Anyone done work for Trade Tek

[Daemon]

Let me give you another customers perspective. I don't mind paying a premium price if I am going to get a service that is commensurate. However, that is far from what TradeTek delivered. First of all, their advertising is somewhat suspect, they target towns and cities in online adverts as a 'local plumber' but they are simply an agency. You only see TradeTek in the small print at the bottom - easily missed as I unfortunately did. As I have read in a number of supplier reviews online, I am not the only consumer to have a bad experience with them. If you think the following is an acceptable standard of service I would be interested in hearing why.

They have left a household with a 15 month old baby without a flushing toilet for the best part of a month with no end reliably in sight. Their 'engineer' first visited the property on 3rd August, where he spent 30 minutes looking at the toilet, charging £106.80 for the privilege before deciding a new cistern was needed, for which he took an advance payment of £50. He was supposed to return on the 5th or 6th but a phone call from 'customer service' said this was now going to be the 14th then a subsequent phone call said it was going to be the 21st. When a different 'engineer' turned up with one hours notice on 22nd he brought the wrong part as the first individual had ordered incorrectly. He was supposed to get the correct part and fit it on the 27th. A phone call on the 28th came up with a further excuse that there was yet another problem with the part and it was going to be the 6th of September!
That's when my patience ran out and I asked for a refund - surprise, surprise they no longer want to talk to me. If you are a reputable plumber, I'd suggest having nothing to do with them. If you are and are in the north-west then contact me as I still need the work doing that this shower have messed us around with.

 

[stevetheplumber]

i think this was the company that diagnosed a new boiler when it was the kitchen fitter had crossed the supplies when i looked at their site the were only giving 40 % to the plumber

 

[jtsplumbing]

Hi Daemon, Sounds as though you had a bad experience with one of Trade-Tek "Plumbers" sounds typical of some one claiming to be a Plumber,(Fast Track) and not knowing what they are doing, Yes they are not located in your area, but offer a service providing a Local plumber, the same as most of these Co do, Rated People Etc., And you do get charged at a premium rate, but the charges are explained to you at the time of the call, so you don't have to except them doing the job, This is typical of people shopping on line for a service, When I attend any jobs for them I always ask if the rates have been explained to them, if they are happy to proceed then I ask them to sign the job sheet, Question I ask at end of job - did they try for a Local Plumber (Paper etc.) most say No ! Because they cant be bothered, Why they could not get parts for something as simple as a WC cistern, or even a replacement unit I personally find hard to believe ! Unless you have something that is most unusual, (Photo if you can). As I stated earlier I have done jobs for these people for over 10 years, never had any problems, apart from complaints about charges , but has I stated you don't have to take up their offer, A lot of the problem's stem from the attitude and professional approach of the person attending the call , Now I cant see why you cant manage for a day or two without a (FLUSHING) WC, the world will not end ! But after a Month and you still can not be bothered to find a local plumber ! Please put a request on this site or LOOK IN YOUR LOCAL PAPER.

 

[jtsplumbing]

i think this was the company that diagnosed a new boiler when it was the kitchen fitter had crossed the supplies when i looked at their site the were only giving 40 % to the plumber

Hi Steve, again you are someone blaming the Co, They can only go of what the visiting engineer tells them. These are unqualified people working in a call centre, yes 40% to the engineer ! but as I stated to Daemon, they don't have to take up the offer, and in the currant climate 40% is better than nothing.

 

[Mike Sweeney]

Daemon's experience seems to be the way this company does business. Here is my experience which I'm still trying to sort out.

Boiler broke so called a local plumber. This guy comes, spends 15m minutes and tells me I need a fan and PRV. It'll cost £500 to fix apparently. I figure I'll get a second quote. I call 'Leicestershire Plumber' which turns out to be Tradetek. They tell me on the phone that there are no call out fees and it'll cost just £99 per hour to fix my boiler plus VAT plus parts. This sounded reasonable so I booked the appointment. The engineer comes, spends 1 hour on my boiler. When I ask if it's fixed he says "no, you need a fan and PRV' and asked me for £118 for his time. I explained what the lady on the phone had said and told him I wasn't signing for anything because my boiler wasn't fixed. He put his manager on the phone who explained that whilst there are no call out fees there is a compulsory "diagnostic" that takes 1 hour. He said since that wasn't explained to me if I sign the job sheet they'll come back and fit the parts for free - I just had to pay for the parts. So I signed. The engineer explained he'd call me the next day to let me know a) how much the parts were and b) when he could fit them. Next day came and no phone call. I called their call centre every hour from 1pm-5.30pm that day and nobody could tell me what the hell was going on or even if the engineer was coming back. All members of staff promised they'd call back but no-one ever did. I finally called again and explained that this was a joke and that I wanted it all cancelling. The girl said she would raise a complaint. The next day (which is saturday just passed) they took £118 out of my bank account despite the fact that on their website it states clearly that no money is taken until the job is completed to the customers satisfaction - at this point nothing at all has been done. No work. nada. zilch. I sent a letter to them via email detailing everything that has happened, all the lies and miscommunication along the way and that I want my money back. At this point I've had 2 people call me to deal with the complaint. One said he'll look into it and the called me arguing with me telling me "you signed the contract. that's it." He also stated that he will not be refunding me regardless. It's now a week since I called them and my boiler is STILL broken and their engineer STILL hasn't called.

My thoughts on this company are that they are SCAMMERS. They lied to me on the phone to get me to make an appointment, their manager lied to me on the phone to get me to sign the job sheet. Their engineer lied to me and never returned to complete the job (and still hasn't). And now their complaints managers are saying "you signed the job sheet". tough luck.

Tradetek as a company (trading as leicestershireplumber.co.uk) in my experience are complete SCAMMERS and do NOT care about their customers.

 

[Daemon]

jtsplumbing - it's not that I couldn't 'be bothered' - if you read my post, they had taken a £50 advance payment on the parts and it was always - "it will be next week", to keep you on the hook. We have now had a local plumber carry out the repair but had to wait about a week for him to fit us in.

Mike - I know what you are going through, they wouldn't recognise customer service if they fell over it! If you check, they have now removed the 'Plumber in xyz' online ads since I kicked up a stink with them. I actually forced them to a partial refund after threatening to file for a chargeback with my bank against the transaction. Avoid them at all costs is my recommendation.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Hi Daemon, sounds like you have had a bad experience with T/T , I can only relate with my dealings with them over 10 years (React Fast) Now T/T I'm by no means trying to blow their trumpet and they do make mistakes but you seem to have been given the dirty end of the stick, I've never left or treated a customer in the way you have been, But maybe that's due to meny years experience and adopting a professional approach, I do encounter problems on some jobs, but a lot relates to the people in the call centre not having any technical knowledge or even asking or obtaining more information about the customers problem B4 the engineer arrives on site, but a lot of the problems are caused by inexperienced so called Plumbers, and it's these sort of people that can quite easily give any Co a bad name, Very surprised that you got charged for your very poor experience with them, A little strong calling them Scammers but after the way you have been treated that is understandable. Hope you get your problem sorted soon (Joe) JTS Plumbing.

 

[BazS]

From a customer point of view working for them won't bring you second call outs with the client; I did not even know they used outside workers, thought they were a reputable business as was looking for a regular plumber I could trust. I phoned as directory advert sounded good, no callout fee!! Disgusted to be charged £94.80 to connect a washing machine to my kitchen, no extra fittings as the pipework already installed so just I moving into place and connecting up hoses. As I am unemployed seeking work this is TWO WEEKS of my money. A disgrace charging this amount. Even trained psychotherapists only charged £30-45 per hour with many years of training and university degrees. £94.80 for under half hour work is a total rip off. No new Parts at all DO NOT ENTERTAIN USING THESE PEOPLE Friends are always looking for plumbers but I will ensure they do not use these people, I am taking my complaint to a higher authority as have sought advice. the lad doing the job was lovely polite its just the company that prey on people looking to have work done. They will not keep clients though as once bitten twice give them a miss! They should reimburse me £60 of the money paid out as I have now found out what the job should have cost

Hi I was wondering whether you got any luck getting your money back or which higher authority you went to. They ripped me off as well. I had to pay £130.80 for a 15 min wrongly identified problem and I am furious. They are disgusting and shouldn't be allowed to trade.

 

[Tayside newbe]

i know this thread is a bit out of date but thought I put my comments since I have been looking for inside info on Tradetek
Thanks guys you have just confirmed what I suspected about this company, they are ripoff merchants for both the customer and the tradesman, I have worked in the industry for other companies for 10 years but have moved out of Glasgow into a rural area where unemployment is high even in the heating industry so have decided to go it alone, Tradetek were advertising for heating engineers so I replied and they sent me a induction package, and phoned up next day seemingly desperate to get me on board because they had a lot of work in my area. Had at look and their terms and thought "What business or trader would agree to their terms!" but after reading this thread it seems that some do. I know it is not easy to start up as a sole trader but I think I would rather be on the dole or travel to Glasgow to work with my old employer everyday than work with Tradetek there are a lot of points that put me off working for them but the worst ones are
1) they take 60% of profit and markup you charge on parts, you also don't know what rate they have negotiated with customer.
2) you have to act as a debt collector.
3) having done diagnostics on boilers for years I know that it is not always easy to diagnose a intermittent fault and they would have you going back to second calls at your own cost and possibly providing parts to fix problem.
4) no guarantee of regular work and possibly traveling long distances to get work.
NO THANKS
good luck to those who take up their offer both customer and trader, I will wait for your phone call for a decent quote or cost request after they have finished ripping you off.
Jim

 

[Isleth]

They are now calling themselves Rightio, any payments to them is to Trade Tek....Be wary as I am having challenges with them....Yes nright now...see my other posts for more details...

 

[alanl]

I've been working for them for a month now.
They are very upfront about costs, both on the phone, then when I arrive I have to ask if they have been informed of the costs per hour. Then, before any work commences, the customer reads and signs the agreement.
They take 60% of the fee. That doesnt bother me, as it is fill-in jobs that I wouldnt be getting.
So, for the basic £89/hr+Vat, I'll be getting £35.60. You state which postcodes and areas you'd like to cover. I stay within 15 miles of home. I do get asked if I'd go to somewhere further, but I generally refuse.Evenings/weekends are £119/hr.
They do not take any of the materials cost, in fact they say you should charge more than you pay for parts, typically a 20% mark up.
Payment. No problem so far.
Customers - all are happy for the work to be done, and all paid immediately. One argued that they shouldnt be paying for 2 hours when I was only there for 1.5 hours. I told them beforehand how long it may take - up to 2 hours, I think they were trying for a discount.
I am surprised that some customers ring them, as I think the charges are quite steep, but they do get a fast service.
I've heard loads of 'bad' stories about them, but have had no problems at all.

 

[gasmanrob]

Hmm. Seems legit.