Checkatrade,Mybuilder, Myhammer ratedpeople etc etc.. Your views?

[Ricen'easy]

Check a Trade. Com no doubt attract all their business from their heavily advertised website working at a local level. Their promotion costs are huge and reflected in their charges. Use the money you would have spent to get a good website of your own and it will pay for itself within time.

 

[pjcomp]

Ditto Adam's comment (above). It's a nice idea that customers leave feedback and new customers use it as recommendation, but the system's also open to abuse from competitors, trolls and customers you're in dispute with. Tripadvisor has had a lot of bad PR of late from just those sort of things getting on the site, and businesses have been ruined by wholly erroneous and malicious "feedback".

PJ

 

[RS2OOO]

Use the money you would have spent to get a good website of your own and it will pay for itself within time.

I totally agree with this. In fact, if you use something like self hosted WordPress as the basis for your website it's completely free and you can have something half decent set-up within a couple of hours, all for a tenner a year hosting costs.

If all you sparky's on this forum collectively put a site together (therefore national coverage), I think you'd do rather well.

I've got a basic Word Press blog, that alone brings in £100 a Month in ad revenue, and it was never my intention to monetise it. If I used it to sell my "knowledge" (regulation prevents me), I'd easy 10x that.

 

[imago]

I thought I'd drag this thread back into existance as I joined checkatrade so I thought some feedback would be in order.

I joined them when a customer mentioned about their tie in with 'Cowboy Builders' on TV. They don't generate or sell leads, they simply collate customer feedback and advertise their existance. They check all of your qualifications, memberships and insurances. You need references from trade suppliers and customers to be allowed membership. Yes the fees are high, but no higher than some other advertising methods. There are no guarantees or promises for work or leads.

So, the main question I suppose is have I had work from it? Then, is it worth the fee? Yes to both in my experience. The customers that use it are already in the frame of mind for a quality service, not the lowest price. They can read on the screen who you are, what you do, etc and they know it's been checked. When you go to quote it's up to you to sell yourself/your company, so it's not a magic solution. The work I have had from it has been steady, and they have been 'quality' clients.

I have also found that people out of the area needing work in the area use it. A shop fitting company down South are refitting a shop in Birmingham, they looked on checkatrade and rang me. I looked at the job, sent them the quote, and they want me to do the work. Another was a landlord in London who needed work on a flat he owns in Reditch. Same story. So I've had domestic work, letting agent work, and commercial work.

Once the job's done you give them a feedback card which they fill in and send back, or they can fill in an online form. Checkatrade check the feedback comments and contact you if there are any queries or something looks amiss. So dodgy practice is much more difficult to carry on there.

All in all it's been good for me in the short while I've used it, and I would recommend it if aksed.

 

[Guitarist]

Once the job's done you give them a feedback card which they fill in and send back, or they can fill in an online form. Checkatrade check the feedback comments and contact you if there are any queries or something looks amiss. So dodgy practice is much more difficult to carry on there.
.

Does this mean that you could potentially choose not to have low ratings by telling them that it must be sour grapes, or a competitor?

 

[imago]

No, I mean that they check that they are genuine, for good, bad or indifferent feedback. So if there's no issue the contact a sample of customers at random and ask about the work etc. It weeds out getting a mate or relative to give you good feedback. It also helps to find out if the customer was pressured into giving a better report than was due. If there's a dispute they ask for both side's story, documents etc. I suppose it's like a mini court case type of deal, then they post the feedback or not based on their findings. They can also (and have) boot people off if they don't follow the rules and treat the customer properly.

I've not had to go through any of that fortunately, but there's plenty of evidence on the forum etc of them running a tight ship.

I can only speak as I find, and unless there is some hidden issue further down the line, it's been a good experience to date.

 

[Guitarist]

Sounds good then

 

[craigday]

Are these types of companies I.e checkatrade, rated people, worth joining? Is this a good way to start a business clientele? As looking to get own work!

 

[Welchyboy]

No their not

 

[craigday]

Lol thanks,

 

[Johnuk]

no there not, just a waste of money

 

[LlandrilloSpark]

Rated People & My Builder did very well for me when times were quiet, I had to travel but never lost a week day, not all my jobs were from these companies but like i said they infilled when times were quiet

 

[chrish_1977]

I was asked if I wanted to join checkatrade, when I asked what certs they wanted from me, they didn't want to see any, so told them no thanks

 

[bigbaddave]

I signed up to rated people.. 50 / 50 if id recommend it to anyone, Got couple of bits from it but also got a lot of time wasters that cost me few quid buying there details for me to call and not be able to quote.. Although your supposed to receive a refund that's not always the case.

Go for the free trial and then make your own decision..

 

[craigday]

Thanks all

 

[Racing Green Bo]

I've been with checkatrade for years and they are a very professionaly run business, not cheap, but easily pays for itself and allows you to prove you are an honest reliable tradesman even to potential customers who have not found you through their website. Unlike a previous post I had to jump through quite a few hoops to prove qualifications, references, insurances etc. before they would take me on. One advantage of checkatrade to the customer over some of the others is that in an emergency situation they have your number instantly from your profile. The others require a lead buying process first not good for a customer stood in a cold dark house. I do well because I am one of the few Domestic Installers in my region. If you are down south (where they started years ago with their original marketing) there's a lot more of the same trades in a concentrated area. Hope this helps.

 

[craigday]

Yes helps loads thank you

 

[LlandrilloSpark]

Years???, Christ , fledgling company I thought!, never heard of them until about 3 months ago, are you sure you don't work for them!??

 

[Racing Green Bo]

I know I should be on commission! Can only speak from personal experience, have gained some decent jobs and lots of returning customers as a result of checkatrade. I've been with them for over 4 years.

 

[markythesparky]

i used one of these sites some 8 years or so ago and found it to be totally worthless. I had a call from my brother last night who told me that his brother in law swears by Mybuilder. I looked at its t an c's but it looks the same if not worse than the one I tried. Whats you experience with these sites?