Rated people warning

Carl_Hawkes

I use rated people to buy leads at about £40 a time and before the internet i used Thompsons local. All they are is a means of connecting customers to tradesmen. They don't add any value to the actual job and there's no way of knowing whether a tradesman or customer is good or bad.
I'm amazed by the way customers select services for high value jobs,
Some tips,
Don't offer cash so that you can save on the vat,
don't judge by fancy websites or adverts (these are designed by someone else)
Ask to meet old customers and to see some of their previous work.
Trust your instincts.
Most self employed people i know are very honest and decent, try not to deselect the best ones.
My advice is talk to you neighbours and get recommendations. Word of mouth will always be the best way to find good services.

Should they build the cost of a lead into the quote....the reality is that all costs are factored in. It's done on a spreadsheet. There is no wrong or right.

another_casualty

It’s a bit of a minefield somto speak , trying to find somebody .
I moved into my new flat last year, New area ..know virtually nobody .
I hated the bathroom and kitchen . I decided that I wanted chunky wooden Venetian blinds also, and new carpet .

First things first , I looked on the internet for a builder to do a complete new bathroom . I used rated people . I remember Phil Spencer’s voice , which prompted the search. When I got onto the site, I selected 3 people to see from there. I also found a couple nearby that were not on rated people ,but were friendly but tied up,for months. First guy was a bit of a know it all.Not a horrible aggressive type, but something didn’t seem right. He also said “if you want to pay cash ..” , so no to him .
The second guy was a very friendly Eastern European . He had 2 first names which was a bit confusing . Lots of good recommendations . Nice guy . He promised the earth . However, he wanted 50% upfront . Then another 50% in a couple of weeks after that . So the answer was no.
The third person is the one I held onto. Did a great job on the bathroom . I asked him if he would do some extra work for me with the kitchen . Did great stuff there. I am getting a quote from him for kitchen cabinets . He built a nice storage unit for my hi fi , put a wall bracket up for my tv. He also bought and assembled a wardrobe and sideboard. I feel extremely lucky . Everything was done via email regarding quotes and payment. I paid in stages when required.
Oh, nearly forgot he recommended a chap for carpets and kitchen vinyl saving me half of what carpetright were charging.

Regarding the blinds, I used google . When I arranged quote etc I never realised the people I used were in check a trade.
I got lucky there again .
I suppose it’s horses for courses etc

Forgot to mention : I gave builder great feedback . Someone liked the comments I put and the builder got a few jobs fro what I said . I was lucky

Slinky

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-42783279

Herongull

These sorts of websites are all paid for by the tradespeople - they either have to pay to give quotes or else they pay to go on the website.

The tradespeople that get enough work from recommendations don't need to pay to go on these expensive websites. When a good tradesperson does use them, they will get further work from recommendations and may eventually get enough work to be able to stop using the expensive website.

So using them to try to find good tradespeople can actually be counterproductive.

Go for local recommendations - if you don't know your neighbours, just use local social media. Streetlife was brilliant for local recommendations for tradespeople but alas it was taken over by Nextdoor which isn't quite as good but still very useful for this sort of thing.

I never found Which Local to be very useful - the recommended people seemed very expensive and there was nothing special about them to justify the high prices.

paddy's_mum

Next time you are walking along the High Street in the town you have just moved to, keep an eye open for any parked workman's signwritten van showing from the dialling code that he lives in the area. It doesn't matter whether he's a plasterer, plumber, electrician ... and just ask him who he uses for such-and-such a job in his own home.

These guys all work together on new builds and extensions at various times and very quickly get to know who the cowboys are. Word travels fast in a local community and if the guy you find only tells you who he wouldn't use, you are already several steps ahead.

I once lived in a street of only 50 houses but four or five of the householders were themselves local tradesman. I noticed that they all used a particular self-employed double glazer. I used him based on that implied recommendation and in the past seventeen years have never had the slightest reason to fault his work in any way. He even cleans both sides of the new window and the adjoining ones before leaving my place!

LUHG1878

Nathaniel_Essex wrote: »

One other person, an electrician, I got lucky with.

Guessing there was just a spark between you?

pitkin2020

GrumpyDil wrote: »

Yup. After my experience of these sites I wouldn't"'t use them or any similar ones again. The problem is that they do pay to be able to quote you but they should build that into their quotes.

Even those commercial sites won't appreciate that type of activity so hopefully should take it up with the builder.

its no doubt built in the quote but that doesnt cover the cost when the quote isnt accepted

Phil_Cautious

Posted a job to remove bath and install shower on Rated People site. They stated that 3 Rated People would give quotes. Next day they informed me that my job had gone down their list and maybe I could update it or pay £3.99 to have it restored to top of the list. I updated, informing them that all materials were already purchased and my budget for the work was £2000. Still no quotes after 2 weeks. I'm old and hate plumbing but I've decided to do it myself, if I take it easy it'll probably take me 3 or 4 days, a week maximum.
I wish I'd checked MSE site before using Rated People. Lesson learned!