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Original poster

are checkatrade reviews to be trusted?

46 replies

FreeButtonBee · 14/09/2017 16:42

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?

OP posts:

bonjovigirl · 11/06/2018 01:15

We found a builder on MyBuilder to refurb our bathrooms. I was a bit sceptical as he only had one poor review in last 12 months but turned out to be great. Really thrilled with his team. He told me that you can’t delete MyBuilder reviews but I only have his word for that.
I’m on a local residents Facebook group- if you have similar in your area it might be a good way to garner some recommendations from locals?

BingTheButterflySlayer · 11/06/2018 20:33

I’m on a local residents Facebook group- if you have similar in your area it might be a good way to garner some recommendations from locals?

I'm very sceptical about those as well - it's all people's girlfriends or mums and dads recommending them on our local groups. Likewise when I look at their business page and it's glowing five star reviews... and you follow things through and all the reviews are from their friends and relatives. Actually was the deciding factor in choosing one company over another for our bathroom - when I tracked back the FB reviews and likes from the company page it turned out they were all the personal friends of the business owner and staff... so I went with the company with slightly more mixed reviews - but many more of them from a complete range of people and the mixed reviews were things like complaining no one came out to fix a fault on Christmas Day and the like.

VelvetSpoon · 11/06/2018 23:26

Checkatrade were shit. I found someone on there to do a small plumbing job. It started leaking the next day. He said he'd come back but never did. Checkatrade weren't interested at all. Everyone who saw the work said the guy clearly wasn't a plumber. He'd made about 10 joints half of which weren't necessary and not soldered most of them. The only good thing was that it was only a small job so I'd paid under £100.

I've tried the FB recommendation route with mixed success. The last lot charged me for something they measured wrong and then connected taps up wrong and told me I needed a new thermostat. I didn't.

I have no trust in any builder now.

Weezol · 11/06/2018 23:39

Hopefully you'll find some one from PP's PMs.

This is a spin off from Help for Heroes h4h-handymen.co.uk and may be worth considering.

DSoren · 14/02/2019 12:49

I am horrified with Checkatrade. They advertise themselves as a reputable company yet were implicit in leading me a rogue trader called Jacek Deresynski of Jack&Sons Construction (Hertfordshire area and ladies please avoid at all costs). I contacted X company on Checkatrade.com to request a quote and X company sent me Jacek Deresynski to my house who is not only a wanted criminal in Poland - for tax evasion and unpaid child support - but also ran off with a 3K deposit which I paid in advance for works. Jacek Deresynski owes me more than 2/3 of this deposit back for incomplete works plus consequential loss for poor workmanship. To top it off he stole building materials from my home (Crime reference CRI/41/MD0J/1112018). After reporting this to Checkatrade they said they could do nothing since I'd paid Jacek Deresynski the deposit (who was not registered on their website) as opposed to X company (who was on their website). I wished to leave a warning review of the X company to try to protect other people at risk of being a victim, but they Checkatrade would not allow this - I believe to protect their own bogus claim of being a reputable website to go to for builders - I sincerely urge people to think twice about using Checkatrade's services as they are not wholly immune from connecting you with rogue traders.

altool048 · 14/02/2019 16:22

Checkatrade is the first place I go to for any type of trade service. I also write honest reviews, whether it was 10/10 or less. There's no way that I know of for installers to mess with the ratings so it's 100% honest :)

Tomboytown · 14/02/2019 16:41

I wrote some reviews on Checkatrade for my builder.
I was in SW London, pm me and I’ll send you his details

Lifeisnotsimple · 14/02/2019 16:45

Getting anyone to do any job is hard work. The only advice is not to let your heart rule your head, be very business like, check their work history thoroughly and make sure you have a formal contract with their business address or home address supplied. Ive had good and bad off checkatrade and my builder. Some people will promise they can do jobs but then you find out its out of their capability. Ive had builders through word of mouth and it ended in court. I had a great builder who fitted a kitchen fantastic but when my brother organised for him to do a bathroom he was terrible, messed him about etc. There definitely needs to be tighter regulation on builders, too many rogues out there.

WishIwas19again · 16/02/2019 12:09

We recently had quotes for some work to our house. The builder said he previously had been on checkatrade but had come off it due to the cost of his subscription. I asked checkatrade for a record of why he was no longer on there (wanting to know if he had been 'struck off' following a complaint for example) and they said they would not tell me for data protection reasons! So I was left no further forward as to whether he may have been genuine or not. It made me think they're purely commercial and not out to help protect the public at all so I am put off using them again.

I use My Builder a lot as that seems more genuine reviews, I've only had one bad job from there and choose my tradesmen carefully, even if a negative review I see how the tradesmen respond, some are downright aggressive and rude hotties replies so I avoid them at all costs.

mrkrasotulkin · 23/04/2019 20:27

No, they are not - because you may not be seeing all of them. Checkatrade's revenue comes from tradesmen, not customers, and in my experience, a tradesman can lean on Checkatrade to remove a negative review. A tradesman mis-represented and sold me inferior materials, and I had to sue the guy to get my money back. Checkatrade removed the review at the tradesman's request, and restored it only after Which? magazine expressed an interest in my case. Checkatrade staffers, including a manager, kept coming up with new and wilder excuses why my review could not be published. "Consumer champion"? Yeah, right.

SauvB123 · 24/04/2019 09:28

No, I’ve had terrible experiences with these type of sites. Avoid. Also, as previous poster has mentioned, be wary of Facebook recommendations esp from builders friends / family.

Are there any building works going on near you? If there are, you could knock and ask owners if they’d recommended, and ask about their experience and whether you can have a look at quality of work.

Wishiknewthen · 24/04/2019 12:08

The only one to trust is trusted trader (NB NOT trust a trader) as they are run by Which magazine and vetted thoroughly. They have to show all paperwork/proof of address/qualifications/VAT certs if registered etc and subject to spot checks. You may pay more, but worth it.

Shinesweetfreedom · 24/04/2019 17:14

Trading Standards hold a list of reputable builders

Opticnerves · 10/09/2019 10:20

Please avoid Checkatrade. I set on some roofers to fix my 84yr old mum’s roof. After a terrible job I tried to leave negative feedback but the company just removed themselves from the website. With a quick bit of research I found one of the roofers had been in court for attacking a woman in her home and causing damage to her property, which begs the question, what checks do Checkatrade do?

lgauge89 · 07/01/2020 21:50

Hi
What sash window was this?

Acs19 · 07/01/2020 21:53

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

MiniMum97 · 07/01/2020 23:03

I have had a few traders off checkatrade and would never use again.

earsup · 07/01/2020 23:53

Years ago I found some great plasters on there...no complaints but I do know that the absolute worst bathroom fitter / tiler / plumber I have come across is on there with good reviews...I fired him after day one and stopped his cheque....he threw half the shower in the skip as didnt know what to do with the parts etc....used 8 inch long screws when a 2 inch was sufficient so that they stuck out the wall....etc.....

Movinghouseatlast · 08/01/2020 12:43

Checkatrade refused to put a negative review up for me. The builder did appalling work and threatened us despite his glowing reviews.

X2Kevintheteenagers · 08/01/2020 15:24

Any trader who uses these site for work can't get work through recommendations . I wish they had a check a customer website .

lovelyupnorth · 08/01/2020 21:54

No. Don’t trust any of them.

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