Pay Contractor A Deposit Before Work Starts?

russ331

Mutton_Geoff said:

I wouldn't buy any bathroom or kitchen products from the sheds. They are very poor value for money and nasty quality.

From where would you buy bathroom products?

another_casualty

Couldn't read and run ..😼
I moved into my flat 3 years ago. Needed a new bathroom and kitchen . My plan was to see if I could get lucky with a good builder / plumber for bathroom and take things from there.  I googled . I found a company that deals with bathrooms . The man visited and tbh I found him to be not a very warm person . He also mentioned doing things off the books unofficially . I then joined rated people and invited 2 people over to look at the  bathroom.
The first chap , was kind of like alexi sayle . If anyone remembers the young ones with mr bulowski you may understand where I'm coming from . Big deep voice . Anyway, he promised the earth and you'd think he built Rome in a day . He wanted 50% up front .
The next chap came, and we hit it off right away . What he did was to give me a rough estimate. He sent me emails which contained the various designs I could choose .
He wanted bank transfer payments as ,and when..not 50% up front . Sold! 

Me being partly disabled and at the time bloated with steroids I let him buy the stuff required knowing that he would get discounts etc . I like to be laid back and easy going .
I had a remaining month living in the flat I was renting Up the road  which helped .
He got my bathroom from soak at the time . He did a great job , and got rid of the old bathroom free.  I then asked him if he would do my kitchen , plus other jobs . I got lucky
sure , I got one or two excuses for a day missed here and there, but rather than be jumpy I thought it best to be patient and keep supplying the tea and biscuits . 

Hope this helps ..

greatcrested

Checkatrade.

Says it all....

Have you signed a contract? If not, look elesewhere.

Doozergirl

rach_k said:

I agree that proper trades don't *need* to advertise on Check-a-trade but many of them still do because they know that people like to see it.  Proper trades don't need a website either because they'll be busy from word of mouth alone, and they don't need sign-written vans or company polo-shirts or nice headers on their invoices but many (where I live, at least) do all of those things because they want to look professional.  Making the effort to look professional doesn't mean you're out to scam people, just as not doing those things doesn't guarantee you're an honest, skilled person.  I wouldn't rely on Check-a-trade alone, but I think the snobbery displayed here fairly often is misplaced.  

There's no snobbery.  The bad stories we get here all seem to stem from those websites.  Not everyone there is a disaster, but we just don't get the same stories or initial concerns from people who get genuine recommendations.  People are shockingly naive when choosing tradespeople and that is displayed here every week.  We'll continue to champion personal recommendation because it works for both sides and we can't analyse checkatrade profiles individually.

I do remember what it was to start out and I was wary of how those sites made their money. 

Mutton_Geoff

russ331 said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

I wouldn't buy any bathroom or kitchen products from the sheds. They are very poor value for money and nasty quality.

From where would you buy bathroom products?

I use Doble Bathrooms, in particular Ideal Standard sanitaryware and Crosswater brassware.

Tammykitty

Deposits for contractors for reasonable size jobs sounds fair. We got a garage built and all the quotes had a deposit - paid on the builders first day on site.
The contractor is agreeing to do your job, and buy materials etc, he needs to protect himself as well incase you back out etc.
If the contractor takes card payment - pay by credit card to protect yourself

Does he have any reviews, or website etc, have you seen any previous work?

If one supplier is cheaper by a significant margin - there might be a reason for this - cheapest isn't always best.