You want to fit new kitchen units and laminate flooring to help create your perfect home – but you want it done professionally and for an affordable price.
Over 100,000 complaints are made every year against rogue traders – tradesmen who are dishonest and untrustworthy.
These shoddy workers will deceptively get their customers to agree to work – that often doesn’t need doing – and will charge ludicrous prices for unfinished or incomplete outcomes. When hiring a tradesperson, it’s essential that you take several steps to make sure you’re dealing with creditable people.
Remember; you don’t want to be ripped off and left paying for more work on top of what you’ve already paid for. Sometimes paying extra for experienced professionals can really pay off in the long-term.
Here are some key factors in recognising rogue traders and how to get the best deal for your respective needs.
Survey the competition
Don’t be afraid to contact several tradesmen to get an overall picture of how much the work you are requiring should cost. Always be wary of costs that are either inexplicably cheap or overly expensive. It is also important to ask tradesmen how long the job will take to be completed. Again, look out for disparity here.
Check for qualifications
One of the key factors to ensure a tradesman’s legitimacy is to check upon their qualifications and memberships to relevant organisational bodies. However, it is also important to note that the more sophisticated rogue traders can create counterfeit identification cards so always be sure to check with the professional institutions themselves to confirm that the company or individual is a fully-licensed member.
Get recommendations
One of the best ways to find a reliable and hard-working tradesman is to ask for personal recommendations from friends or family. This will always give you a great indication into the profile of certain tradesmen and whether they’d be up to standard to complete your work. Asking a tradesman for the contact details of previous clients is also an ideal method of gathering an informed opinion on the type of work you would receive.
Sign a contract
For larger and more expensive jobs, always make sure that you agree to a written contract that fully outlines the type of work that will take place and how much it will cost. Be extremely wary if you aren’t presented with the opportunity of signing a contract or tradesmen who are unwilling to agree to contractual agreements prior to the work.
Pay upon completion
Often, rogue traders will demand for a full payment in cash upfront – citing payment for materials is a common excuse – so always make sure you only agree to pay a 10 per cent deposit on the full work that is to be completed. Again, if the people you are dealing with are reluctant to adhere to these proposals then it’s likely you have a rogue trader on your hands and it’s vital you don’t progress with negotiations any further.
An experienced and talented copywriter, Matthew Wood writes SEO savvy content for a collection of online publications and web projects. Matthew’s latest work involves writing creative and engaging content on the subjects of Cheap Kitchens and Cheap Laminate Flooring for the established online brand Finsa.
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