Checkatrade is genuinely useful for shortlisting local trades, and I appreciate that members are checked. But the quality really varies; my roofer was excellent while a decorator from the same site cancelled twice last minute. The vetting helps but it does not guarantee the experience, so still do your own homework.
Good shortlisting and member checks
Inconsistent reliability between traders
When our boiler packed in over a bank holiday, Checkatrade let me filter for nearby gas engineers and check their qualifications fast. The chap I found sorted it the same day and the price was fair. Would have given five stars but the app was a bit sluggish loading trader profiles on my phone.
Quick filtering by trade and area
App can be slow to load profiles
Used Checkatrade to find a plumber after a leak and the vetting badges gave me confidence to pick someone. He turned up on time and the previous customer reviews were spot on about his tidiness. Only minor gripe is a few listed traders never returned my call, so I had to message several before one answered.
Vetted traders with honest reviews
Some traders slow to respond
The electrician I hired through Checkatrade had glowing reviews but the actual work was rushed and he left without testing one of the sockets. When I tried to flag it, the review process felt slow and I am not sure my feedback even went live. The directory is only as good as the vetting behind it.
Trader quality didn't match the listed reviews
I posted my extension job and within a couple of days had three vetted builders quoting through Checkatrade. Being able to read detailed reviews and see complaint history made comparing them straightforward. Knocked off a star only because one quote was wildly higher than the others with no explanation.
Easy to compare vetted quotes
One quote oddly inflated