Checkatrade what's people's thoughts?

[Lee Ruddock]

hi I'm about to start up a business.
I'm after some thoughts on checkatrade.
What's people's experiences with them?
As plumbers do people get much work from checkatrade?
The fees seem expensive, do they seem worth it based on how much work you get from them?
How long have you been trading and how long have you been on checkatrade?
Would you recommend them?

 

[Dan]

Why don't you spend the money on your own website and rank above them?

They get all their traffic from search engines anyway.

 

[JVTrades]

Why don't you spend the money on your own website and rank above them?

They get all their traffic from search engines anyway.

Been brilliant for me and don't advertise anywhere else since 2011

 

[Dan]

You kinda can't stop now can you? Lose your ratings?

I'd have spent the money on your own site at the start personally. You'd have got just as much business in. And it's only a one off payment then too.

 

[Dan]

Checkatrade.com, Episode 3, Series 34, Watchdog - BBC One

 

[Lee Ruddock]

Checkatrade.com, Episode 3, Series 34, Watchdog - BBC One

Damn it's not available ... would of liked to of watched it.

 

[Dan]

Is it not? Should be on iPlayer I think? No?

Thought I might find something on YouTube but here's the nearest thing I could find from a CheckaTrade approved roofer lol


We all know they don't check your work or credentials they're literally just setup to profit from tradesmen.

 

[townfanjon]

I wont use those type of sites , from what I have heard , a major percentage of the users are numptys

 

[cr0ft]

To be honest they work very well for us. You need to search and see how many tradespeople are in the area already and how many reviews they have. However, we moved to Lincoln when there was no one on there and we had about 100 reviews at the time. Now, competitors join and leave after a year. This tells me that quantity of reviews is most important.

Also, recently the owner employed an MD. my personal opinion is they are now much more focussed on profits and much less focussed on generating work for tradespeople.

I'm a Scotsman, I wouldn't pay for it for 6 years if it didn't work for us!

Just my 2p.

 

[Lee Ruddock]

Is it not? Should be on iPlayer I think? No?

Thought I might find something on YouTube but here's the nearest thing I could find from a CheckaTrade approved roofer lol


We all know they don't check your work or credentials they're literally just setup to profit from tradesmen.

Yeah I don't want a tradesman from them
I'm considering joining them

Fees are expensive and I don't want to waste my money but then I'm a new business starting off the could get me customers

I'm a bathroom installer so basically 1 job would pay for there fees

 

[Lee Ruddock]

To be honest they work very well for us. You need to search and see how many tradespeople are in the area already and how many reviews they have. However, we moved to Lincoln when there was no one on there and we had about 100 reviews at the time. Now, competitors join and leave after a year. This tells me that quantity of reviews is most important.

Also, recently the owner employed an MD. my personal opinion is they are now much more focussed on profits and much less focussed on generating work for tradespeople.

I'm a Scotsman, I wouldn't pay for it for 6 years if it didn't work for us!

Just my 2p.

Thank you
All taken onboard
95 plumbers in a 20 mile radius of me
6500 searches for plumbers
2500 searches for bathroom fitters
In the last 30 days
Canny figures but don't really want to pay £1k and start at bottom of the pile out of 95 plumbers
Decisions decisions

 

[Harvest Fields]

Never used them or been part of them. Luckily enough I am busy without them.

 

[kiaora]

Hi
My view, just another lot robbing the trades men,
In fact conning joe public, they don't check anything,

Just advertise your self, do a very good job, and as you progress with your business, all you previous customers will recommend you.

After a very short time , you will be very busy with no advertising!

I started on my bike, and now nice little contracts, and Ltd company.

You CAN do it.

 

[cr0ft]

Hi
My view, just another lot robbing the trades men,
In fact conning joe public, they don't check anything,

Just advertise your self, do a very good job, and as you progress with your business, all you previous customers will recommend you.

After a very short time , you will be very busy with no advertising!

I started on my bike, and now nice little contracts, and Ltd company.

You CAN do it.

In defence of Checkatrade, they actually do check the business quite thoroughly so what you say isn't entirely correct in that respect. They actually come out and interview the director(s) of the company when they join, check up on 5 references etc. Yes they could do more but then the cost would be higher.

Works for some, not for others!

 

[jtsplumbing]

I've never used them or any other of these sort of company's, from what I have seen over the years it works for some & not for others, a lot depends on area and number of trades using it, its your choice, you pay your money and you take the chance !

 

[cr0ft]

One thing I can say with a high degree of certainty is that as the years go by, businesses (including small construction businesses like mine) that don't embrace the online world will increasingly be left behind and lose out on business.

Just the way the world is headed, less and less people talk to their neighbours etc now so word of mouth is increasingly online based.

 

[JVTrades]

Hi
My view, just another lot robbing the trades men,
In fact conning joe public, they don't check anything,

Just advertise your self, do a very good job, and as you progress with your business, all you previous customers will recommend you.

After a very short time , you will be very busy with no advertising!

I started on my bike, and now nice little contracts, and Ltd company.

You CAN do it.

Is it not? Should be on iPlayer I think? No?

Thought I might find something on YouTube but here's the nearest thing I could find from a CheckaTrade approved roofer lol


We all know they don't check your work or credentials they're literally just setup to profit from tradesmen.

I do wish people would check facts before saying things!

Checkatrade have more than 3 million reviews now. They are now alligned with 9 trading standards and adding to this all the time, they are regulated by the competition and markets authority who have stringent rules about review systems including having to publish any legitimate negitive reviews. As with anything, there are trades people who can get through the net. Actually 85% of all reviews are spot checked. Nothing is infallable and rogues sometimes get through the net but they don't last very long.

There are of course trade people who join who are unhappy at the return they get for the investment. Sometimes though, those that are unhappy just sign up and aren't proactive in the process.

 

[student plumber]

Like already said, set up your own website.

OR

Set up a business thread on Facebook, I'm not on it myself, but have seen some of the business pages get a lot of attention.

It will mean a lot of attention to keep it up to date, you can't just leave it; but the odd bad job could leave a negative post, if you delete them they will share it to another page, although it would also give you the opportunity to explain any problems.

My two pence, for what it's worth.

 

[moonlight]

I agree with several of the posts, set up your own website. I don't rate checkatrade. Most of my work is either repeat business or word of mouth. If your good at your trade you don't need to advertise.

 

[moonlight]

If you want to prove your competence you could join WaterSafe: Information for Plumbers

It's free to join through the Approved Contractor Schemes and is backed by the UK Water Suppliers.

You need at least an NVQ level 2 to join!

Are you a new member of the CIPHE?

 

[Lee Ruddock]

Im not a member as my business isn't up and running
Thank you so much for the advise I'm going to look into joining

 

[Lee Ruddock]

Are you a new member of the CIPHE?

Im not a member as my business isn't up and running
Thank you so much for the advise I'm going to look into joining

 

[moonlight]

You don't need to own your own business to join there are different levels from apprentice and full member and others inbetween. Membership prices varies depending on experience and qualifications.