FAQs

We only allow registered consumers to leave reviews because we need the contact details of a consumer in the case of a bad review.

To ensure reviews of our traders are accurate, we contact a consumer who leaves a less positive review in order to validate their story with the trader.

At TrustATrader.com, we do all the hard work for you! We have hundreds of local tradesmen in your area who have been vetted by our team to check on all the questions you'd like to ask yourself. If the feedback isn't good enough when they request to join up to TrustATrader.com, they won't be on our website. Simple!

There are certain trades where experience isn't always enough! If you have gas or engineering works to be done, you need to know that whoever you hire is the best person for the job. We require copies of all current certificates when our members join, so we know they have the skills you need to do a professional job.

For electricians, we require proof of registration with a governing body, and proof of Part P and 17th Addition Compliance; this ensures that our traders have their specialist training up to date, as bodies such as NICEIC have the sole purpose of protecting consumers from unsafe and unsound electrical work. The same goes for the Gas Safe Register; any trader coming into your home to carry out any gas works will have current Gas Safe Registration if you find them through Trustatrader.com. It's always a good idea to check with the trader when they come round, and ask to see their current membership cards for your total peace of mind.

Unlike some websites advertising reliable and trustworthy tradespeople, we are only here to make sure that you, the consumer, have the best choice of professionals to do the job. Our stringent vetting and constant monitoring of our traders provides you with the assurance that any trader you choose will be capable of completing your job to a high standard. You are, however, welcome to call as many of the companies as you like until you find the perfect one for your needs.

That really is up to you! We've done all the hard work by ensuring that all our traders are the best of the best, but you can make choices as a result of the following:

• The reviews which have been left on the website
• The trader's profile
• The trader's qualifications and memberships (these are listed with logos and in the qualifications box)
• Photographs of previous work

TrustATrader is a free online directory of tradespeople you can trust because their place on the website depends upon their quality of service. Consumers can leave feedback for our traders based on the work that has been done for them, which continues to improve the reliability of the service.

As a recommendations website, you can rest assured of the rigorous and stringent checks carried out on all tradespeople. We do recommend however that you contact at least two or three traders to get an idea of costs and how you get on with the tradesperson. There's no right or wrong, and we have no regulations on the fees our traders charge, so make sure you get enough details to ensure you use the company that's right for you.

The standards are high here - that's why TrustATrader.com is the number one internet trader recommendations website throughout many areas in the UK! We take all your concerns very seriously, and aim to treat everyone fairly if a problem arises. This demonstrates our belief in equality and high standards throughout our dynamic website, whether you are a consumer or a trader.

The TrustATrader logo represents our high standards and we take care to ensure you can rely on it when choosing a trader.

Firstly, you'll need to register to guarantee that you are who you say you are, and then we have a handful of simple questions about your views on the trader and the work they carried out for you; at the bottom of the page is your opportunity to leave your views about the whole experience in your own words. You can click the link next to the trader you've used to go directly to their feedback page.

By registering, we are able to carry out regular spot-check calls to consumers who have left reviews, to ensure that a review is left by the person stated. We take fake references very seriously, and the tradesperson who is involved will be deactivated from our website with immediate effect once exposed. This is an extremely rare occurrence, as the traders we have with us are here for their superior standards and work ethics.

Your first point of contact should always be the trader to try and resolve any issues. Don't forget that they are where they are through their high standards of work and customer focus, so they won't want to do a job that leaves the customer unhappy. If your issues can't be resolved by your first point of contact (the trader's business), then call our office and we will send you a copy of our complaints form. Our advice is to keep copies of any correspondence you have, so that when it comes to us, we can see exactly where the problems have arisen. Unsuitable work will lead to a trader being withdrawn from our website, and banned from using the TrustATrader.com website in the future.

Every idea has to grow - we are expanding our services nationwide, and by hearing from you, it lets us know where you need us next! If you use a great trader who isn't on our website, why not give them the TrustATrader.com number - 01438 870097. They won't be sorry when they give us a call!

Our consumers come to us for an unbiased and unprejudiced view on local traders. It's you, the consumers, who are providing the feedback, which means that a trader's profile is only going to get the ratings that it deserves! In this way, you know that by reading the feedback previous customers give, you are going to find the best person you feel can do the job for you by making your own, fully informed choice.

On hearing one of our TrustATrader.com adverts, or just through hearing about us from other traders, you can send us an email via the website for one of our team to get back to you, or you can phone us directly on 01438 870097 to speak to a friendly and helpful sales member.

One of our team will talk you through the process and provide you with expert advice on all you need to know about how TrustATrader.com can help you to make your business grow. Once we've spoken to you, we'll send you an email asking you to provide a minimum of 5 references, a signed copy of our Terms and Conditions, your insurance documents, and our completed Information Request Form. It's as simple as that! This can all be done by uploading to the website, or you can send copies to us directly. We will do our best to have your advertising up and running with us within 2-3 weeks.

You can provide us with as many references as you like, but 5 is the minimum to get started.

We're proud to say that TrustATrader.com is advertising on national TV and radio stations nationwide.

TrustATrader.com has wide TV coverage including sponsorship of ITV2, ITV3, ITV Movies, ITV4 daytime and early evenings.

We also have an ongoing advertising campaign featured on over 60 national and local radio stations including Talksport, Heart, Hits Radio, LBC, Radio X, Gem 106.6, and in Scotland, the Forth & Clyde Radio.

Every single month our adverts are seen and heard by millions of potential customers across the country.

The combination of 1,000's of returning satisfied customers and TrustATrader's sustained advertising campaigns bringing 10's of 1,000's of new customers to the website leads to 700,000+ searches on TrustATrader.com each month.

The result is 100's of 1,000's of potential customers for TrustATrader.com members. One of the many reasons why TrustATrader has one of the highest renewal rates in the industry.

We have built our name over the years by creating the very best when it comes to a trader recommendations website, so our Managing Director, Gary McEwen, is here with the skill and experience to provide the best knowledge and support for you.

Maybe you're a smaller company, or a sole trader, and you need to be out there with the larger companies, raising your profile? What you really must remember is that this is YOUR SHOP WINDOW! To get the most out of your membership, it's important to keep your feedback up to date, and upload good, relevant photographs to go with your profile, which can provide a detailed overview of your company for the consumer.

TrustATrader.com does the most important bit for you, but this is no time to sit back and wait for the phone to ring! We recommend that you ask your customers to leave a review online or fill in a review card after every job. For optimum results, think FEEDBACK, PHOTOGRAPHS, and FANTASTIC PROFILE! We provide generic profiles, so you may want to change one of these slightly, but if you have any problems writing a great profile, then speak to a member of our Administration Team to help you sell the quality of the work you can carry out. Don't forget - hand your review cards and provide your email link (to your profile) after any work you do, not just to your TrustATrader.com customers.

Our membership numbers are limited for each trade within an area, and in many areas we have waiting lists for traders to join. Our aim is to provide consumers with a choice of high quality traders, whilst allowing our traders to gain the best possible exposure and return on their investment.

Unlike some of the websites advertising for reliable and trustworthy tradespeople, we are only here to make sure that the consumer has the best choice of professional to complete the job.

Give your company the best possible exposure on TrustATrader by making sure you give out a link to your online profile (where a review can be left) after completing a job, or ask a customer to complete a review card. Companies who receive the most work via TrustATrader are those who have a decent number of recent reviews, have added photographs to their profile and provided as much information about their company as possible. This ensures that your company is going to be the first contact for all those consumers in your specified areas looking for your particular trade.

Yes you can! We can add the different logos for you, and can also fill in an extra box with any qualifications you can confirm with copies of certification. Obviously it is obligatory to provide us with any NICEIC, Part P Compliant, or Gas Safe Registration if you work in those fields.

It's simple to just sign in to your membership account on TrustATrader.com and update any of your company details, add profile images or check the performance of your adverts via the detailed stats available to all TrustATrader.com members. If you have any trouble, you can of course call our Administration Team on 01438 870096. They'll be happy to help you with any problem you may be having.

Give our Administration Team a call on 01438 870096 and they'll get as many as you require in the post to you straight away!

If a customer gives feedback under 60%, our system initiates an automatic investigation, and the feedback is sent directly to our Administration Team. It is not possible for a customer to leave a poor rating without it first being seen by our team. This means that we contact you and the customer first to find out what the issues were. If it is deemed suitable that a poor reference is left, then we let the future customers on TrustATrader.com know, because we have checked that it is reliable customer feedback. The reason that we check is to confirm the authenticity of the review.

We will negotiate and arbitrate on behalf of both the Member and the customer to resolve any outstanding issues. Whilst a complaint is being investigated, your membership may be suspended if the complaint is of a serious nature. In extreme circumstances where a complaint is not resolved, and work is substandard, a trader will be removed from the TrustATrader.com website, and it will not be possible to re-join at a later date. A pro-rata membership refund will be given.

Yes there is. We charge a yearly fee for membership, and this ensures that as a tradesperson, you know that we will do everything to help you; from sorting out your insurance to uploading photographs to your profile. We are here to provide the consumers with your valuable skills and experience, and of course that's called advertising!

As a thank you to you for recommending us to a friend, don't forget, once they have signed up we'll send you a £50.00 cheque! It's worth remembering that 70% of all our new members are recommended by traders who are currently on our site. After all, as I'm sure you'll agree, word of mouth is the best recommendation there is, which is just how TrustATrader.com works!

What are you waiting for? Pick up the phone and speak to one of our sales team now, on 01438 870097, and let's get your business on the map today!

A MEMBERSHIP CHECKLIST for when you call, we'll ask you for:

• Minimum of 5 references
• Copy of your insurance documents
• Minimum of 2 years experience in your trade
• To hold all qualifications required by law to carry out your work
• To agree to our Terms & Conditions/Complaints procedure
• To uphold the high standards expected of our members

Any questions you may have, feel free to call our dedicated team on 01438 870096 to talk through how best to make TrustATrader.com work for you. We are available to offer advice on uploading photographs to your profile, adding your reviews or updating any information you may wish to change. Don't worry about leaving us a message after office hours, we always pick up your messages first thing in the morning, so we'll always aim to get back to you first thing the next working day!