Does MY HAMMER encourage cowboys???

[lloyd1980]

I am amazed COWBOY BUILDERS use MY HAMMER as a sponsor!!!, they dont ask for proof of qualifications ( these are just questios asked)
MY HAMMER encourages cowboys to price jobs at ridiculous rates such as £1100 for a full house REWIRE, absolute joke.
They need to be stopped. how anyone can do these jobs at this price is beyond me.
we do a 4 year apprentiship and time on the tools in order to provide a service at a industry recognised rate and MY HAMMER exploits this.

Isnt it THE most ironic thing youve ever seen?

im going on in a min to post a fake ficticious job and see who responds, ill sugest £50 inc VAT for an extension

then when mr 'get off yer horse and drink yer milk' gets in touch ill do a 'big dom' on him

 

[jasperhound]

The repeat offender of posting completely unrealistic quotes goes by the name of **** *****. Pretty sure its the same guy 'Rocker' is referring to.
In my opinion, if you're a legit sparkie with all the costs involved with memberships, insurance, regulations to meet, certification, traveling costs, tooling (and thats before you start factoring in materials and labour costs), etc and work out of the south/south west of England, and are considering joining MyHammer, forget it, while this guy is operating.

 

[rocker]

BEWARE! At nearly £300 a year membership & 6% commission on jobs awarded, the service you receive, in my opinion is appalling.

Spot on there.

then when mr 'get off yer horse and drink yer milk' gets in touch ill do a 'big dom' on him

Ha that would be proper, you should film it and stick it on you tube.

The repeat offender of posting completely unrealistic quotes goes by the name of **** *****.

I didn't see the name before it was edited, but we may have the same person. Are you in the south wales/south west area?? Have you had a few customers through myhammer who say that old mister anonymous quotes low and fast on jobs, then doesn't bother even showing up?? If so, then we are brothers in our distain for this joker.

And he knows who he is, because I always post quotes into the forums he undercuts on asking him exactly how he plans on making money on these jobs, haven't had a reply yet....

 

[tommo1275]

I have complained to the programme COWBOY BUILDERS for having the ordastity to use MY HAMMER as a sponsor
I am sure that people must win quotes and then add work to the job on site arrival

Lets just feel sorry for the poor sod who got an £ 800 rewire.
my guess would be new facias and a new board is all they got

 

[jasperhound]

Yes, I work out of Bristol & I am sure we are referring to the same joker.
Problem is most consumers have no idea of the regulations involved with electrical work, the issuing of certification, the testing etc. so as long as you turn up with a few tools, be polite and the job looks okay & works, any chimp could turn up and pose as an electrician.
The MyHammers of this world need to be brought to account because sooner or later somebody could get seriously harmed by employing a cheap jack to work on their property.
P.S. Are these so called electricians aware that when you change a fuse board you then become responsible for the whole installation. I would never quote on changing a board without first visiting the site and doing a pre-test inspection.
Another crazy quote just been placed on MyHammer.... It never ceases to amaze me!

 

[johnboy6083]

ive just had a look at my hammer, and ive noticed that some people have city and guilds certificates in the qualifications/memberships box. City and guilds in what? a lot of tradesmen think that they can do each others jobs, just because they have watched other trades on site! so whats to stop a plumber deciding that he can add an ouside socket to a ring, in a house with 3036 fuses and no RCD/RCBO? nothing, but he has a city and guilds certificate. In plumbing, but it doesnt mention the plumbing bit!

 

[Echo]

Have done a few jobs on myhammer when its been quiet basically just to get me out of the house! Can't possibly compete with the prices being posted on there. I suspect they turn upto the job and then say its going to cost more. Thats the only way half of the jobs can possibly be done.

IE, changing a few light fittings and socket facias. Joe Bloggs from 76 miles away quotes £50?????

 

[jasperhound]

I have today notified the NICEIC & MyHammer about an individual (quotes crazily low for jobs and gets awarded them on MyHammer) who is associating himself with the NICEIC on his website in regards to his certification practices. On investigation he has no association with the NICEIC at all.

Guess what... NICEIC take these matters very seriously and are taking action, while MyHammer are still allowing him to quote on electrical jobs as of this evening.

Encouraging Cowboys? I'll leave it with you to ponder over.

 

[rocker]

Wow really? He was quoting on so many things I didn't even think to check that he was registered, gotta be pretty brazen to be that out-in-the-open and to pee off a lot of people if you're not squeaky clean. If it does transpire he's unregistered he deserves everything he gets, great detective work, Jasper.

 

[rocker]

Hmmmm just checked the NIC website for his business name and his proper name - nothing at the address given on myhammer, nothing under the postcode and nothing indeed in the city he trades from. Verrrry interesting.

 

[rocker]

Hmmmm just checked the NIC website for his business name and his proper name - nothing at the address given on myhammer, nothing under the postcode and nothing indeed in the city he trades from. Verrrry interesting.

EDIT: Or indeed ELECA or Napit.

 

[Des 56]

Just looked through the thread and had a lok at some jobs on my hammer
This one made me smile


Quote

House is low on earth and has been requested by a company to get an electrician in to check if next door has all the earth going to their house (semi detached house)




I might quote to pinch a bit of next doors,they surely dont need it all

 

[rocker]

Just looked through the thread and had a lok at some jobs on my hammer
This one made me smile


Quote

House is low on earth and has been requested by a company to get an electrician in to check if next door has all the earth going to their house (semi detached house)




I might quote to pinch a bit of next doors,they surely dont need it all

Ha Des you must live near to me, I saw that one on Saturday morning, how I laughed through the hangover!

'Darling, I'm running a bit low on earth, do you think you could pick me some up down the garden centre'.

 

[arjay]

Made the fatal mistake of thinking it might get me some work never won a job worh a light website operators, were oblivious to my complaimts ,unfortunately money talks and i joe public wants to keep it in his pocket so we cant win.

 

[lloyd1980]

unfortunatly guys this all goes back to, joe bloggs and mrs jones down the road, all domestic customers care about is the figure at the bottom of the estimate - they will always go for the cheapest one as everyone likes to think they have got ' a bargain '
cowboys on this stupid site play on this tendancy , the customer still expects a decent job and assumes they are getting the same re-wire for 800 that they would for paying 2000
you get what you pay for in life

pay peanuts and monkeys will work for you

MY HAMMER illustrates this point

I feel sorry for the people who end up with the shower wired in alarm cable

 

[Des 56]

MY HAMMER illustrates this point

I feel sorry for the people who end up with the shower wired in alarm cable

You saw my job then
I had a bit left on the coil so it seemed sensible to use it up
Just think of the benefits

Light to carry and manhandle
Small slots to lay it in (some stupid peope drill holes)
Minimum damage when chased in or clipped
The white colour goes with the tiles
Able to terminate in a light switch without crushing
Mind you I had to explain off the gkowing effect on the wire as a colour effect to indicate the shower was working( I suppose thats a justifiable excuse considering the other quotes were rip offs)
Can be used on all sizes and makes of shower
Cheap to buy, so the profit margin, along with other lower overheads like minimum tax donations means its a lucrative way of making a living

I also have an astute buisness sense
Other foolish people in this trade buy ready made certificates,now I ask you,why waste hard earned cash to pay for something that the customer doesn't understand or read
I'm overcome with work demand
You just have to be competetive thats all

 

[lloyd1980]

think theres a few of these everywhere

prob a few on this forum too its sad to say, lurking in the shadows, never posting, always reading and picking up tips and then ****ing things up for the customer in a good ol ' cash and dash '

 

[johnah]

Having read the quotes made on this topic I agree with the rogue trader part and how they possibly can be making a living out of the so low price jobs. But surely the main concern would be how low the agencies are asking "Electricians" to work on sites in London never mind in the "North" for less than the JIB and being paid CIS without any holiday pay etc.
900 for 7 days in 2010 compared to 1300 in 2005 for the same 70 hours [Olympics - Wembley] is a disgrace and proof of how far we have slipped.
You then throw in the con of the part P, a load of money making regulations and you can see why people are under cutting like mad and are willing to travel 70miles to earn a 100 pound for a days work. It's a lot better then working with bluffers on site for 9 1/2 hours for agencies who are making more money out of you than the 6% My hammer is. Even the JIB rate is laughable but exceptable if a firm pays all the benefits. [Not many left].
It is the "race to the bottom" for Electricians and all the construction sector until we all stand together in the country then nothing is going to change.

 

[lloyd1980]

JOHNAH

Nothing is ever going to change, even by standing together do you really feel it will make any difference?
what do sparks do? refuse a job when they have bills and wife and kids to pay for - purley to make a moral stand againsed agencies and the low pay?

look at the fuel blockades a few years ago - It ground the country to a halt, the government reduced fuel duty by 2p everyone backed down and then it got reinstated, now look at the cost of fuel!!!

the only way wages and rates will rise is when demand out strips supply, in that there are more jobs than people to do them, this wont happen for a long time yet due to the climate and confidence

the eastern europeans are not helping matters working / living on site for a bag of chips at the end of the week but this is what we face

we all just have to get our heads down suck it up and it will get better eventually.

just a matter of time

 

[jasperhound]

I am at my wits end with MyHammer.... They are, in my opinion, a total shambles and a cowboy outfit themselves. JUST POSTED THIS ON 'moneysavingexpert.com' FORUM: As a tradesupplier on the MyHammer platform, I have 2 concerns, one from a consumers point and one as a user of MyHammer. From a consumers perspective I am very concerned at how easy it is for any tom, dick or harry to quote on a customers job requirements. I continually see jobs being awarded to so called trades persons for figures I would lose money on, let alone break even. As a qualified NICEIC registered electrician there are stringent rules & regulations that have to be met including Part P & Building Regs notification for most jobs apart from minor works. Work in Kitchens & Bathrooms almost certainly require Building control notification and this can be a minimum of £200 for starters unless your Electrician/Installer is a member of a government approved body such as NICEIC, Electra, Napit etc. Safety is surely being compromised by allowing non qualified persons to quote on jobs involving electricity & water, in installing a shower for example. I have voiced my concerns to MyHammer, but they fail to respond. Be very vigilant if using MyHammer as there seems to be no safeguard in allowing the Cowboys of this world to thrive on this type of platform. *****To Trades people considering signing up to MyHammer***** Having signed up to a 3 month trial I have had nothing but headaches. If you have problems with MyHammer you may find that trying to get things resolved will cost you money in phone calls, time wasted in emails, loss of possible earnings through quotes being placed & questions asked, being deleted from your account as they continually place restrictions on it. Due to what I can see as total incompetence, they are failing to bring my account up to date. They are continually placing restrictions on my account due to what they claim is an unpaid Invoice that has been paid via transfer to their account, at their request, due to problems with their accounting system. Then, when they acknowledge its been paid they lift the restriction but within a day or two the restriction is back on again. This has now happened at least 8 times! I have sent over 10 emails, telephoned (0871) over a dozen times, & written to the CEO with no response to this issue. The operation is based in Germany & you speak to German girls when you phone who would not put me through to their accounts department nor let me speak to supervisors if indeed they exist. I have now hit a brick wall and when seeking advise from 'Consumer Direct' have been told that taking action against a German Company may be difficult to accomplish. Never have I dealt with such incompetency, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!! p.s. I have a further issue with them now that I won't go into, but, once again they have failed to respond to my emails.