Checkatrade dissapointment

Leif

I've used 3 trades from CheckATrade, two found via the web site, and one via a neighbour and then I found he was on CheckATrade.

One was a cowboy that bodged a bathroom refit. CheckATrade 'investigated' and concluded I owed further money to the trade, but they would write that off. Trading Standards intervened and negotiated a refund of £1,800 as the work was below the legally acceptable standard.

The second was okay, but I would not use them again, very very difficult to deal with, quite a few smallish issues, most of which were not fixed, and I had to rectify them, which took many hours of my time. He kept telling me "I'll do that tomorrow" whenever I asked for something, such as a quote for coving. But he never did do it tomorrow, and sometimes never, sometimes 2 months later. It started to get insulting.

The third serviced my boiler. But he did not even take the cover off. Worcester Bosch confirmed that he should at least have taken the cover off, and checked if some components needed cleaning.

These web sites are no use to thee and me. The trade aims to get a good review after the work is done. If the boiler subsequently blows up because he/she did something wrong, you can't edit your review, so it'll still show 10/10 or whatever, despite the fact that you are standing on the charred remains of your home. And there are a lot of claims from people, including some members, that reviews can be, and are, faked. I cannot prove that, but I would not be surprised, as the reviews of the people I used were all 9.9/10 and similar. Also, look who pays the web site charges: the trade, not you, so who is the customer? Yup, the trade.

Avoid!

C_Mababejive

Are there checkatrade type websites for lawyers,doctors,dentists etc?

NeverEnough

There are, but they are not aimed at the UK , they are mainly US based and target US doctors, lawyers etc.

rxbren

the main reason these sites exist is because people want to pay as little as possible and dont want to contact local preofessionals or companies then they complain when they get a poor job

Leif

rxbren wrote: »

the main reason these sites exist is because people want to pay as little as possible and dont want to contact local preofessionals or companies then they complain when they get a poor job

I reckon the reason they exist is that there are a lot of bad 'trades' about. Unfortunately anyone can claim to be a tiler, for example. Finding a good one is not easy and these sites market themselves to the consumer as the way to find a good trade. Ha ha ha. :rotfl:There are some good trades on these sites, but good trades often don't need to advertise.

rxbren

but alot on there arent good "tradesmen"

maninthestreet

Checkatrace make their money by selling advertising space to trades people.

mark-w20

I tried a few times using a similar site (boiler guide) I naively thought it might work for helping getting work. As with all these sites they make there money by selling leads to the traders, I was not checked out by them in any way prior to being accepted. It didn't last long, the various leads I did pay for only actually led to one job, every other time I found I was quoting against immposibly low prices, by that I mean not possible to do a proper job at the price. I then stopped accepting leads.
From a trades point of view the sooner the general public realise how these sites make money the better, they are not there providing any sort of public service by vetting trades.
I blame the general attitude that you get three quotes to find out who is cheapest, this does not work.
Get recommendations from friends family neighbours etc. far better for both customers and trades.

Alisha2008

I don't get the quotes to see which is cheaper, in my case I got 3 plumbers coming to my house and each one had a different idea about where and how to install a new boiler (different places, different brands). In the end we went with the one we liked the idea most (it wasn't the cheapest at all).

I'm planning to do the same with my kitchen now, it won't be the cheapest, it will be the one I like most and (if possible) I get some personal recommendation, even if it has to be from people I don't know. (already tried friends & neighbours, and got nothing).

C_Mababejive

The public get what they deserve when they look upon so called tradesmen as if they were itinerant drive layers.