Rated People

dacouch

MSE_Andrea wrote: »

Hi everyone

Rated People has asked us to post on its behalf. MSE doesn't endorse anything a company says on the forum.

We view discussion around our ratings system as a top priority. We also view discussion about our service generally as a tremendous opportunity to improve the quality and reliability of our offering.

This post is to address recent posts regarding our ratings system and vetting process. Unlike other recommendation sites, where anyone can rate, RatedPeople.com operates a "closed-loop" rating system. This simply means that in order to submit a rating, you need to have posted a job on Rated People, which is then purchased by a Rated tradesman.

We are working hard to make sure these ratings can’t be manipulated and have included automated filters to check for IP address/job origination, time stamping and manual checks triggered by known profiles. Most recently, we also implemented a ratings spot-check system, where we randomly check positive and negative reviews to ensure people are not cheating the system.

Wow tough security, that would be hard to defeat...not

You could (No doubt plenty of the tradesmen already do) use the method I posted before to manipulate reviews. Either use a friends computer or reset your router for a new IP address. Manual checks are not exactly hard to defeat either.

The sad thing is the type of people who would manipulate their reviews/ratings are the cowboys who would not get good reviews so the very people rated's customers would want to avoid at all costs

oopalah

I have used Which? Local to find builders and other tradesmen. As well as reading the reviews and the advice articles, get at least three quotes and check up on references. In other words, go round and view their previous work and don't take anything at face value. It's common sense, really.

BeenieCat

There's a long thread on here about it (and rated people did post), I read it all and decided to go ahead and list my job (laying laminate) and see what came up.

I had 2 tradesmen ring me and I picked the one with 32 ratings, all 5 star. I figured that many ratings can't be false. It would cost them an absolute fortune to falsify all those ratings. Also, I'm sure something would have come up on Google if they were cowboys.

I got a great price, in fact the price was so low that I was a bit worried about quality, especially knowing he'd have paid for the details + was coming a fair distance to me. I took the risk and it paid off, they did a brilliant job.

You will get cowboys on there but you've got to do your own research. Google the company etc. Not foolproof but it helps. I couldn't get any recommendations from friends which is why i used it, it was either that or pick a random name out of the yellow pages.

onlyroz

I used Rated People a few years back - we had just moved to the area and so didn't know anybody who could provide recommendations. We found a decent electrician, who rewired the place for us, and we found a gardening company that renovated our front patch. One of the electricians that turned up for a quote didn't actually have any qualifications - which is probably why his quote was so cheap.

In general, I'd say that following the recommendations of friends/relatives/neighbours who have had work done is prob the best choice. However, Rated People is probably a good backup if you've no idea who to go with.

northyorks

I used a company displaying FMB logo. The work was substandard and they would not return to rectify. After sending in a dispute to the FMB they informed me despite them displaying the logo they were no longer members. Months later the website still displays the logo. I complained to Trading Standards who tell me he has gone into liquidation and any defaults of the work could not be followed up. If I ring the telephone number on the web site I get through to him as another company. ITS ALL A JOKE ! Suggest going on recomendations of friends etc.

dacouch

MSE_Andrea wrote: »

Hi everyone

Rated People has asked us to post on its behalf. MSE doesn't endorse anything a company says on the forum.

We view discussion around our ratings system as a top priority. We also view discussion about our service generally as a tremendous opportunity to improve the quality and reliability of our offering.

This post is to address recent posts regarding our ratings system and vetting process. Unlike other recommendation sites, where anyone can rate, RatedPeople.com operates a "closed-loop" rating system. This simply means that in order to submit a rating, you need to have posted a job on Rated People, which is then purchased by a Rated tradesman.

We are working hard to make sure these ratings can’t be manipulated and have included automated filters to check for IP address/job origination, time stamping and manual checks triggered by known profiles. Most recently, we also implemented a ratings spot-check system, where we randomly check positive and negative reviews to ensure people are not cheating the system.

Homeowners can always go back to amend their ratings and tradesmen are able to comment. We don’t delete reviews of tradesmen, whether negative or positive, unless investigation reveals the review to be false. We also suspend tradesmen who are found to be cheating the system. Anyone suspicious about the ratings on the site is welcome to contact our team who will be happy to investigate further.

In addition to monitoring ratings, we also perform ID verification on all tradesmen who join our service. We also check for Gas Safe certification, ask about Part P electrical accreditation and Public Liability Insurance. We recommend all our homeowners to ask for references and credentials before working with a tradesman.

We welcome all feedback and encourage tradesmen and homeowners to contact our Customer Service & Support hotline at 0800 953 3002.

Interesting to see Dominic Littlewood on tonight's One Show set up a rated people account along with his own fake reviews.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/live/bbcone (Right at the start of the show)

leveller2911

Part of Rated Peoples defence when pressed as to why they had allowed the fraudster mentioned to be a member of their site they said "He was also a member of a number of other ratings sites".

What sort of defence is that?.

As already mentioned take ALL the reviews on "Rated People" etc with a large pinch of salt.

All a conman needs to do to join Rated People and rip the public off is give them his/her name,address and a debit card details.

maria.fr

I used Rated People recently, 2 builders contacted me for the job I posted. The first builder didn't respond to my further query. The second 'builder' asked me to transfer initial payment of £730 into his Barclays account to buy materials. He never turned up, giving various excuses.

Looked like this 'builder' previously registered with My Builder website. He texted to ask us remove negative comment from My Builder website when in fact I got his contact from Rated People website. I recently saw at My Builder website, a negative review for someone with the same name who also operates within the same area. The case was the same, i.e. getting the initial payment but never turned up.

Fortunately, after two unpaid cheques and many calls and texts, a month later I got my money back.

Rated People contacted me a few times when I reported this to them. Then in one occassion, when I called the same customer service number, I was told that I should only contact him through email. I then sent two emails to him which went unanswered. After a desperate call to the customer service number, he contacted me again and helped put pressure on the builder to return my money.

Lesson for me is to stick with word of mouth and personal recommendations, although sometimes it means works have to be pushed back a little.