The title is somewhat misleading; the real reason for exclusion would be his reaction.
Here’s the situation:
A tradesperson offered me a service on MyHammer. He is new to the platform (or using a new account) and has zero reviews. So, I searched for his company on Google to check the reviews.
The reviews paint a very confusing picture. There are some very old reviews, all very negative (1 star). To me, these do not seem genuine. Almost all come from reviewers who only ever wrote that one review about this company and nothing else. I suspect these are either competitors’ work or other fake reviews. Following those, there is a whole batch of positive fake reviews. The company has over 40 reviews, and based on a quick sample, I would estimate over 90% are fake. This is clear especially because nearly all 5-star reviews are from “people” who a) find everything and everyone on Google absolutely great, and b) coincidentally all the people who rave about this tradesperson also rate the same ice cream shop in xyz and the erotic massage studio in Hannover as amazing. This is the classic pattern of a Google profile polished by some marketing company.
I confronted the tradesperson about the Google reviews.
His response was simply, “Like fake news, I know nothing about it.”
Somehow, my gut feeling now tells me it’s probably better not to hire him. If he reacts defensively to a simple question about his Google profile, I don’t know how easy it will be to deal with him if there are any issues with his work.
Besides, I don’t believe his answer is honest. People usually don’t write fake positive reviews for free. Companies generally pay for that, so I’m quite sure he knows about it.
Am I being too picky, or does this seem reasonable?
Here’s the situation:
A tradesperson offered me a service on MyHammer. He is new to the platform (or using a new account) and has zero reviews. So, I searched for his company on Google to check the reviews.
The reviews paint a very confusing picture. There are some very old reviews, all very negative (1 star). To me, these do not seem genuine. Almost all come from reviewers who only ever wrote that one review about this company and nothing else. I suspect these are either competitors’ work or other fake reviews. Following those, there is a whole batch of positive fake reviews. The company has over 40 reviews, and based on a quick sample, I would estimate over 90% are fake. This is clear especially because nearly all 5-star reviews are from “people” who a) find everything and everyone on Google absolutely great, and b) coincidentally all the people who rave about this tradesperson also rate the same ice cream shop in xyz and the erotic massage studio in Hannover as amazing. This is the classic pattern of a Google profile polished by some marketing company.
I confronted the tradesperson about the Google reviews.
His response was simply, “Like fake news, I know nothing about it.”
Somehow, my gut feeling now tells me it’s probably better not to hire him. If he reacts defensively to a simple question about his Google profile, I don’t know how easy it will be to deal with him if there are any issues with his work.
Besides, I don’t believe his answer is honest. People usually don’t write fake positive reviews for free. Companies generally pay for that, so I’m quite sure he knows about it.
Am I being too picky, or does this seem reasonable?
Well, trust is very important when it comes to tradespeople. If you don’t have that, it’s better to choose someone else. Or you go with the cheapest option and stay on site during the installation to make sure they don’t mess things up.
Now, for the anecdotal part:
I’ve had very good experiences with MyHammer for small tasks related to demolition. For example, disposing of an oil tank. The local specialist company wanted more than twice the price and would have only started months later.
The electrician I found through the platform was a complete disaster. You would think it was his first time working on a construction site. Constantly changing personnel, and everyone, including the boss, was… no, botching things all the time. But he was cheap.
If it’s really just small tasks, like mounting a washbasin, I would ask the other workers on site. Almost all of them can do that, or they know someone who can. At the moment, I have a very good carpenter/window fitter/drywall specialist who gladly takes care of all the small jobs — very quickly and with top quality. Next week, he has to fix the electrician’s poor workmanship.
Now, for the anecdotal part:
I’ve had very good experiences with MyHammer for small tasks related to demolition. For example, disposing of an oil tank. The local specialist company wanted more than twice the price and would have only started months later.
The electrician I found through the platform was a complete disaster. You would think it was his first time working on a construction site. Constantly changing personnel, and everyone, including the boss, was… no, botching things all the time. But he was cheap.
If it’s really just small tasks, like mounting a washbasin, I would ask the other workers on site. Almost all of them can do that, or they know someone who can. At the moment, I have a very good carpenter/window fitter/drywall specialist who gladly takes care of all the small jobs — very quickly and with top quality. Next week, he has to fix the electrician’s poor workmanship.
Tolentino schrieb:
That’s obviously quite extreme. But to conclude from this that it happens more often with tradespeople using MyHammer Good tradespeople don’t need to advertise on MyHammer. As I said, I didn’t have any problems with Romanian or Bulgarian workers either. However, I found them through neighbors or acquaintances. It’s better to use platforms like Ebay Classifieds, preferably someone from your local area whom you can also check out at their work.
Tolentino schrieb:
And to his reaction – well, what else could he say to that?
“Yes, I engaged in fake reviews because a dissatisfied customer/competitor tricked me?”
Regardless, I would base the hiring decision more on the scope of the work (small or large?), the range of quotes (is he by far the cheapest?), and a more detailed discussion about the project and its execution. I would have expected him to at least admit that there was some trouble on Google before and that’s why he did it. I mean, it’s obviously (and verifiably) clear that those reviews are nonsense. So why pretend otherwise if someone has already noticed?
I had also assumed that he might have struggled to get new jobs because of a damaged Google profile. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything by itself, since even a single “bad” customer can cause real trouble.
Otherwise, he’s not necessarily the cheapest (I don’t have any quote from him yet), just the only one so far.
nordanney schrieb:
I have to disagree with you there. Most “regular” tradespeople are also active on platforms. Some are even quite large companies (30-40 employees). Of course, there are many poor performers too, that much is true. That’s true, my experience with the portal so far has only been positive. But I have always relied heavily on the reviews. This one didn’t have any yet, so my skepticism remains.
HilfeHilfe schrieb:
Depending on the size of the vanity and base cabinet and the type of wall (drywall) etc., it usually takes a full day with two people (for large vanities you need two colleagues).
One day for installation, travel time, silicone seals, small parts, and so on.
$1000 including tax is about right. Well, it’s a guest bathroom. The entire room is less than 3m² (about 32 ft²), and the wall we’re talking about is maybe 1.60m (5 feet) wide. Two wooden boards, 30cm (12 inches) deep, are going to be mounted there; the upper one needs a hole for the connections, and the vanity will go on top. It won’t be deeper than about 30cm (12 inches) max, since there’s not much space. I don’t see how that would fill a whole day, but I’m not a professional.
Joedreck schrieb:
And seriously, you could do that yourself. As a tradesperson, he’ll be able to do it properly enough. No, I actually couldn’t.
Pianist schrieb:
I agree. So far I have always found all my tradespeople through personal contacts, and that has always worked very well. Conversely, even I (not a tradesperson) get most of my jobs through personal contacts. On internet platforms, you’re basically operating in a vacuum. It can work, but the risk of problems is too high for me. That would be my preference too. Wherever possible, that’s what we do. That’s also how we chose our general contractor. But my husband and I both work in IT, have no connection to the trades, and are the first in our friend circle to build. So getting trades recommendations is pretty difficult. :/
F
fach1werk28 Apr 2020 18:35If you have a bad gut feeling, you should sometimes trust it. Sometimes it is wiser.
The job is thankless. But if you contact all the companies of this trade in the immediate area, you might occasionally get a small offer.
Good luck!
Gabriele
The job is thankless. But if you contact all the companies of this trade in the immediate area, you might occasionally get a small offer.
Good luck!
Gabriele
kati1337 schrieb:
But my husband and I both work in IT, have nothing to do with construction trades, and are the first in our group of friends to build a house.I can only recommend being proactive when it comes to finding tradespeople and building a house. Suddenly, you’ll have a shared topic with colleagues where before you just exchanged polite greetings without much else to talk about—especially with older colleagues. You will get recommendations that way. And when you call a tradesperson and mention who referred you, they will come immediately.Or you could even ask a skilled colleague to help out as a favor for a small "fuel money" payment, for example 100€ (about 110 USD).
The vanity unit with the base cabinet that I purchased was installed, connected, and sealed with silicone by the plumber. He charged a very reasonable amount for this. He wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about it; he would have preferred to sell a vanity unit himself, but he did the work nonetheless. The installation was done as a DIY task.
I would also recommend assigning this "small job" to a tradesperson who is already on site.
I would also recommend assigning this "small job" to a tradesperson who is already on site.
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