proper nice company??

naz101

hi guys,

Im looking for a bit of advice from anyone, esp those who live in Scotland.

We are looking to have our driveway repaired as it is just horrible now. We had one of those people who drives around looiking at driveways come to our door and offer to do the work for a reasonable price.

He said it was that price if we allowed him to put up a board on our wall advertising him for 3 days so he can get some business as a lot of the driveways on our street need redone.

The problem is I cant find anything about him on the internet.
I want to check there are no problems before we go ahead.
He says he will drop a quote off tomorrow. He asks for no money beofre hand and pay the full amount once he has finished and we are happy with it.

the name of the company is

Propertydirect exterior services domestic and commercial
based in office 621, 12 southbridge, edinburgh, eh11 dd

I have phone numbers as well but dont want to post on here just in case.

I was really hoping that someone on here will know of a way to find out if he is legit or not?

Thanks loads in advance...:)

paddyrg

RUN AWAY! Find yourself an established, recommended provider, not 'some bloke' who turns up at the door. Find someone local who had similar work done a few years back, ask them who they used and if they were happy with them. Make sure it's been a year or two, so work can have settled, of course!

Azari

paddyrg wrote: »

RUN AWAY! Find yourself an established, recommended provider, not 'some bloke' who turns up at the door.

Quoted for truth.

rich_b

I had my driveway done last year by an excellent company. I had to wait 4 months for him to start because he was always in demand (he ran two teams of workers). He was a Brett and Marshalls accredited installer (I had the drive block paved) and therefore I got a proper manufacturer backed guarantee. He gave me 3 references in the area beforehand and I went round to inspect the work - some of which was several years old. I checked him out on Checkatrade - which was all fine. The company was named after the owner, the same person who came round and talked through exactly how he was going to construct the drive and lay the foundations, and gave a written quote. He had a website showing many, many jobs all with numerous photos and it was obvious that great attention to detail was taken and he was very proud of his teams work. He had also had some of his work featured on a trade association website as a competition winner - perhaps not so important, but that was nice to know. Hopefully those pointers will help you pick a reputable firm. Frankly, if someone needs to knock on doors to get business then they just aren't good enough IMO.

naz101

thats what I was concerned about. the only issue is my parents cant afford to pay £4000 or there abouts for the driveway.
I usually would offer to help but I have been out of work for a while too so cant:(

arcon5

If its too good to be true, it probably is.

But if this guy seems genuine, do as other posters have done an find some other lcoal customers and physically go down and speak to the owners.

naz101

he did give us 1 address of someone quite local so that may be an idea to go and see them and see what they say.
im just very wary of people like this but then do wonder how to spot the crap ones out of the good ones....

I dont know if this has any significance but there is no web address at all. he did show us pictures of before and after but again we have no way of verifying them.

He said he would be back tomorrow to give us a written quote so I might ask him for other names and addresses so we can do a bit of research...

hcb42

run away

if someone is cheap and available there is a reason for it

naz101

hey guys, a bit of an update.

basically the guy was working on another driveway which seemed to have been completed today. so I went and knocked on the door and asked the family what the builder guy was like.

basically they got a quote too and hadnt agreed to anything. the next day the guy turned up at the house when the father was out of the house and dug u p the driveway. the family then felt pressured into getting the driveway done and he did do a good job. however, he started adding costs in without tell ing them!!

So all i can say is Im glad we never went with hm!

Mike..Huntshaven

lucky escape there dude

naz101

totally! thanks to all that posted on here!!! Think I will be telling him where to do...in a polite way of course..:)