Checkatrade

Innys

Hi everyone,

Has anyone had experience of this website?

I'm asking because I contacted them by e-mail with a query on Monday and still have not had a reply which doesn't bode well for the builders recommended by their website.... speaking of which....

I arranged with one of their member builders to come round to talk about some work I need doing this evening and guess what? He's not turned up. Bear in mind that promptness is something that Checkatrade prides its members on adhering to.

Not surprisingly, the Checkatrade website doesn't allow you to provide negative feedback unless the builder has done some work for you. So you can only feedback once you have committed to have some work done by which time it's too late anyway. Wot a brilliant system.

busiscoming2

I have no experience of this website, but the best thing is a recommendation from a trusted friend.

keystone

Such websites are a) a club and b) a means to fleece those signing up to them. Recommendation from a trusted friend / neighbour is really the only way.

Cheers

sillywilly

I have experience of this shonky website and one of its top rated clients.
Had a bathroom fitted which was finished poorly and actually did potentially lethal electrical work. Asked for the relevant certificates which of course the plumber couldn't supply.

He was breaking the law. Left a negative but entirely honest review with Checkatrade. They published it. Then started a barrage of abusive phone calls and threats from the wife of the said plumber.

In the end we had to pull our review just to stop these people and didn't have the inclination to put up with the abuse - even though they had done illegal and shonky work!!

The people who appear on there pay Checkatrade so who do Checkatrades loyalties lie with?!! Hmmm

I know that not all the people who appear on there are dodgy as had a carpet fitted and didn't know that he was on Checkatrade. When finished he gave me the card and I honestly filled it in saying how happy I was with him and his mate!

It is a good concept but fundamentally flawed because it's not a true reflection of work implemented because its such a pain leaving any negative comments.

I wish there was a site where people would do what programmes like Rogue Traders and Cowboy Builders do. But even on them the cowboys just seem to get away with everything! :eek:

Sartcott

I used an aerial repair man from Checkatrade and the problem looked fixed so I gave a good review. 4 months later the same problem reappeared and I called the same man back.

I asked him what was wrong and he then told me that he will charge me £75 to go up on the roof to check, even if there isn't a problem with any connections and this was not a call out fee. This was just for climbing his ladder he had already put up against my wall.

So the problem he fixed on the wall on his first visit was a temp fix and I paid £50 for a cowboy fix. He did want to sell me a new aerial for £150.
I tried to give a negative review for not fixing the problem first time and wanting to charge £75 for climbing the ladder - he could have told me on the phone. This charge wasn't on his web page either.

Checkatrade told me I couldn't give a negative review. The only things allowed was to remove the positive review I gave him.

When I got another Aerial Co. from Checkatrade they found the problem was with the cable on the roof. New cable and replacing the fitting the first Co. had put in for £50 (it had to be replaced because water got in it via the split cable) - total cost £70. So the first guy was a rip-off merchant.

Had a problem with my boiler and called 2 Companies from Checkatrade. First came out and told me not fixable but tried to sell me a new boiler then charged me £80 for giving me this information - I stopped the cheque after he left when I thought about it. 2nd Company was no better.

Did finally get a great Boiler man from Checkatrade and he fixed the boiler and did a great job. I will be using him again. I have also found a great plumber from Checkatrade.

My problem is with the Company Checkatrade and the way it is run. If they accept good reviews they must allow the negative ones otherwise customer are mislead by the good reviews and don't hear about the problems that come up after a few months from the Companies that do a cowboy fix.
So customers are not getting the true picture. This may have something to do with the £1,000 Checkatrade charge the Companies for their place on the web site. If they don't get much business for their payment they try to recoup it from the customers by ripping them off.

When I tried to give a good review to the great boiler man and mentioned in my review about the other two Companies who came and told me they couldn't fix it but want to charge for telling me this then tried to sell me a new boiler. Checkatrade have todate not put my excellent review on the web site.

My experience from Checkatrade is that you have to read the reviews very carefully and when they visit treat them as a possible rogue trader until you have questioned them very carefully and got at least 3 Companies in before choosing the one to use.

Stand over them while they are working and get detailed quotes. Don't let them try and charge anything without doing the work and giving a receipt.

There are some great Companies and some very bad ones on the web site so beware. I now look for good reviews that state that the person has used the Company MANY TIME BEFORE and are happy with their work and charges.

ormus

keystone wrote: »

Such websites are a) a club and b) a means to fleece those signing up to them. Recommendation from a trusted friend / neighbour is really the only way.

Cheers

as above. never ever trust a website such as checkatrade.
you may as well stick a pin, in the yellow pages.

savemoney

I wouldnt trust these sites too many of them can have fake reviews/feedback and they really only interestd in making money

Ask around locally and get feedback that way

sillywilly

I never knew that companies paid £1000 to be part of the site! I knew they paid but not that much. It says they have 5182 trades and services who have agreed to be monitored. A nice £5,182,000 for a shonky webiste - not bad!!

What the building services industry needs is a review site like Tripadvisor for holidays where both good and bad - HONEST reviews are allowed and the site makes nothing from them.

You go on Tripadvisor and there are some shocking reviews of some of the hotels on there that they happily publish.

Why isn't there a similar site for trade services? BTW the plumber who did illegal and potentially lethal work was a company called Langdown Plumbing and Heating - utter cowboys! One to avoid unless you fancy getting potentially electrocuted to death!!

Interestingly I have noticed that they aren't on Checkatrade anymore. I wonder why?? Hmmmm

mahoney

i got a painter decorator off Check a trade who did a terrible job. They came back to patch a few bits up at my request, but as time goes on I see more and more bits that have been done poorly. I even paid a friend's son to go over the ceilings.
I would never use any of those recommendation sites again. Go by recommendations from friends/family/colleagues.

Sartcott

I found a painter and decorator from Checkatrade and by the time he started I noticed they were no longer on there. I asked why and he told me that they paid £1000 a year but were not getting enough business to make the fee worthwhile.
Instead they made their own web site to advertise. My review was put up on their web site. Of course only the good ones would go up but luckily their work was good.
The only way this sort of thing will work is if there is an independent web site run by Trading Standards, the Citizen Advise, the Council or something like that.
There are great Companies on Checkatrade but you have to vet them as you would if you picked them out of the Yellow Pages.

experttrader

I am a member of Checkatrade and reading these reviews are making for shocking reading. The main concern now is; am I paying a fortune to associate myself with an organisation that the public are rapidly losing or have already lost faith in. I do not want to be a part of Checkatrade if it is going to damage our reputation which has taken over 20 years to build up.

Why don't the trading standards improve their non profit making "buy with confidence" system, then profit making businesses would not get a look in.