are checkatrade reviews to be trusted?

[FreeButtonBee]

I am looking for a builder for a relatively small renovation job in SW London (ie it's not a full house refurb which most builders seem to want!) and one local firm which I see a lot has pretty awesome reviews on checkatrader. Can a builder game the reviews at all? There are a few negative ones but not many, which makes me slightly suspicious! Any insight?

google "checkatrade complaints"

you will not find unfavourable comments on forums like this one.

Checkatrade employ solicitors who write to forums like this one.

Absolutely not, we sourced a local carpenter from there, all good reviews and looked kosher. We booked us into 6 months of hell, cost me £425 also and all I got from that was days upon says worth of ago and no product. Bloody crook. No idea where all the glowing feedback came from though.

If i can't get a personal recommendation for a tradesperson then i go to check a trade. I've had a roofer and a decorator who were great and absolutely lived up to recommendations. And another roofer with great reviews but who was awful, it ended up costing us a fair bit to put right his mistakes we've had a terrible decorator from there too! So pretty 50:50! I don't think it's the fault of check a trade as such, you can get cowboys anywhere. It's hard work to find good trades people. When i find one i hold on to them

Ex of mine is on there and has a contact who deletes negative reviews

Definitely take note of the comments above - I've read a lot of posts about negative reviews being deleted. That said, we've used CaT a fair bit when we don't have personal contacts (we're also in SW London) and the tradesmen have been pretty good. We had a sash window supplier/fitter who was amazing (using him again soon), a bricklayer who was fine and a builder for demolition and foundations who was also good. I tend to look for people who have lots and lots of reviews with specific detail that you generally wouldn't make up. If someone has ten reviews and they all say something generic like "Great job, would recommend" then I tend to avoid.

I've had a plumber, a glazier and locksmith who were both great.

Had some builders come to quote and one of them was the most racist odious toad I've ever had the displeasure of having in my house. Telling me about all the "rag heads" etc and wouldn't leave. In the end I had to go downstairs and open the front door and stand outside to get him to go!

I've found several really excellent tradespeople on there (basically by doing the kind of stuff Crumbelina says).

I think if someone's got hundreds of very specific glowing reviews which all sound like they've been written by different people, then they're a very good bet.

I don't think any online review service is going to be 100% reliable, though. Very interesting to hear about the deletions and fakes.

Check a trade wouldn't allow me to leave a negative review as the tradesman had returned to rectify the issue, (which he still didn't do) and implied I was being overly fussy.

So Since then I've been wary and now rely on word of mouth.

Got it. Okay. Take with a very big pinch of salt and check for too many similarities in the reviews.

Anyone know a good builder in sw london? For a bedroom refurb?

Exactly what Waterlemon said

I think checkatrade can be ok.
look for loads of reviews with various writing styles,
google them as well,
ask to see recently completed work,
re calibrate the scores from 9.6 = dire to 9.99 = worth a try

Free - PM and I can recommend (although it depends where you are in SW London I guess). We are in the middle of an extensive refurb and our guy is great (and was recommended by a friend). He's busy though. Especially right now.

I know someone who does a.good Job, asks customers for a review on CAT then doesn't finish the job! So there's that too. I have had good results from myBuilder but not everyone has.

My ex has his mobile mechanic business on there. . .
He is a joiner. .
No qualifications in repairing motor vehicles whatsoever. .

We got a landscape gardener from check a trade. He did a fantastic job and was a nice bloke too (had great reviews) - we're going to use him for some more work again next year. Sounds like we were lucky though.

Venys - I think the best way to manage that is to segment payments so the biggest labour payment is at the end of a job. Obviously you have to be reasonable as tradespeople (especially on larger jobs) have wages and sometimes other trades etc to pay.

That would assume that he was working to a fixed price but there are always extras that crop up on biggish jobs. I.e when you start taking your house apart there are surprises! Payments are done in installments. You wouldn't necessarily pay the last piece but the builder just couldn't be bothered or was not capable of doing the snagging - possibly coz he knew some pieces were not up to par.

No. Nearly had a breakdown whilst having a bathroom put in.

The guy employed Bulgarian workers on £80 a day and charged us an absolute fortune for substandard work. When we complained he said he hadn't said anything about the quality of the work just that the work would be done!

He threatened us.

Checkatrade didn't publish our review.

If I could be bothered I would sue Checkatrade for misrepresentation.

I own a business and we are with checkatrade. I can state that the reviews are from customers and they can write whatever they want, good or bad. If a review is submitted that is below a certain mark, Checkatrade notify us to give us the opportunity to contact the customer to address the issues or give a response that is posted with the review. Either way, all reviews given by customers are posted.

In my experience they are bullshit. We paid someone a lot of money to replace a garage door, based on good reviews. He did what can only be described as a botched DIY job of it. I was not impressed at all. Unfortunately I was ill in bed before I got a chance to see it or I wouldn't of paid him. DH paid him without quibble! Word of mouth is the best way to go!

I must be lucky - I've used it, and not had any problems. Obviously you have to read carefully into their reviews, look at pictures, and get a feel for what sort of outfit they are, and how much experience they've had in the task that you need them for. e.g. if you are looking for a plumber, you might find loads who are good at fixing leaks/taps/toilets but have never, say, installed central heating or done a whole bathroom install.

Having said that, I tend to use Checkatrade to find people for smaller jobs - unblocking drains, putting up lights etc. If it were something more extensive I always go via word-of-mouth.

I often get excellent recommendations from other tradesmen - for example, I have an electrician I've used for years, and he recommended a good plumber, and my joiner mate found me a good builder.

Word of mouth is the ONLY way to hire trades

I have never had much luck with word of mouth. The last two tradesmen I have found are via mybuilder and checkatrade. Both honest and hard working.

I found a kitchen fitter on Checkatrade, he had excellent reviews. I sued him in the Small Claims Court for poor workmanship, my kitchen was a disaster.
It cost over £4000 to rectify the shoddy work. I won the case & he’s still on Checkatrade.

I think the traders just pay Checkatrade to go on their list. Then they get the leads. I doubt there's any checking of previous work carried out. (Just my opinion - although I'm sceptical by nature!)