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

[Pete999]

well the checkatrade lot were taken over by homeserve the house repair insurance outfit. paid a lot of money for it, they paid £54 million for the 60% they didnt already own!!!and have hiked the annual fees, often doubling them in many cases.
A lot of trades have walked away and no doubt the financial team are getting a bit worried with the loss of revenue as at £1k+ per business all it takes is 1000 members to walk and thats a million no longer coming in, that huge outlay for the business suddenly doesnt look so good to the directors... hence why the membership process is now just one review! fully expect to see a load of promos with cheap initial membership fees and trial periods anytime soon.

Does 2 Cowboy outfits make Wertern

 

[telectrix]

Cheatatrade is perfect and one I will steal for future use.

i came up with the term "cheatatrade" 2 weeks ago. it's now my copyright. see post#9.

Checkatrade now under new ownership and fleecing folk! - https://www.electriciansforums.co.uk/threads/checkatrade-now-under-new-ownership-and-fleecing-folk.150447/

 

[Martyn Fletcher]

Made tentative enquiries with Checkatrade a few weeks back and was told I needed 10 customer reviews because they need to confirm those reviews but only really need 6 for me to go live. I said I'd get back to them but had no intention after seeing how much they charge.
Just last week had call back and was asked if I had my 10 reviewers yet, I had to think quickly and replied "Well yes and no, I have 10 people I have done work for, but as I am subbing they're not really my customers". The reply "That's OK, if you contact them and confirm that it's OK for us to call them we can go with that".

DAMN IT! Have to think of something else now before the next call back.

 

[telectrix]

just tell them that you've seen their reviews on a forum, and they're all negative, so if they want you to join, they pay you.

 

[peterhyper]

Are you a member of Checkatrade?

Okay, I think it's time I came clean. I am the new CEO of Checkatrade and I was gauging feedback from various trades to get a feel how they perceive Checkatrade. I also believe that any feedback is good feedback, so thank you all.

Accepted that we (checkatrade) have doubled our yearly fees to our members, and also accepted if you have just one feedback from anyone with no fixed abode we will take you on and shield you from any poor feedback customers attempt to leave you, but as the CEO I must stress there is a limit to the amount of customer complaints our members receive before they will be removed. Any member that receives over 10 customer complaints within 24 hours will be taken off our website for an entire hour (between 3am - 4am the following day).

For a page on our website we will only charge you £1000 as an introductory offer, and after you have worked you nuts off taking it up the tradesmans building up good feedback (remember we won't publish bad feedback) we will then at least double your next annual fee.

I apologise for pretending to be a spark, as I appreciate many of you have had to train hard for up to 2 weeks on one of those courses that Checkatrade are also considering running to entice new members (with no previous electrical experience) that will allow you to carry out any type of electrical work you want in peoples home and become a real spark.

Now that I have exposed myself (not for the first time) I expect my staff to be inundated with calls from members on this forum, so please mention the code: welovetoshaftyou and you will each receive an extra large luminous sticker to put on your vehicle to let potential customers and other tradesmen know how very special you are having passed the incredibly difficult process of becoming a Checkatrade member.

Thank you

 

[peterhyper]

Apologies I got so excited I clicked twice.

 

[HandySparks]

... they pay you.

Actually, they DO pay me. HomeServe PLC are paying 2%pa dividend and are currently trading at around 20% up on 12 months ago.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

Made tentative enquiries with Checkatrade a few weeks back and was told I needed 10 customer reviews because they need to confirm those reviews but only really need 6 for me to go live. I said I'd get back to them but had no intention after seeing how much they charge.
Just last week had call back and was asked if I had my 10 reviewers yet, I had to think quickly and replied "Well yes and no, I have 10 people I have done work for, but as I am subbing they're not really my customers". The reply "That's OK, if you contact them and confirm that it's OK for us to call them we can go with that".

DAMN IT! Have to think of something else now before the next call back.

Tell them you cant give them the phone numbers as the gdpr data protection law kicks in tomorrow and you havent obtained permission to give there numbers out. Or if you have a more twisted sense of humour tell checkatrade you cant give them the details as the customers are in process of taking you to county court for one or two minor misunderstandings!

 

[peterhyper]

One review (even that looks suspect) and on cheatatrade:

 

[littlespark]

how do you get a '9' on reliability and timekeeping? You either turn up when you say, or you don't. Were you 1 minute late?

 

[peterhyper]

how do you get a '9' on reliability and timekeeping? You either turn up when you say, or you don't. Were you 1 minute late?

That's a fair point. What's also interesting is that the spark apparently did 'fault finding and repair' but issued electrical certificates. I can't think how often I issue one certificate when I fault find and repair something, but this spark has issued more than one (certificates).

I don't get how cheatatrade is saying to one forum member they must have at least 6 traceable customers to be a member, but this guy has one Mickey Mouse customer feedback, and he's been accepted?

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

That's a fair point. What's also interesting is that the spark apparently did 'fault finding and repair' but issued electrical certificates. I can't think how often I issue one certificate when I fault find and repair something, but this spark has issued more than one (certificates).

I don't get how cheatatrade is saying to one forum member they must have at least 6 traceable customers to be a member, but this guy has one Mickey Mouse customer feedback, and he's been accepted?

Money speaks volumes! its amazing what people let pass when a cheque goes across their desk

 

[stevels4]

There are plenty of other options, personally I’m thinking about joining www.RCDtripadvisor.com, if my reviews are all excellent I can get 5 Sparks and certificate to hang on my wall.

 

[chris day]

My personal experience with Checkatrade was the annual fee was paid off in the 1st week.

I stared up about 9 months ago and did not have anyone to give me work, around %50 of my business comes through the site so I can’t complain.

 

[Spoon]

My personal experience with Checkatrade was the annual fee was paid off in the 1st week.

I stared up about 9 months ago and did not have anyone to give me work, around %50 of my business comes through the site so I can’t complain.

Looks like you are doing good with them at the mo. You have only been using them for 9 months.
What happens when your annual fee doubles? Is it still worth it then?

 

[Awais]

A friend who is a heating engineer who i sometimes work with on larger jobs where the customer wants central heating as part of the refurb has just had his new price to stay on checkatrade and his annual fee has gone up from £750 or thereabouts and been told its now £1650! to be part of a online directory... thats before any fees for leads i assume...
It appears that homeserve the reactive maintenance firm has bought the company and is trying to recoup its costs...
I know people have mixed feelings about these sites but my mate has got a lot of high paying work from it and has paid for itself many times over, but the new fees were too much and hes left the site out of principle.. so much for loyalty and customer retention...
Would be interested to know if any other people on here use checkatrade and how much they are now paying at the annual renewal??
If you are on checkatrade and havent had the renewal yet then be prepared!

So a rip-off merchant has been taken over by a bigger rip-off merchant. Sounds about right.

I'm a gas engineer and joined last year fit £750. Put the time and effort into building up my reviews. This year they have quoted me £1500! When I asked why, they said because of advertising costs. Now I know the truth. They tried using black mail, you'll lose your reviews and customers. I canceled it out of principle too, thinking if I pay this year what's to stop them putting it up by almost double every year!

 

[Pete999]

I'm a gas engineer and joined last year fit £750. Put the time and effort into building up my reviews. This year they have quoted me £1500! When I asked why, they said because of advertising costs. Now I know the truth. They tried using black mail, you'll lose your reviews and customers. I canceled it out of principle too, thinking if I pay this year what's to stop them putting it up by almost double every year!

It's been renamed Mate Cheat a Trade, soon to be renamed a gain into Con a Trades-person.

 

[telectrix]

is it a coincidence that their advertising jingle is the same as the Lone Ranger theme? a cowboy in a mask.

 

[Pete999]

is it a coincidence that their advertising jingle is the same as the Lone Ranger theme? a cowboy in a mask.

With an Indian buddy, Hi Ho Pound-notes Away

 

[Pete999]

With an Indian buddy, Hi Ho Pound-notes Away

And the Mr Big of the Scam , why it's Mr Homeserve the well known purveyor of Cowboys, and any damaged caused by our Cowboys will be down to you, did I use a pair of Stilt sons to repair your expensive sink tap, well did you Punk?