Trust a Trader/ My Builder. etc etc......


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Hi guys , if any of the tradesman that are on this site had any bad experiance with not being paid etc etc, or any keen DIY fanatics have done some work for friends and not been appreciated, please let me know of your experiances, and would you use a site that Rates the customer!!!! it is lways the tradesman that gets the brunt of the bad press etc.

Is it fair???

I would love to hear your views. Thanks in advance CBM :mellow:

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Guest Tradesman4u

Hi, our new website is trying to offer a feedback system on customers. I noticed your post and so joined the forum to say I agree with a system where the customer can be rated. It surely is fair and reasonable for this to happen. I've not just joined here to try and 'promote' our website so sorry if this comes across wrong with my first post being all about a new website. I won't even mention the domain name but the obvious issue we are working around is that its very easy for a rogue customer to simply create a new account using different details, whereas a tradesperson obviously cannot do this quite so easily. What do you think is the best solution, perhaps having a more global list of customers names who have been bad payers etc which is difficult to facilitate and could lead us into bother. Ultimately if a customer receives negative feedback they simply move on to the next website or just post the next job under their partners name etc as in reality negative feedback doesn't effect them when they wake up tomorrow, whereas for a tradesman negative feedback can be very damaging and be the difference between winning a job and not. Any suggestions as to how we can make this a valuable resource on the site is very welcome as our site is still in development and we can implement anything at this stage.

Regards

David

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Whay your obviously missing here is the fact that this would break the law in so many ways, for a start, its illegal to distribute/publish your customers details, anywhere, for any reason, secondly, you would be hit with so many libel cases, so fast, you wouldnt know what happened, and more, but to not even know that and suggest such an idea, tells me you might want to look into the legalities of how to run a business...

A good tradesman would never think of or need an idea like this, so where are you going wrong?

You dont help a friend just to get appreciated, you do it because you want to, and if they dont show appreciation immediately, then it could be due to the very reason your helping them in the first place, they may stress or worry about other things, and were all human, we forget things that are going on right in front of us sometimes....

If somebody helps other people ONLY for the appreciation, then it sounds like that person may be too self centred, worrying more about what others think of them too much...

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Guest Tradesman4u

Thanks for the comment, we very much understand the legalities of running a business... Just looking at ways of helping tradesmen avoid bad customers in the same way customers can avoid rogue tradesmen, nothing sinister. If its not achievable then so be it. I thought it was a fair comment from CBM and didn't really require a dressing down from an admin. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

It wasnt a dressing down at all, just pointing out the obvious...

All people ever need to do is pay in milestone payments, for any job, and both sides are happy then. None of this huge payments up-front, then dont see the builder for months nonsense, and the builder doesnt have to risk waiting till job finished to risk not get any money.. Have it all written down and signed by both parties what the job is, and what milestones release payments...

If EVERY trader worked like that, things would go so much smoother, and hiccups would not escalate into major problems. Its not difficult to do, but so many are just too damn lazy and go only on what was said.

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Guest Tradesman4u

I'd definately agree with that. Dependant on the job, a small deposit/commitment fee to cover initial materials and written quotes with agreed payment structure would definately minimise risk to all parties. If only everyone would do it. Unfortunately we all know a large number won't. Some trades still struggle to even get a written quote together let alone the rest :)

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Tell me about it... The number of times I've had builder turn up and after 10 minutes will throw a price at me, and I have to ask, "So, how do you reach that figure, and how do we pay you?" which is when they start mumbling things and then blurt out "You can pay cash once the job is finished,,,,

DOH, how about an answer to the question, a sensible answer...

Almost all the builders I've dealt with in the last 5 (50+) years think a quote is to simply blurt out a figure and then ask for it in cash...

Only 3 have ever bothered to provide a written quote without having to be asked, or have given me a verbal quote, with breakdown, and then confirmed it all by email...

You can guess which ones got the job...

If its a simple or a 1 day job, then its normal to simply pay upon completion, but still with a written quote... Protects everybody from "Mis-understandings"...

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  • 7 months later...

A lot of tradespeople don't do themselves any favours so it's hardly surprising they get a bad press.

I've been a successful handyman for many years and even started a trade association (UK Guild of Handymen) in the hope of ridding the profession of the bad perceptions held by many.

Here's some things I do—

After I've seen a job I quote by email which gives me and the customer a record of what I'm doing and for how much.

I'll email again if anything should change.

Respect their home by taking my shoes off and clearing up properly afterwards (or leaving things tidy overnight).

I try to exceed their expectations in some way (this can be a small thing like putting a toilet roll on the holder I've just fitted or wiping finger prints off a mirror just hung).

Ask them to review me on FreeIndex

I charge a fair rate rounded to a half hour

... so if I say—I've been here 3 hrs 15 mins but I'll charge you for three hours I get a happy client

... but if I say—I've been here 3 hrs 15 mins but I'll charge you for three and a half hours I get an unhappy client

It doesn't take a genius to figure looking after customer means you don't need to keep finding new ones, because you keep the ones you've got.

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  • 2 months later...
Guest gissle

I don't know whether I am deviating from the subject here, but I always get quotes for work in writing. Normally I use someone that someone else has recommended. Normally I get a couple of quotes for the work if it is a major job.

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