Which? Trusted Traders. Not to be trusted?
Why we stopped working with Which? Trusted Traders.
We have been a member of Which Trusted Traders since 2014, that’s 5 years ago now. A long time. And in all that time we have had only one complaint from a client. They complained because we installed a sisal carpet on the stairs for a German Architect which we hadn’t measured for. It wasn’t in the quote. They were very rushed to get the property read for the client so we fitted it anyway on the instructions of the site manager. They then refused to pay for it and they complained to Which? saying that we had deliberately under measured so we could charge them more at the end.
Very silly. I could never see why anyone would think that of us.
But we were really not impressed with the investigation from Which? We gave them all the details from our side and they really didn’t take any notice of them. I’m not sure they even read it. They had no evidence from the client and they basically said it was up to us what we should do, they couldn’t enforce anything anyway.
Why are we paying these guys again?
We thought at that point there was not much point going through their reconciliation process and in the end decided it would be less hassle just to give them the carpet and fitting for free. There are always a few rotten apples, we just have to concentrate on the good apples!
It was quite galling then when after we had sent a cheque out, the client called Which? to say they hadn’t received it on time! And then Which? told us that we should send another because ‘we had lost the case’. Incredible.
Anyway we stuck with them. Even though the only time we have ever heard from was about the complaint and to tell us to change the Which? logo that we were displaying on our site as it had changed. They only ever came to see us once at the start 5 years ago and we have changed offices and shop twice since then. We really could be anyone by now!
And then…
Then last month our ‘account manager’ called to tell us they had found an unsettled CCJ on our file. This came from a very unfortunate incident with the London courts. A client we took to court for non-payment ended up with us getting a CCJ. That is another blog post for another useless bunch of clowns and to advise anyone never to try and get anything settled with Money Claim Online. A real howler for us.
So, we told them everything. The long story and finally that we had settled it, that it was probably the courts that hadn’t updated their records. And then the following week we received a letter telling us that we had been dismissed from Which? Trusted Traders because we had an outstanding CCJ.
Just like that. After 5 years of paying £75 per month!!!!!!!
Our page was immediately removed and the 40 reviews we had from our clients – who we had directed them to on that page was taken down and we were told we had no right to the reviews either.
Astonishing.
And so we contacted the court and they sent us an email saying that we had settled the CCJ and we are currently awaiting a letter of conclusion. Which we then sent across to Which?
And then they said that they would love to continue working with us for £75 per month. To which of course we said ‘No thanks’.
In summary, I would say that the Which Trusted Traders service is not good for the customers – they don;t check who goes on at regular intervaks. In fact, it seems that the reviews on there are not even genuine https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/05/exclusive-failing-stop-fake-reviews-trusted-trader-website/
and they are ot the only ones that don;t hold them in high regard: https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/2113717/which-trusted-trader-a-conflict-of-interest
and for the Trader? Well, they have not got your back. They will side with the client whatever the evidence. Their interactions with us I have found to be quite rude and condescending. As if simply buy being a business to consumer trader you are somehow dishonest until proven otherwise. I didn’t like it. Finally, we really didn’t get as many clients from them as we thought, hardly any in fact.
I am not sorry to leave, we will continue to be the best carpet and flooring company in London without them. The £75 per month + VAT we will spend on staff drinks in the pub!
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