MyBuilder refusing to refund lead costs and is wrongly flagging my trustpilot review

Slinky

Foodwizardry said:

Slinky said:

Whilst this is annoying, is it really worth taking up so much headspace for £24 or £30? Stick an extra tenner on the next 3 jobs you get and move on.

it is the principle and could be 100's or just 30, if we complain all the time, yes fair enough, but this is an isolated incident. As a business, why lose a customer that pays £££ to them over the years, over a customer that probably didn't know better or had any idea of the monetary implications of asking a question (which MyBuilder also do not make clear)? I am looking for constructive advice to escalate this, not a ''get over it'' in all fairness. I thought this forum would help people and that's why I posted here. I know it might seem silly to you, however, that's what people said about PPI years ago and now the full extent of the scam is revealed and claims can be made,... I just want to know where I can escalate this to some regulatory body in the UK.

I perfectly understand where you are coming from, I ran my own business for years and took people down the MCOL route for small sums if I felt it warranted it. I also know how much head space that occupied at times, and sometimes it does need the voice of reason to step in and make an alternative suggestion. Good luck to you whichever route you take.

As an aside, I very much doubt the contact read the T&Cs - who does? - and hasn't got a clue. It's them who should be paying the £24....

diystarter7

BTW - OP

Re flagging of your TP. Do not worry as if you are honest and fair  and baalnced honens review, there is not a lot they can do. 
A double glazing company that did major refurb on a property of ours some years ago kept on flagging up my review and saying it was a lie, unfair and initially cliamed I was not a customer, then legal threat, I did not change a single word on my orginal review - it was stressful, nearly took it down buy our kids supported me said keep it there because they heard how the manager who was family of owner tried to talk down to me and the lies they told. The review stayed up and they came out and fixed the major fault. Its not easy but if you are honest and leave a fair and balanced review - TP will keep it there. (mine was removed about ten times over several weeks - I had to send evidence i was a customer of their, lol)

Good luck

eskbanker

Foodwizardry said:
I am looking for constructive advice to escalate this, not a ''get over it'' in all fairness. I thought this forum would help people and that's why I posted here. I know it might seem silly to you, however, that's what people said about PPI years ago and now the full extent of the scam is revealed and claims can be made,... I just want to know where I can escalate this to some regulatory body in the UK.

The dispute escalation mechanism should be specified within the terms of your contract with MyBuilder - do they offer any ADR possibilities perhaps?  I'm not aware of any regulatory body covering this sort of company (unlike in the PPI scenario), so chances are that your only other option would be court action, but that's unlikely to be viable for such a low value issue, even if there was a clear breach of contract involved.

tightauldgit

I don't see that you really have any path to escalate this as they don't appear to have done anything wrong. 

They provided you with a lead, albeit a crappy one, and they charged you for it. You weren't happy but by your own admission what you were asking for was a 'goodwill gesture' and they weren't willing to provide it. 

If you feel the service isn't worth what they charge then you should stop using it. Other than that I don't see that you have any legitimate complaint here. 

Alderbank

It is sole trader, so not sure where to post this. I have checked everywhere...

There is no section for business as such, as this is a consumer based site.

Yes, there is.
Look at the tabs on the left hand side of this page. Select 'Work, Benefits and Business'
In that section choose the tab 'Small biz Moneysaving'
That tab is described as 'Running your own business? This is the place for MoneySaving questions for small traders.'

Jumblebumble

sheramber said:

But if they refund you they have to refund everybody else who has the same experience., which would be fair. Only reunding you would not be fair.

So it probably would not be just one refund.

I disagree. 
Who mandates that My Builder would have to refund everyone?

If any sensible business was going to lose a huge amount of business if they did not refund one particular customer in most cases there would be no consideration whatsoever as to whether it is fair or unfair to other customers to do so.
 I do agree that if it became known that refunds were being made they would have to consider refunding  others

born_again

Jumblebumble said:

sheramber said:

But if they refund you they have to refund everybody else who has the same experience., which would be fair. Only reunding you would not be fair.

So it probably would not be just one refund.

I disagree. 
Who mandates that My Builder would have to refund everyone?

If any sensible business was going to lose a huge amount of business if they did not refund one particular customer in most cases there would be no consideration whatsoever as to whether it is fair or unfair to other customers to do so.
 I do agree that if it became known that refunds were being made they would have to consider refunding  others

But MyBuilder are not going to lose anything if OP leaves. From a quick look the £24 + VAT is where they make the money. 

It's very clear on the site the charge.

https://www.mybuilder.com/how-it-works-for-tradespeople

>We charge a shortlist fee only when both you and a homeowner are ready to exchange details. <

So these co's must be building the cost into their quotes.

Good business model. 
Charge companies for quoting for a job & passing on the contact details. 
So 3 quote, one gets the job. The other 2 stump up £24.