Some tips on finding tradies online

I have this saying... If one wants to lose faith in the human race, find a tradie online.

We built out house some time ago. We were the owner builder and we had to find and work with many tradies. More recently, we renovated mom's place. Again, we got to work with many other tradies.

My main go to websites are Serviceseeking.com, Airtasker.com, and Hipages (less so).

Literally, it is a jungle out there. Let me share some lessons:

1. Serviceseeking is probably the most effective. It covers all sorts of trade. And there are large numbers of tradies sourcing work from the platform. But it also takes the most work. Most important thing is it really pays to get different quotes from different folks. Be careful of trades,am who quote over the phone without seeing the work involved. Inevitably, those quotes would be sky high. Also it really pays to meet with several tradies to discuss the work involved and hear their solutions or concerns (and eventually get a sense of what is a fair price of the job). Believe me, the quotes can vary a lot, and I mean a lot (like 100% more for doing the same thing). Apart from price. another factor is do you feel comfortable with the tradesman and does he or she talk sense.

2. There is no short cut in finding a good tradesman. Right off the bat, don't believe the star rating. I once had the most shocking experience from a 5-star rated painter on Serviceseeking. The painter did a reasonable job in painting the room but he scratched the timber floor when he moved the furniture. When I saw him moved the furniture and the scratches, I asked if he could lift the furniture. He lied and told me the scratches could be scrubbed off afterwards. I left a 3-star rating. The day after, he called me on the phone and argued. Then two days later, a voice called and threatened to cut my head off and called me a dog. So much for the veracity of a 5-star rating. It explained why he had over 500 5-star ratings on the website.

3. Once you hire a tradesman, make sure you are on site or someone is there when they do the job. Once we hired a carpenter handyman, he was given a list of little things to sort out. He did not itemize the quote. Instead, we agreed it would take him 3 days. I couldn't be onsite. After 3 days, he barely finished half of the items on the list. Took the easy way on most things. Did a half ass job. Finished work early every day. And he had good reviews on Hipages.

4. Then we have Airtasker. For simple jobs around the house, Airtasker is not bad, especially if you want to find the best prices. To be fair, you get what you pay for. Here are some tricks and traps from several friendly tradesman on AT. Be careful of low quotes of Airtasker fee + parts. Remember the low Airtasker fee got him the job. We once hired a plumber to fix a leaking mixer for $3-400. The parts came to another $3-400 (for a no name mixer) when he got there. Another bullshit line was you can choose parts from Bunnings (with no warranty from him) or pick the expensive parts from Reece (with warranty from him). Truth is don't expect a tradesman to come back for free to fix his work. Again, from past experience.

5. Now another Airtasker story. We once got an electrician to install an outdoor light (we bought the light from Bunnings) for $100. To be fair, it was not a bad price. But the electrician was 2 hours late because he claimed he had to fix his truck. Then when he got to our place, he had to shut down the power before he could change the light. When he opened the main switch board to shut down the power, he turned around and said the switch board was outdated and it was not safe for him to do the job. To do the job, he would need to change the main switch board and it would be $400. I told him no and asked him to cancel the job on Airtasker if he deemed it not safe for him to do the job. Then he told me since he came, we owed him money. I had to threaten to call the police to settle the dispute then he back down. He proceeded to install the light at the Airtasker price but I had to pay him in cash. Thinking back, again, same bullshit.... The main switch board hasn't changed for decades... A main switch board 30 years old is still a main switch board.

6. One more thing is Google search.... Google search typically finds tradesmen with their own websites. They have paid to appear in Google search. On balance, these tradesmen tend to be OK but you know for sure you will be paying market price.

This write up is probably tilted on the negative side. But I also have the fortune of coming across some good tradesmen. Inevitably, there are some not so nice folks in the mix as well. Again, beware, it is a jungle out there. It feels like it takes a lot of leg work, perseverance, and toughness to get jobs done these days.