination: __________________________________________
Remedy: ____________________________________________________
File location: _______________________________________________
For the desk's source method and public-page standards, see How We Write the Sheets and the Sources page.