Rated People

[Silverlight]

I think there was a thread on this a while back, but search turned up nothing.

http://www.ratedpeople.com/

Anyone used it to any success?

 

[jimk]

Don't know them... haven't tried Rated People.:|
I've recently used Quotatis with some success... got new double glazed windows for my house cheaper than quoted elsewhere.

 

There a waste of time, I used them for a while but the leads were rubish which rated people charge a small fortune for, and its full of time wasters with access to a computer. I would not touch them with a barge pole, also when I joined I was never asked to show my city & guilds certificates to them to prove I was a real tradesman, they just took my £40 quid to join. Just goes to show that anyone can join and start geting leads to quote on, very scary indead for joe public that they think there hiring a proper tradesman to do there gas work when infact its just a jack of all trades odd job man with no formal collage training.

 

[Beachcomber]

Usually find the more they pay the higher rated they are!
Don't bother, ask your frinds / neighbours for a recommendation.

 

[jimk]

I'm reading on Quotatis website that they only provide quotations from fully vetted contractors. I guess that's the difference between Quotatis and RatedPeople... any one can join RatedPeople and quote... there's more quality with Quotatis

are there any other website where I can get some quotes for home improvements?

 

[LynnH]

We used rated people twice as we were new to the area and did not have people we could ask. Results were great from a customer point of view had great wooden floor and bathroom installation.

We got about 5 responses to each job we posted, then got quotes and asked to see examples of work carried out and contacted previous customers to check on quality of work.

So it worked for us

 

[kingfisherrc]

Not really worked for us.Get plenty of possible leads but it seems the public dont realise that you have had to pay a fee just to get their details.They just put in a query out of boredom not realising the consequenses.No vetting required either which is also a worry

 

[Cabling Engineer London]

There a waste of time, I used them for a while but the leads were rubish which rated people charge a small fortune for, and its full of time wasters with access to a computer. I would not touch them with a barge pole, also when I joined I was never asked to show my city & guilds certificates to them to prove I was a real tradesman, they just took my £40 quid to join. Just goes to show that anyone can join and start geting leads to quote on, very scary indead for joe public that they think there hiring a proper tradesman to do there gas work when infact its just a jack of all trades odd job man with no formal collage training.

Thanks for the heads-up on ratedpeople.com They advertise a lot on TalkSport and they claim to pre-qualify every lead, which stays on their site for only 3 hours tops. They also said you should call the client as soon as possible to get in first. Oh and they only put the lead out to the first 3 contractors that match.

They're doing a promotion at the moment £10 for the first 3 months and your first lead is free! (no I'm not on commisison, before you ask) My PR company told me all about these lead generating companies which are basically set up on the same business model (rated people, mybuilder etc)

I read on someones twitter post today that 95% of new business is won face-face, so you'd be better off giving £40 to very mate who personally refers you to another customer. It works for me

 

[Test It]

Rate a, Seen a, Been a, they are all the same and should be totally avoided IMO.

None of them really check the tradesperson fully and if they did they would be government approved bodies.

Really cannot understand why any legit tradesman who would want to add thereselves to a 'Dutch Auction' in order to obtain work and pay a commisson out of there own profits to someone sitting behind a desk?

And thats apart from putting yourself in a league of all those people untrained without qualifications that are under cutting your prices.

Its actually frieghtening to see some of the work that gets carried out.

I visited a potential customer that had a problem with her shower. It turn out to be extemely dangerous, wired by someone totally untrained (and I can tell), no paperwork, no notification, no certificate, no reciept given and a £300 cash bill.

The cables inside the shower switch had badly melted and there were signs of arcing inside the shower from loose connections.

The customer attempted to try and trace the company via the web site she had used but couldn't find it due to the number of web sites all sounding the same and offering the same 'get a quote deal'.

Customer ended up paying more money out for me to put a very, very bad job right.

All our work comes from referrals but of course this takes time to build up.

For anyone new, I would suggest making direct contact with your potential customers. At least you would limit the competition, offer a dedicated service in your chosen field and portray a professional image for the business.

 

[splatman]

Hi would just like to say, as a tradesman i have used rated people to find work but only as and when i need to, because i have found if you do a good job at a good price the customer will have you back and also recommend you to others. I do pay the charge every 3 months to stay on there books and always get good leads through, which then if i have a quiety week or two in between jobs i can pick up a job to fit in. It is some times hit and miss, i have had times where i have paid £20 for a lead, rang the customer and they tell me they have decided to do it them selves but what you can do is then go back to rated people and ask for a refund.

 

[Jezclayton]

I read on someones twitter post today that 95% of new business is won face-face, so you'd be better off giving £40 to very mate who personally refers you to another customer. It works for me

I have often thought about this and should do more to thank the customers who refer me. Since I don't advertise at all, I rely entirely on referrals and am looking for a way to reward them without causing offence.

 

[estwig]

I have often thought about this and should do more to thank the customers who refer me. Since I don't advertise at all, I rely entirely on referrals and am looking for a way to reward them without causing offence.

I send mine a nice bottle of wine in a little wooden crate packed with straw, all very posh and about £25.00 delivered. Mrs estwig deals with it so I don't have a link to hand for the website we use. The punters luv it.

 

[builderbob]

I've been struggling lately and thinking about signing up to one of these services to get a few extra jobs in. Don't like the idea of paying for leads like you do with rated people. The getting a refund for jobs that turn out to be a whild goose chase is a good idea though. I'm thinking of signing up with localtraders.com cause they don't charge commission on jobs or for leads which sounds fairer to me. I'll let you know how it goes if I decide to.

 

[popunder]

I'm thinking of signing up with localtraders.com cause they don't charge commission on jobs or for leads which sounds fairer to me. I'll let you know how it goes if I decide to.

Have a look at this thread first Builderbob: http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=197896

 

[zsoltimatrix]

Well m when you are starting up you really must use everything what you can. I am planing to use it.

 

[Car Penter]

I won't be using Rated People, or any similar 'job lead' website, for all the reasons listed above by you guys. there are also plenty of other negative reviews to be found online, which include non-existant job leads, and forceful marketing.

Let's face it, every job scam we hear about starts with "You pay us, and then we find you work"... and these people are no different!

Add up what this website want you to pay for a year... then see if you can't get an ad. in a local magazine for a fraction of that cost!

Also, as mentioned above... do a good job, at a good price, and look after your customers. No need to line the pockets of some website bloke who's busy ordering his next Bentley.

I do have a personal grievance with this particular company too... using the #08009533002 they are calling my mobile several times a day, even though I've called them and asked them to stop.

I wouldn't trust any company that treats people like that, and especially not potential customers!!

 

[angela.hou1983]

Hi, I'm angela from BJ, i have been in trade field for about 4 years, and I'm planning for a personal trade cousult & agent company. if you need more quotation, i can help to check manufacture's ability,and show you.
My last company is focus on producing and exporting mould, and bathroom installation, focus on small and professional europe customers. you can contact me for more choice if you like.

 

[estwig]

Your from BJ and you export mould!!!

 

[Beachcomber]

Your from BJ and you export mould!!!

Well where did you think mould came from?
I 'spose you think it just appears out of thin air?

 

[angela.hou1983]

Your from BJ and you export mould!!!

Why so surprise We also do oil painting, this is much more surprise

 

[estwig]

Why so surprise

With a little imagination, hopefully these pictures will enlighten and help build relations with our babble fish using members........................


BJ =

Mould =

 

[angela.hou1983]

With a little imagination, hopefully these pictures will enlighten and help build relations with our babble fish using members........................

Haha, very cute picture

 

[Fingertight]

I know a few guys who have used it and none of them have done any good off it, more wasted time quoting from this site than recommendation etc and being haggled down until its not worth doing the job.

I will not and NEVER will use any site like this, hat off to the creators, in my opinion it is just another un-nessasary barrier between the tradesman and customer, just someone else the tradesman has to pay off just to get the oportunity to quote with no promise of work! The sad fact is the more tradesmen use these sites the more powerful they become, building a company reputation is most important along with managing your existing customer database properly.

 

[HOMESAFE]

I joined Rated people but cancelled my subscription after finding it to be quite expensive,there was also a lack of decent local leads coming through.I have been self employed for 10 months and things are going fairly well,I can see you guys dont really like these types of websites but personally i cant speak highly enough of Myhammer.co.uk
First things first they are based in Germany and there customer service can sometimes be quite annoying and communication sometimes breaks down although the last few times i have rang an english person has answered the phone.
I have been a member on myhammer since the day i went self employed and so far i have had approx 25k worth of work.they charge about £20 a month standard fee and then you pay a 6% success of your quote if you get the job,I have a 100% customer feedback rating and I can honestly say i would have had to find a full time job if it wasnt for this site.I do waste a lot of time on an evening typing replys to job postings without hearing anything back but when i do get to visit there property i very rarley loose the job,I have quoted for 9 rewires and have got them all.
Then I find once i have done the first job for the customer through my hammer the customer then contacts me directly for any further work.
I personally get 90% of my work through online sources and so try and get as many online reviews possible whether it be google myhammer Freeindex etc.Now when you type my business name into google its just loads of positive reviews,

 

[yale123]

All these lead generating site are the same: ratedpeople.com sell consumer details to tradesmen and any trade can join them.
This is what happens, you post your job on ratedpeople they then sell your personal details to any trade that has joined them and is near you.
The trade will pay anything up to £30 - £40 or even higher for your details and they are often sold to many many trades at the same time to fight for the job. You can imagine just how much money ratedpeople make from this.
The more the public use their site the more they charge the trade.
In essence ratedpeople just sell consumer details to the highest payer.
You'd be much better of if you were a trade joining local government schemes such as Buy With Confidence and much better as a home owner using Buy with Confidence to find a trade.

 

[adbase]

Rated People (and the like) are a parasitic middle man and they trade too easily off start-up tradesmen who are too lazy or stupid to advertise for themselves. It takes time to build up a satisfied customer base but if you do good work for a fair price then people will want you back, they will recommend you to their friends and they will also be happy to post you a review on FreeIndex (which costs not a penny) or Google.
I'm lucky enough to be the most highly-rated Handyman on Freeindex and it serves me very well. I wouldn't touch Rated People or any company using a similar business model with a barge pole.
Don't people realise if Rated People have money to advertise on TV this is being paid for by the tradesmen ultimately?
So instead of spending this money with Rated People (by buying leads) use the money to advertise yourself and start getting yourself business success instead of getting more business success for them.

 

[super chip]

I would just like to say this website is an absolute rip off! It is exploiting desperate tradesmen like me. Their website says' that they are able to help tradesmen find work. I find this hard to believe, at £60 plus VAT for a decent job lead and a £40 for a quarterly subscription. The problem is they don't tell their customers this. And people are simply using the site to get estimate on a job they are dreaming about . And tradesman like me are PAYING FOR FALSE LEADS that result to nothing and the tradesman being out of pocket .

Rated people know this, and have a monopoly on lots of the big search engines and TV ads
so when people try to find local tradesmen on the net .Guess what site comes up first ?????


There is nothing more heart wrenching than paying and driving to someone's house
who has absolutely no intention of getting the work done . especially when you have paid £70 quid plus petrol

Tradesman are desperate, and websites like this are getting all the work enquiries because they can afford the advertising . It should be shut down
in my opinion for this reason . I get loads of text message leads of these people every day but i can not afford them. They are slowing the economy
down as the interest for work is clearly out there . But these fat cats are
stopping us getting it work (and paying tax) because builders wont pay for the leads (only if desperate) Why don't the government just step it and put there own site up

It makes sense to me ?????

 

[adbase]

I've been trying help us handymen at least by starting a trade association. It's a completely different business model and it's not aimed at getting me rich (I can assure you). People have to be 'rated' in order to join but via a third party website like Freeindex ...and they have to pass an online test so I know they're good enough.
There is a small annual membership fee but that's all and that pays mainly to keep our Google adverts in contention with rated people in the hope customers with potential work will use our search to find one of our members for themselves.
I know it works because a woman from Wolverhamption phoned me last Thursday with work saying she'd found me on the Guild of Handymen site (I'm also a member obviously).
It's a shame the Guild of Master Craftsmen aren't much use because they should be doing this kind of thing for their members to combat rated people but they seem more concerned with promoting business to business activity.

 

[eventdomain]

Let's face it, every job scam we hear about starts with "You pay us, and then we find you work"... and these people are no different!

I hate people who use the word scam - why are lead services scams? they are providing a service in return for a very low fee compared to the likes of most lead sending sites that WILL charge in excess of £500 - £1000, no problem whatsoever, and people are hesitating at paying £40

Guys, everything is on the web now, advertising, leads, booking sites, so you also need to be on the web too! Hardly anybody is going to send you targeted business/trade customers for free - nothing is totally for free in this world as everything costs.

 

[eventdomain]

And tradesman like me are PAYING FOR FALSE LEADS

Ok, this is even funnier, as why would a highly well-known company take the risk of flogging false leads? That's deception and an illegal crime, so they wouldnt be doing that anyway as it carries a criminal record which lasts 5 years

And before anyone asks - I have no connection with any building lead service.

 

[maxine]

I hate people who use the word scam - why are lead services scams?

I'll tell you why some are outright scams and I do mean the word scams as they do not deliver what they portray to the end customer in the trades sectors .... and that somehow by using their directory the sweet little innocent home owner will be protected by some horrible burly ignorant rogue trader who is out to rip people off and bodge their home improvements work.

Not once have I come across a directory that offers anything at all of value to the consumer linked to quality of work or benefits by way of mediation, money back guarantees, or anything really.

Most of them ask for a few references (most of which are cultivated via testimonials or other vague means) or maybe possibly checking the tradesperson has public liability insurance and if your lucky they might throw in a credit check.

And I am just sick of seeing advertising messages that imply that they consumer is safer or likely to have a better trades experience or quality of work by using them.

In fact the opposite are true as the best trades don't advertise on these directories. The ones that do are in the main desperate for work or are start ups.

Guys, everything is on the web now, advertising, leads, booking sites, so you also need to be on the web too!

This kind of attitude really irritates me as it just patronises trades as if they don't recognise the importance of internet marketing. Our plumbing and plastering business has a website with a reliable flow of leads being generated from it, and the blog, and the youtube channel, and social media, and other forms of advertising.

Hardly anybody is going to send you targeted business/trade customers for free - nothing is totally for free in this world as everything costs.

I don't think anybody expects leads for free. Just some would rather have them directly and not via a middle man, or would rather have what was promised with the leads, or not have them at all

 

[adbase]

As a tradesmen myself but one who fortunately doesn't need the likes of Rated People (but would shy away from them anyway because I don't like middle men) I can see clearly what's happening.
Joe Public posts a job because it's free to do so. He/she is not obliged to use anyone from Rated People and might get sorted before anything happens on that front.
In the meantime traders have all stumped up money and wrestled to quote on this now non-existent work.
In other cases people might, for whatever reason, post a job that is just plain false. Heaven forbid that anyone from Rated People could have ever do something like this just to drum themselves up some income as traders then scurry around expensively chasing this 'false lead'
And since there would appear to be no regulation of this business model, and nobody is culpable for such wrong doing within the process, and it is plainly open to abuses in almost every aspect—I think I can see why so many tradespeople are so pi**ed off at this outfit dictating the market and getting ever stronger.
I say back to basics—do good work, get recommended on the strength of it. And if mugs want to pay for leads and other mugs want to be lazy and post their work on the web rather than actively find someone good for themselves then these people will just get richer and richer and we'll all be the worse for the market place that will emerge.

 

[yale123]

ratedpeople don't tell you they sell your persoanl details to trades for up to £40 a time. I was contacted by 4 trades, so that's £160 they made of me just for posting a job.

 

[yale123]

As a tradesmen myself but one who fortunately doesn't need the likes of Rated People (but would shy away from them anyway because I don't like middle men) I can see clearly what's happening.
Joe Public posts a job because it's free to do so. He/she is not obliged to use anyone from Rated People and might get sorted before anything happens on that front.
In the meantime traders have all stumped up money and wrestled to quote on this now non-existent work.
In other cases people might, for whatever reason, post a job that is just plain false. Heaven forbid that anyone from Rated People could have ever do something like this just to drum themselves up some income as traders then scurry around expensively chasing this 'false lead'
And since there would appear to be no regulation of this business model, and nobody is culpable for such wrong doing within the process, and it is plainly open to abuses in almost every aspect—I think I can see why so many tradespeople are so pi**ed off at this outfit dictating the market and getting ever stronger.
I say back to basics—do good work, get recommended on the strength of it. And if mugs want to pay for leads and other mugs want to be lazy and post their work on the web rather than actively find someone good for themselves then these people will just get richer and richer and we'll all be the worse for the market place that will emerge.

here here, very well put

 

[yale123]

Ok, this is even funnier, as why would a highly well-known company take the risk of flogging false leads? That's deception and an illegal crime, so they wouldnt be doing that anyway as it carries a criminal record which lasts 5 years

And before anyone asks - I have no connection with any building lead service.

I believe is a lead turns out false they can and do get their money back.
But this doesn't take away the fact that they sell personal details of the public to any trade/s. If the public knew this they wouldn't use them IMO.

 

[adbase]

As with anyone controlling personal data, Rated People must be registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)

And to be compliant with the ICO they must ask people if their data can be collected and passed on.

In fairness to Rated People I doubt they would be so dumb as to fly in the face of this legislation but I bet they don't make in abundantly clear that this is what they will be doing with your data.

And I'm pretty sure that not being abundantly clear on this is still technically an offence so somebody should sue.

 

[eventdomain]

very scary indead for joe public that they think there hiring a proper tradesman to do there gas work when infact its just a jack of all trades odd job man with no formal collage training.

Oh, come on, theres good and bad people in every industry - doesnt mean the lead platform doesnt work.

 

[adbase]

To my knowledge it's illegal for anyone to do gas work that isn't Gas Safe (formerly CORGI) registered. If anyone pays for a lead and it involves gas work (or any kind of work for that matter) for which they are not suited, capable or qualified (as necessary) then they were stupid to pay for the lead. And surely anyone offering up any such specialist work would want to check the background of who they engage.
As I've said before-do good work for a fair price and get recommendations on the strength of it. It has worked like this for many years before the internet came along and it certainly works for me.

 

[eventdomain]

Sites like Ratedpeople are like Ebay, their merely platforms for people to trade on - they dont get involved or responsible for customer service - thats the plumbers or painters job. Its unfair to assign blame in that way, and you shoudnt be doing that - all lead-gen sites do is provide a way for tradespeople and customer to meet, with the potential to do business, nothing wrong in that.

Infact, these sites provide an invaluable, fresh way to acquire new business, and as a few have said, their so powerful now, any minor complaint will have so little effect, its only your time that your wasting.

You mention - non-delivery of benefit, how do you really, truly know this, how can you, as I doubt you work for any of these sites. Its funny to hear complaints from people who dont even run a lead-gen business, and they think being a tradesperson with a couple of sales misses, qualifies them to slate companies they know nothing about.

The protection of consumers I happen to agree with! I think a lot more needs to be done and such sites like Ratedpeople are in the perfect position to address this, but not on an authoratitive way like the Pro Associations do - lead gen sites need to have better ratings systems, and not be biased in any way.

Not once have I come across a directory that offers anything at all of value to the consumer linked to quality of work or benefits by way of mediation, money back guarantees, or anything really.

With all respect, that just means you dont know the industry well enough to make comments about it. There are hundreds of amazing sites, guides and portals you wont know about, but doesnt mean they dont work ok.

And I am just sick of seeing advertising messages that imply that they consumer is safer or likely to have a better trades experience or quality of work by using them.

Yup, I hear you - but everyone does this, do they not - its just bravado.

In fact the opposite are true as the best trades don't advertise on these directories.

I dont think that right - again without proper research you cant say that.

This kind of attitude really irritates me as it just patronises trades as if they don't recognise the importance of internet marketing. Our plumbing and plastering business has a website with a reliable flow of leads being generated from it, and the blog, and the youtube channel, and social media, and other forms of advertising.

With respect, your plumbing website and everything else combined wouldnt even touch what just 100 of my clients are sent each year in traffic terms. You do not and cannot know the ability of the sites out there, and as already said such sites are very powerful and well known, so obviously they are working and providing benefit or the users woudnt keep posting jobs.

They post because the sites are huge

 

[Sales Nation]

The reason I set up my company was because i was tired of paying for things up front and never receiving anything back. If a company claims they can send you great leads, why dont they agree a backend deal for more money? I think the lead generation industry is changing.

In our case we say, here, you can have the leads for free and if you get any business from it you can buy us a drink. Everybody is a winner. I know a lot of Tradespeople and not heard many good stories about rated people, wedo trades, myhammer etc

Do everything you can for free first before going to this type of company. No doubt they work very well for a lot of people though... but its just so competative at the minute.

Have you tried www.freeindex.co.uk ? Its free!

PMme if i can offer any further assistance

Rob