Checkatrade

NonGeographicalMan

haylamay wrote: »

You have certainly helped me to think to think about it. When I first read all the negative feed back I was just really hurt, but maybe there is a way forward. I'll keep thinking on it and it will help us to understand how people feel about Checkatrade

You clearly shouldn't have taken the criticism of Checkatrade as being directed at good quality workmen, such as your husband, but only as expressing concern that Checkatrade seems to also allow workmen who take shortcuts and do not do work properly to both remain on their directory and remove comments of dissatisfaction from customers who have had bad experiences.

With regards to photos an unethical tradesman could clearly take photos of another tradesman's good quality work and try to claim that work as his own. As critical posts are nearly always removed on Checkatrade the public at large is not going to be any the wiser that this has happened.

CardiffCityrgi

Most of these companies - checkatrade, my hammer, rated people, my builder, servicemagic, quotatis etc are no more than 3rd party leeches that we could all do without. The fact is that these companies produce leads that need to be bought by tradesmen to allow them to continue.
I once used a quote site that cost about £20 per boiler install lead.I had intro offer of £10 per lead. I was told that average conversion was one in three.(£30 per job then) after 20 quote I had 1 boiler install and he was trying to haggle me down. He produced a 'quote' for me to match, brand new father and son company, not vat registered (pretty difficult to stay under vat threshold when you are installing boilers!)
They had not quoted the same job as me but were cheaper. explained to customer and we fitted his boiler for agreed quote. The other 19 may have had half a job and his lad round, but that boiler install cost me £200!


recently got offered a trial on rated people, had 3 jobs and got them all, £5500 gross revenue. but i did not continue after the trial. It only takes a few days of driving round aimlessly quoting to question whether you should be buying anymore crappy leads!!


anyway i have registered with freeindex and customers can leave reviews and the tradesman doesnt have to pay for the lead. you simply just phone who you want to give you a price.


most of the above sites are notorious for 'quote gatherers' it really isnt neccessary to get 12-14 companies to quote for a job!!!

Keith1234

Well like everyone else I thought CheckaTrade was a genuine company that gave reviews of its people that were unbiased. However it is not.
I had a bad experience with a roofer and he did not turn up for any of the appointments to do quotes, after giving him 3 chances. I then went to checkatrade to do my review. The first problem I came to was they asked if they could mediate the problem with the contractor, well as this was not actually a problem that needed resolving, I said no because all he did was not turn up. I then carried on to write the review that was very reasonable considering the time I had wasted on this company. When I got to the end and submitted the review the final screen said that they would take my comments into consideration but as I had not let them mediate then they would not go any further. So a complete waste of time.
CheckATrade has no interest in its contractors getting bad reviews so this company has got away with it and I can not tell people on checkatrade how bad this top level of the service is.

I think the best thing is to make sure the people you use have at least some bad reviews then at least you know they are being honest. It would be very surprising for a tradesman not to have a bad review of some kind. after all if you went to amazon and just read bad reviews you would not buy anything but you do buy because you weed out the idiot reviews

I hope this helps others

usignuolo

I have been very happy with the Checkatrade workmen I have used. However the higher rated ones are in demand and so do not always get back to you very promptly. The rating system should work as they leave a rating card with the customer who sends it back separately after the job has been completed.

flyingbug

I also used Checkatrade ,unfortunately I did not check on this thread about Checkatrade.
We used Checkatrade to find someone to do our bathroom ,taking out our bath etc and putting in a shower etc
We checked on the reviews and pick someone we thought was genuine.
but in under a year later our shower has gone wrong ,we contacted the guy to see if he would come and fix it ,only for him to send us a text saying ,he would not, because he is no longer in that trade.so therefore we have got to pay out again and find someone to fix it
We will never use Checkatrade again

projexe

I use Which Trusted Traders, and Trading Standards Buy With Confidence websites for recommended traders.

I also use CheckATrade - if the trader is on there then they get crossed OFF the shortlist! That site is a total sham. If a trader pays them, they can get on CheckATrade. You don't need any more qualification than that.

dvdrdl

I used a window repair firm yesterday i found on checkatrade.

very fast and reliable, cant complian

Fraise

AVOID!

Absolutely any builder can advertise with check-a-trade. I know two people who used them and had Cowboys turn up who were not only useless, but quite nasty with it. Steer clear.

cepheus

Has anyone received a Checkatrade brochure through the letterbox lately?

On the back:

IMPORTANT REQUEST Please wherever possible give your feedback directly via our website

Yeah, you wish!


Apologies for using the Mail but

What we have had, however, is a distressing 11-week insight into the world of a Checkatrade top-rated company, one that culminated in abuse, phone calls to the police, dodgy business practices and customer service that would make Basil Fawlty look like Employee of the Month.

pearl123

It's a bit of an eye-opener learning about Check-a-trade. Looks like one has to research everything very well.