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Checkatrade Partners

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have a question that is not covered here please call Checkatrade on 0467 494 006.

• Using the Checkatrade Service
  • Do I have to pay for your service?
  • How can I get the best results from your listings?
  • Why can’t I search trades and services by overall ranking?
  • Why are there only a few traders listed in my area?
  • I was not given a customer feedback card when the work was done. How can I get one?
• About Checkatrade Members
  • How do you vet prospective members?
  • How do you monitor your trade members?
  • Do you guarantee the quality of your members’ work?
  • What if a Checkatrade member does a poor job?
  • Do you remove unsatisfactory members?

Using the Checkatrade Service

Do I have to pay for your service?

No. It is completely free for the consumer. There are no hidden charges. Our customer feedback cards have postage pre-paid and our telephone Trade Appraisal Line is only a standard mobile rate call.

How can I get the best results from your listings?

Use our search facility to find the trade or service you need in your area. This will show up a list of businesses who work in your area, even if their addresses are not local.

Our stringent vetting and transparent monitoring system ensures that every business is recommended and will work to a high standard. You can find details and reports of their past work by clicking on their names. As every customer is different and each job unique, only you know what you are looking for. The reports will highlight how each business has performed in areas such as time keeping or value for money.

You are now in a position to get quotes from several businesses that catch your eye. In the end, it might be availability or disposition that helps you choose between them. Whatever you decide to do, you know you are choosing quality.

If you would like any further help, call our Trade Appraisal Line.

Why can’t I search trades and services by overall ranking?

You have our guarantee that all of our member trades and services work to a high standard. We are impartial and can recommend them all, because the public has repeatedly recommended them to us. That is why we display them in random order on this site. The high standard across the board means that differences in overall score are relatively small. We have found that other factors, such as price or availability, usually help customers to make their decisions. The highest ranked business may not necessarily be the most appropriate for your particular job.

Why are there only a few traders listed in my area?

Checkatrade started as a local business and quickly grew because the system works. We are now uniquely positioned to serve the whole country, but building up the directory in each area will take a little time.

You can help us extend our coverage by recommending or warning tradesmen that you have used. We will then contact the trade or service provider and ask them if they are willing to be vetted and continuously monitored by Checkatrade.

I was not given a customer feedback card when the work was done. How can I get one?

You should receive a customer feedback card directly from the tradesman before the work is done - this means feedback cannot be biased by only hearing from the "friendly" customers. Occasionally this gets forgotten, in which case you can contact Checkatrade by email or telephone and we will send you one.

About Checkatrade Members

How do you vet prospective members?

All applicants are prescreened and told that they will be interviewed, vetted and monitored - and the results good and bad will be made public. This alone deters a lot of trades who know that they have a substandard service. We ensure that the trades and services know we are a consumer information service and that we have to remain unbiased, our procedures for handling negative comments and complaints are clearly explained.

Our trained staff assess the applicant's suitability and will then arrange an interview, either onsite with a customer or at their premises. At their interview we ask for:

• Names and addresses of two trade referees; to whom we then write
• Names and addresses of four recent, local customers; to whom we then write
• Proof of qualifications and credentials
• Proof of ID: Drivers license or passport, plus utility bills
• A signed disclosure agreement allowing us to approach trading standards to see if they have any past complaints

In addition we look at length of experience and company history as well as GST and company legal status. We may also run a credit check on them and check for outstanding Court judgments.

How do you monitor your trade members?

We believe the person best placed to monitor our members is you, the customer.

Every customer will receive a Checkatrade customer feedback card from the tradesmen. This card allows you the opportunity to give comments and scores out of ten across eight different areas of their workmanship and service. Please complete this card and post it back to us - no stamp required.

This unbiased information stream allows us to publish the truth about how the trades and services perform, as well as to discuss with them the feedback they are getting. Your feedback is the very essence of Checkatrade - passing on word of mouth recommendations about the quality of tradesmen.

Your name and address are never published. However, for your feedback to count we do require you to fill in your contact details. Without a name, address and telephone number we cannot substantiate any claim or opinion about a tradesman and we cannot operate on hearsay. Every 10th customer feedback card is spotchecked, and we may call you to verify the details you supply.

Do you guarantee the quality of your members’ work?

Our members remain independent businesses responsible for the work they each carry out. It is not possible for us to guarantee the quality of our members’ work or approve them as a trading association would.

What we can guarantee is that Checkatrade members are recommended, vetted, and monitored. They pledge to uphold the Checkatrade Standard – a code of excellent conduct. This keeps the rogue tradesmen away, the standard of work high, and each business accountable for its performance.

We also guarantee to publish all feedback - good and bad. This means that our members work well because their reputations are at stake: one sloppy job and they lose custom. Our system gives you peace of mind. You know the facts about each business, and that they will work to the best of their ability every time.

What if a Checkatrade member does a poor job?

This is a rare event because our members know that unsatisfied customers will give poor scores and negative feedback which will be published on our web site. If you do have reason to complain about the work of one of our members, then please complete a customer feedback card. If you have not received a card from the tradesman then please contact Checkatrade by email or telephone and we will send you one.

Our staff personally process each customer feedback card. If the customer is happy for us to contact the trade or service, we take up any dissatisfaction directly with them, giving the trade or service the negative feedback and hearing their side of the story.

Often issues that have arisen are due to unclear expectations or poor communication. Having contacted the business we usually find that the problems get resolved.

Do you remove unsatisfactory members?

Yes we do. In the unlikely event that a business consistently falls short of the Checkatrade Standard, its membership will be suspended. The reason that the vast majority of our trades and services work to a high standard is that our initial vetting is stringent, and the monitoring process puts their reputation and future work on the line.