Great 'how to find decent tradesmen' hunt

patrick0

I'd used ratedpeople.com once before without any problems, but this thread has put me off them. If they are deleting negative comments then their rating system is completely meaningless. I'm now going to rely on word of mouth instead for my kitchen replacement.

spirit

I happened to update my Facebook status the other day with spirit is looking for a kitchen fitter in xxxx town. didn't know if anyone would respond, but a work colleague (loosely) did with a name and number. Our work intranet also has a couple of recommendations and that's where i've just got my windows and fitter from.

Patr100

Hmmm... hope I'm wrong - call me over suspicious but we have had more than one brand new ( registered today )posters with their first and only ever posting in this thread praising certain "find a trade" type sites - While we don't want to discourage new posters to join in I really would value such recommendations from a lot more established MSE posters otherwise we might suspect that some sites were trying to get business for themselves.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Patr100 wrote: »

Hmmm... hope I'm wrong - call me over suspicious but we have had more than one brand new ( registered today )posters with their first and only ever posting in this thread praising certain "find a trade" type sites - While we don't want to discourage new posters to join in I really would value such recommendations from a lot more established MSE posters otherwise we might suspect that some sites were trying to get business for themselves.

Yep.

It is all BOLLOX...

macsaver_2

I would suggest people contact their local BNI group.

These are groups of local businesses whose ability to find work is based upon personal recommendation. If they recommend someone then they are risking their own reputations if that person is no good. I think it is less risky than the yellow pages.

They normally have a folder of testimonials you can look through to see what people have said about them.

darleydame

Apart fom personal recommendations and making sure they belong to Gas Safe and Institute of Plumbing as you can complain to them for shoddy work- ask if they are Jehovahs Witnesses- you may hate them but they are honest- you can always ask them not to preach at you!:eek:

redlady_1

mybuilder.com is absolute pants! The guy I picked (and yes, I read the feed back, didnt pick the cheapest etc etc) was ok but when it came to fixing the problems he was a nightmare! Im still waiting 4 weeks later. The problem is that work interferes with their social lives. I have just started out on this tradesmen nightmare and I have never met such a bunch of lazy, useless individuals (obviously not all of them but I have yet to meet one otherwise). Even the ones who say "no job too small" actually aren't interested in small jobs. What they don't realise is I am the guinea pig. I have at least £10k worth of work at work from people waiting for me to find a reputable person - and that doesnt include my own renovation work.

I will certainly try checkatrade though.

Nozz

I am surprised that no-one has mentioned Which? Local yet. Although you have to be a member of Which? to use the service, it does not cost anything further, there are hundreds of recommendations covering not only tradespeople but also shops, services, health professionals, etc. and the members of Which? are likely to be a lot more informed about value for money and good service as random internet users. Every member can post a recommendation for good service and I think the fact that it is a member's site cuts down on false recommendations.

I also follow business "rules" and get three quotes for everything. My final decision is based on a mixture of price consideration and how comfortable with / impressed I was with the person in question.

hamedb0001

macsaver wrote: »

I would suggest people contact their local BNI group.

These are groups of local businesses whose ability to find work is based upon personal recommendation. If they recommend someone then they are risking their own reputations if that person is no good. I think it is less risky than the yellow pages.

They normally have a folder of testimonials you can look through to see what people have said about them.

I totally agree with this: my wife is a member of a BNI chapter, and all of our tradespeople have come through that. Because they are entirely built on the 'power of referrals', the people in the groups take their reputations seriously. I routinely recommend the BNI tradespeople to colleagues and friends, and have yet to be shown up by any of them.

rag31

If you can't get a recommendation then try your local free newsletter-type thing. Most small traders advertise in here as they are reasonable, they tend to be local and advertise their home address. This is the first place we turn to.

My husband is also a gas safe reg'd, reliable and honest plumber who earns less than the national average wage. Which is actually the norm, not that you'd think so from the press!!!

Becky

Edit: dunno why there is a miserable smiley at the top of this post!