Do you check recent reviews on businesses before you use them?
A recent story in the Kiwi press highlights again just how valuable reviews are…
These days it’s critical to spend a bit of time choosing the right tradie or service provider online before you pick up the phone.
Here’s a recent story about what can happen when you choose a business without doing your research first
NewsHub entertainment editor, Daniel Rutledge needed some work done on a few doors so he did what the majority of people do – he Googled.
He chose a company at the top of the search results, thinking they’d be OK because of their placement…
He was in for a rude awakening!
Here’s what happened
The sorry saga began with two blokes turning up late in a vehicle without signage and no ID. They refused to quote first, and after a shoddy job, presented Daniel with an invoice for a whopping $1,437.
Daniel’s suspicions were justified when he went through the invoice and checking out some of the rubbish left behind – parts with prices on them far less than what he had been billed for.
Taking his concerns to another locksmith, LockSmart, Daniel was asked right away if it was Local Locksmith 24/7.
Seems this outfit had been highlighted on Fair Go when they traded as Locksmiths Auckland. They had gone off the radar for a bit and then appeared again under a new company name.
Just because a business is at the top of Google doesn’t mean they deserve to be there – always check recent reviews!
Not only was Daniel served with substandard, overpriced work, he says he was harassed for payment the same night as the dodgy job was done.
After bartering with someone at Local Locksmith 24/7, who agreed the work was poor and exorbitant, the result was a zero balance invoice.
Yet outfits like this make their money on percentages – which stings the people they do terrible, overpriced jobs for who end up paying the whopping bill.
Local Locksmith 24/7 had risen to the top of Google by paying for Google AdWords to be there.
How you can avoid falling into the same trap as Daniel and many others
It’s important to remember that the top of the heap says nothing about high standards, reliability, trust and great service.
Overcharging for parts is something cowboys are notorious for – luckily Daniel noticed!
As the story in NewsHub makes clear, it is vital to do your homework before engaging anyone and New Zealand’s most trusted review site NoCowboys is a great place to start.
Look at a business’ reviews – spend some time comparing them with other businesses before making your choice.
NoCowboys’ reviews are authenticated (which means businesses can’t stack the odds in their favour and manipulate the system) and the tradies and service providers that are registered with them take their reputations seriously.
Also look for the words “Ad” in your Google search results – this means this company has paid the most money to be listed there…not that they’re number 1 from their own merit.
Read the fine print to spot an ad in your search results.
Nobody wants to fork out their money to cowboys who are only in it for the buck and don’t give a damn about the standard of their work or their customers.
These days building work is expensive and you want to get maximum bang for your buck with a true professional completing your job to a high standard.
Check out NoCowboys reviews before you hire anyone, for any job. And if you’ve used someone who’s awesome or awful – then share the love by leaving a rating to let everybody else know what you think.
If something like this has ever happened to you and you’ve been taken for a ride comment below and let us know about it.
Steve and the NoCowboys team
