Finding a reputable tradesman ?

[juless77]

I believe there is a local website you can go on to find out if a tradesman is reputable read reviews and make sure is work is up to standard can anyone tell me the site please

[sunjue100]

I’ve used checkatrade in the past and I think the other one is rated people

[Guest]

I used rated people a couple of times a while back. I had some good experiences but then somebody laid a wooden floor for me but it buckled. I called them back and they came in and tried to fix it, but it was still buckling. They then refused to take any more calls from me.

I left a review explaining what had happened and gave them credit for another job that had been completely satisfactorily. But I said they would not come back to fix the floor. The tradesperson went to rated people, said they had not done any work for me and my review was taken down.

I provided details of the tradesperson to rated people, but they did not put my review back. So essentially, they are willing to delete poor reviews if the tradesperson asks them to. So I won’t use them now.

[Smilesonfaces]

The best way to check a tradesperson is by a word of mouth with family, friends and neighbours. Depending on the type of work you are doing trade centres will carry business cards for good tradespeople.
Rated people has quite a bad name and husband says a tradesperson only goes through them if they can’t get work themselves as you have to pay for the job leads. Checkatrade is just a very expensive advertising service. In almost 40 years trade my husband has never advertised once.
I would ask around everyone you know first before you used one of these.

[mskitty]

Originally Posted by Smilesonfaces

The best way to check a tradesperson is by a word of mouth with family, friends and neighbours. Depending on the type of work you are doing trade centres will carry business cards for good tradespeople.
Rated people has quite a bad name and husband says a tradesperson only goes through them if they can’t get work themselves as you have to pay for the job leads. Checkatrade is just a very expensive advertising service. In almost 40 years trade my husband has never advertised once.
I would ask around everyone you know first before you used one of these.

See more...

Was just about to post exactly this. My DH is exactly the same. 20 years of constantly busy work and never advertised once. All his work is word of mouth.

[Floridarules]

I agree with other posts, the best way is by word of mouth. These websites who supposedly ‘verify’ the quality of tradespeople are basically a way of advertising and taking a fee.
Stick to local tradesman who are recommended by others.👍

[Guest]

Never had an issue with checkatrade or I ask on my local residents page

[Cosworth]

You could make a discrete enquiry at the local fire station. Many firefighters are also qualified tradesmen who run a part-time business in their spare time. Our fire station has builders, roofers, electricians, plumbers etc, all qualified and well recommended. They do not usually advertise because they get plenty work through word of mouth.

[mickey house]

Originally Posted by Cosworth

You could make a discrete enquiry at the local fire station. Many firefighters are also qualified tradesmen who run a part-time business in their spare time. Our fire station has builders, roofers, electricians, plumbers etc, all qualified and well recommended. They do not usually advertise because they get plenty work through word of mouth.

See more...

I wouldn't employ a fire fighter who works all hours and shifts to do decent work for me. I don't want someone turning up half asleep because they've just done a night shift, or can only do bits and pieces in between their shifts, and not a lot of good if I have a problem and their tied to their shift work.

[ERICSMUM]

Originally Posted by mickey house

I wouldn't employ a fire fighter who works all hours and shifts to do decent work for me. I don't want someone turning up half asleep because they've just done a night shift, or can only do bits and pieces in between their shifts, and not a lot of good if I have a problem and their tied to their shift work.

See more...

A very broad and generalised statement ! My brother used to be a fire fighter and did work on the side. He was as meticulous with that work as he was when attending a fire. I’m sure he’s not the only one.