Leaving a bad review
Discussion
I have never left a bad review for a trades person on Facebook before, until today. This particular situation really annoyed me. Would like to know others opinions, am I in the wrong for doing so?
Got a recommendation and text said trade person to arrange him coming round to look at potential work. I had not booked other people and wasnt messing about playing the quote game I was up front and a serious potential customer. Day and time agreed.
He didn’t turn up on time and I waited 1 hour, nothing. I called and no answer. Few mins later I get a text saying he had an emergency and wouldn’t be attending, could we arrange for the next day. I get emergencies, stuff happens, fine. Arranged for the following day with a time.
Again, he didn’t turn up on time. Waited and 10 mins later I get a text saying he is held up on a job (30 miles away) and won’t be attending. I was asked if I could arrange for tomorrow morning.
At this point I was just going to ignore him and not reply, crap communication firstly and I had wasted enough time waiting round. Move on. But, this happens too often from trades people (past experiences) so I decided to leave a short and sweet Facebook review, plainly that he didn’t turn up twice as arranged to warn others in the future.
Somewhat expectedly after the review is posted I start receiving calls and texts from him and a voicemail accusing me of being gutless! Not an apology in sight.
Normally I would have just let it go and moved on with life, but this particular time really p*ssed me off. Was I wrong and should have let it go? Genuinely open to others opinions
Got a recommendation and text said trade person to arrange him coming round to look at potential work. I had not booked other people and wasnt messing about playing the quote game I was up front and a serious potential customer. Day and time agreed.
He didn’t turn up on time and I waited 1 hour, nothing. I called and no answer. Few mins later I get a text saying he had an emergency and wouldn’t be attending, could we arrange for the next day. I get emergencies, stuff happens, fine. Arranged for the following day with a time.
Again, he didn’t turn up on time. Waited and 10 mins later I get a text saying he is held up on a job (30 miles away) and won’t be attending. I was asked if I could arrange for tomorrow morning.
At this point I was just going to ignore him and not reply, crap communication firstly and I had wasted enough time waiting round. Move on. But, this happens too often from trades people (past experiences) so I decided to leave a short and sweet Facebook review, plainly that he didn’t turn up twice as arranged to warn others in the future.
Somewhat expectedly after the review is posted I start receiving calls and texts from him and a voicemail accusing me of being gutless! Not an apology in sight.
Normally I would have just let it go and moved on with life, but this particular time really p*ssed me off. Was I wrong and should have let it go? Genuinely open to others opinions
The issue is that many one man band self employed tradesman are one man bands because they are utterly disorganised and incapable of managing workload and self employed because they are unemployable by anyone else.
Unless you know such a tradesman extremely well, it’s usually better to pay a little more to hire a reputable contractor
Unless you know such a tradesman extremely well, it’s usually better to pay a little more to hire a reputable contractor
Other side then....
His first emergency could have been real , his second he was already working on a customer and the job may have taken longer than expected or had a unforeseen complication ( Imagine the review if a tradesman left half way through a job ) and he offered an alternate time.
If the guys decent he could be in demand and would be booked weeks/months in advance
Leaving a bad review seems a bit petty to me especially since you haven't got the work done yet. What review do you leave when someone does turn up and does a rubbish job?
BTW. How many good reviews have you left on Facebook , or TripAdvisor etc.?
His first emergency could have been real , his second he was already working on a customer and the job may have taken longer than expected or had a unforeseen complication ( Imagine the review if a tradesman left half way through a job ) and he offered an alternate time.
If the guys decent he could be in demand and would be booked weeks/months in advance
Leaving a bad review seems a bit petty to me especially since you haven't got the work done yet. What review do you leave when someone does turn up and does a rubbish job?
BTW. How many good reviews have you left on Facebook , or TripAdvisor etc.?
Aspire competitions : I left them a very neutral(3 stars) review on Trust Pilot. I bought a ticket, I didn't win, I didn't say they were great.
They canvassed me asking me to up my review. My review wasn't negative or derogatory so that really got my back up. I left my scoring the same but added that I didn't like to be approached.
If they don't want honest reviews don't subscribe to such sites.
As I said my view of this company was neutral. In all honesty it went DOWN after they contacted me.
They canvassed me asking me to up my review. My review wasn't negative or derogatory so that really got my back up. I left my scoring the same but added that I didn't like to be approached.
If they don't want honest reviews don't subscribe to such sites.
As I said my view of this company was neutral. In all honesty it went DOWN after they contacted me.
Chozza said:
Other side then....
His first emergency could have been real , his second he was already working on a customer and the job may have taken longer than expected or had a unforeseen complication ( Imagine the review if a tradesman left half way through a job ) and he offered an alternate time.
If the guys decent he could be in demand and would be booked weeks/months in advance
Leaving a bad review seems a bit petty to me especially since you haven't got the work done yet. What review do you leave when someone does turn up and does a rubbish job?
BTW. How many good reviews have you left on Facebook , or TripAdvisor etc.?
Thanks for giving the other point of view, appreciatedHis first emergency could have been real , his second he was already working on a customer and the job may have taken longer than expected or had a unforeseen complication ( Imagine the review if a tradesman left half way through a job ) and he offered an alternate time.
If the guys decent he could be in demand and would be booked weeks/months in advance
Leaving a bad review seems a bit petty to me especially since you haven't got the work done yet. What review do you leave when someone does turn up and does a rubbish job?
BTW. How many good reviews have you left on Facebook , or TripAdvisor etc.?
I get it could have been two genuine reasons and I wouldn’t expect another customer job to be left half way through, but he could have text or called before the time arranged- being 30 miles away and not communicating till after he was meant to arrive, for example. Takes seconds to text or call ahead of time if you know your not getting there
It’s not immediate work, I was happy to wait as he came highly recommended
I leave 5 star reviews for good trades after jobs im happy with that went well. If (as has happened previously) a bad job has been done I sort it in private (jumping through hoops) and it’s always been resolved that way. I wouldn’t leave a review in this case
I once left a negative review on Tripadvisor for a hotel in the Dominican Republic. I got replies with death treats, and wishes of getting cancer. Must have been from the staff?
There must be money to be made for any tradesman who can keep a diary.
Why are they usually so poor at the management side of their business, always poor comms, not turning up etc.
I have a plumber and another tradesperson who are brilliant at managing their appointments and are trustworthy to the point where I just appoint them to do the work without even asking for a price.
There must be money to be made for any tradesman who can keep a diary.
Why are they usually so poor at the management side of their business, always poor comms, not turning up etc.
I have a plumber and another tradesperson who are brilliant at managing their appointments and are trustworthy to the point where I just appoint them to do the work without even asking for a price.
ClaphamGT3 said:
The issue is that many one man band self employed tradesman are one man bands because they are utterly disorganised and incapable of managing workload and self employed because they are unemployable by anyone else.
Unless you know such a tradesman extremely well, it’s usually better to pay a little more to hire a reputable contractor
Utterly Bull$hit.Unless you know such a tradesman extremely well, it’s usually better to pay a little more to hire a reputable contractor
I’m a 1 man band tradesman and I don’t do this to people. I call before a scheduled appointment if I’m being held up. Once I’m back on track I’ll send a WhatsApp location to the client so they can track me to the job. It’s infrequent when I get held up so rarely do it.
Don’t brand us all with that brush.
If it’s any consolation, I’m going through the same issues as the OP with finding new subcontractors in my new area. f
k me! It’s hard work. Gotta slay a few dragons to get your princess… We closed our business in London on Nov when we moved and I’ve been rammed from day 1 in the new area.
Good service wins jobs. End of.
clarky92 said:
I have never left a bad review for a trades person on Facebook before, until today. This particular situation really annoyed me. Would like to know others opinions, am I in the wrong for doing so?
Got a recommendation and text said trade person to arrange him coming round to look at potential work. I had not booked other people and wasnt messing about playing the quote game I was up front and a serious potential customer. Day and time agreed.
He didn’t turn up on time and I waited 1 hour, nothing. I called and no answer. Few mins later I get a text saying he had an emergency and wouldn’t be attending, could we arrange for the next day. I get emergencies, stuff happens, fine. Arranged for the following day with a time.
Again, he didn’t turn up on time. Waited and 10 mins later I get a text saying he is held up on a job (30 miles away) and won’t be attending. I was asked if I could arrange for tomorrow morning.
At this point I was just going to ignore him and not reply, crap communication firstly and I had wasted enough time waiting round. Move on. But, this happens too often from trades people (past experiences) so I decided to leave a short and sweet Facebook review, plainly that he didn’t turn up twice as arranged to warn others in the future.
Somewhat expectedly after the review is posted I start receiving calls and texts from him and a voicemail accusing me of being gutless! Not an apology in sight.
Normally I would have just let it go and moved on with life, but this particular time really p*ssed me off. Was I wrong and should have let it go? Genuinely open to others opinions
He could well be the best tradesperson you never took on.Got a recommendation and text said trade person to arrange him coming round to look at potential work. I had not booked other people and wasnt messing about playing the quote game I was up front and a serious potential customer. Day and time agreed.
He didn’t turn up on time and I waited 1 hour, nothing. I called and no answer. Few mins later I get a text saying he had an emergency and wouldn’t be attending, could we arrange for the next day. I get emergencies, stuff happens, fine. Arranged for the following day with a time.
Again, he didn’t turn up on time. Waited and 10 mins later I get a text saying he is held up on a job (30 miles away) and won’t be attending. I was asked if I could arrange for tomorrow morning.
At this point I was just going to ignore him and not reply, crap communication firstly and I had wasted enough time waiting round. Move on. But, this happens too often from trades people (past experiences) so I decided to leave a short and sweet Facebook review, plainly that he didn’t turn up twice as arranged to warn others in the future.
Somewhat expectedly after the review is posted I start receiving calls and texts from him and a voicemail accusing me of being gutless! Not an apology in sight.
Normally I would have just let it go and moved on with life, but this particular time really p*ssed me off. Was I wrong and should have let it go? Genuinely open to others opinions
You over-reacted by a margin in my opinion.
eta - assuming this is a true story . . . it is a Friday evening after all.
Edited by Digger on Friday 18th June 22:27
Digger said:
He could well be the best tradesperson you never took on.
You over-reacted by a margin in my opinion.
That is a good point - he could well of done a fantastic job, especially from the recommendations I saw. You over-reacted by a margin in my opinion.
Would you have just left it at that and ignored him with no bad review, or given a third chance? Genuinely interested as I’m going to need to find another trades person for this job and may well run into the same problem!
I have given up getting trades round for the time being.
I need a fence putting up, had three different people not bother turning up.
Also trying to get our windows replaced, cannot get anyone to come and quote.
It is obviously manic with material supply issues thrown in the mix too. Going to wait until autumn for things to calm down.....
I need a fence putting up, had three different people not bother turning up.
Also trying to get our windows replaced, cannot get anyone to come and quote.
It is obviously manic with material supply issues thrown in the mix too. Going to wait until autumn for things to calm down.....
mike9009 said:
I have given up getting trades round for the time being.
I need a fence putting up, had three different people not bother turning up.
Also trying to get our windows replaced, cannot get anyone to come and quote.
It is obviously manic with material supply issues thrown in the mix too. Going to wait until autumn for things to calm down.....
I can’t understand why the muck around with the charade of “I’ll come round tomorrow”. Just say “sorry, I’m really busy, I have no chance of fitting you in, thanks for your interest.”I need a fence putting up, had three different people not bother turning up.
Also trying to get our windows replaced, cannot get anyone to come and quote.
It is obviously manic with material supply issues thrown in the mix too. Going to wait until autumn for things to calm down.....
If someone didn't turn up for a business meeting twice without apologies they would get more than a bad review. Your review is fully justified Op so long as you just stated facts. Unfortunately tradespeople are in such demand at the moment they can get away with bad customer service as there's always someone else waiting.
I’ve just had exactly this, put the feelers out for a job, 2 people came back immediately with ‘we can definitely help’. Both no shows, with no comms and couldn’t get hold of them at the time to see if they were still coming. A text to say held up/can we rearrange is a 10 second job. If they can’t be bothered to do that, you have to wonder what else they’re skimping on.
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