I have had a few bad experiences with hi pages pretty hard to trust. I had previously used one time average service. I rang to get a plumber suppose to turn up today no reply. I would be very careful using them as a trades person service. I would suggest checking out if trades are licensed. Just a, warning to everyone be careful.
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Is this view limited to a one off experience where the trade suggested failed to respond, or have you actually used one of their recommended tradies and not been happy with the work or cost?
Would it also be useful to ask what experiences others may have had with Hi Pages and compare experiences?
In the instance raised what was Hi Pages response or follow up on the service offered. It’s usual for businesses these days to seek feedback, especially those with an on line presence or operations.
There are many businesses competing to deliver home trades and services. They vary in focus including third party booking platforms EG AirTasker & RACQ, franchisees EG Jim’s, and integrated businesses EG Fallon Solutions.
Do you think Members of Choice might benefit from a review of any of these types of services, including a member survey? Similar in scope to the brands & product reliability survey. I’d be of little value preferring to use local small businesses with recommendations from other customers.
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I tried HiPages last year and found it over-promised and delivered nothing useful. The few replies were over 30km away for a small job in outer metro Melbourne. One was an individual but another could have been a company or ‘gig shop’ that recruited workers but portrayed itself as a sole operator. All considered I gave them all a miss. I rang some locals referenced on our local FB group and found a very fair, reliable tradie who is now one of my go to’s.
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Another time when I used the service it was fine. But the plumber did not come aat the planned time i didn’t use them. It was, a minor issue i fixed. Initially he, was good to talk to on the phone but it was strange he didn’t attempt to contact me until 4 hours later on. It depends on who ypu choose but as Phil mentioned on here just have to be scrupulous who you choose. The plumber when he called me last night said he wanted me to like his service but he had not attended as, such. Can you understand that. It depends if its worth how the service hi pages is looked at. maybe choice could have someone check them out. I was, told by another hqndy person make sure on hi pages tradespeople have license etc because it can be hard to tell if someone is licensed or not.im not sure how or if it is worthwhile pursuing investigation.
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You were lucky to get any replies. The job I wanted done generated (apparently) a vast number of tradies and I was told to expect phonecalls to arrange visits… but nope. Not a one. Job must have been too small. I too find local facebook and gumtree more reliable fr one off jobs.
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Ive had another plumber who installed the hot water heater whilst efficient and quick to complete the job. He was wanting my money and transaction done there and then he was paramount pay in full. He cleaned up the mess really good in that way. No one hardly has time anymore everyone is rushing to get it done. He. Also comment about when my previous water system was improper pipe. As you say using another way to find a trade is better. Hi pages only want customers to like them as i, was, told to do by the so called plumber who wanted to turn up later. How can anyone say to like the service before even come to visit. So glad no one came out now. The local paper was good for ringing trades but they don’t get delivered now
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This is becoming more standard across the trades (plumber, electrician, painter etc). Many trades carry point of sale processing devices (bank eftpos consoles, Square etc) and require payment on completion of work. Possibly half of the trades we have used in the past few years follow this practice - as one said, it avoids unpaid work or having to waste time following up customers to get jobs paid for.
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I can understand in a, way because I have been told some trades get people who don’t pay and they end up chasing to get payments. I agree with you about wanting payment on tbe spot. Same when I had car battery changed they had, a, terminal to pay.the plumber i was going to use from hi pages said i could get it cheaper if i pay cash but then have no receipts. Not sure on how you usually pay or preferences.
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I usually pay after the job by EFT direct to the business account. There is a cost for the smaller tradies in having a payment service using Square or card reader. Some of the larger businesses will ask you to authorise a payment over the phone to their office staff using a credit or debit card. We are part of a smaller local community which may be a little different to the city. The variable mobile reception around the district also limits the usefulness of electronic payment machines.
Paying by cash direct? Without a tax receipt is there a record of the agreed contract and warranty on the service provided? Note:
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Maybe i should clarify the trade person said to me on the phone it would be cheaper to pay by cash. I had a look at the attachment you supplied.
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I have found that local Facebook groups are good places to ask for recommendation; I found a roofing contractor through a local group. Three quoted, and the one I chose was excellent. I commented on the service and result, and others on the site have also used them. Also worth noting - he did not require payment on the spot, he emailed the invoice.
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That is good to hear. Even when ringing commonly its hard to get someone to come out seems its not worth them coming unless they make a big amount of money. Cut throat i call it
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Bottom line is they can do that when business is good because attending to quote often means $0 were made while they attended and did a quote. Some repeat customers will ring and say ‘do it’ which is good business. The business they get has to cover their time for ‘the other’ quotes. Thus many get jaded quickly by what they consider to be time wasters all while we as the prospective customer needs to know enough about cost to decide.
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In regards to how hi pages operate they don’t compare anything like older style ways, where someone rings 3 businesses for a quote. It really pays to research.
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I tried to use Hi Pages to engage a tradie to fix my front door and security door both of which had been badly affected by the abnormal rains over the last couple of months. This was in mid-December so entry into the Christmas period may have influenced the situation.
After I described the job I had two businesses reply. Both were quick to communicate online and by text. I could not get either on the phone. They wanted pictures of the doors. I sent them but neither seemed to receive them. We emailed back and forth several times and they were both cvery quick to respond. But I wanted someone to come out and look at the job and discuss ways to fix it, since it has been a recurring problem over years, and various handymen have done various patch jobs. I wanted something more permanent.
Neither would come or even talk about coming so after several attempts over a couple of weeks I gave up. Neither said this but I had the feeling that what they wanted was to sell me a new door … to which I was not opposed but need some assurance that the same problem would not recur with the new door. Talk is cheap (online) but that is all I got. Useless.
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Did they ask you to like the service without even attending.? I had that and a plumber wanted me to say the service was good without doing anything. And rhey never showed up on time. I said forget coming
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Disappointing that you’ve had no success. If you are able to share some further details of the faults there may be some in the community able to suggest some further options for repair.
Our most recent experience is mixed. The hourly cost of competent qualified trade labour can often make a quality repair more expensive than replacement. Especially if the job requires a site visit to quote, plus added costs in time to source any materials required.
In our area Tradies at present are as scarce as free RAT kits. Unfortunately both are in high demand (only need to ask a close tradie neighbour to know). There are also impacts of Covid on labour supply. We’ve given up expecting a business will spend time to come and quote a relatively small job.
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Chuckles and not Hi Pages, a family member needed a simple basin and mixer tap replacement, plumber to supply 2 under vanity shut offs, 2 short flex hoses, bits to join the waste to the drain and some silicon.
Plumber 1 - demanded to attend prior to quoting, refused the high quality but used mixer, quote $1,200 plus customer to supply a new mixer.
Plumber 2 - demanded to attend prior to quoting, refused the basin but happy with the mixer and looked for other work (eg hot water service) to recommend, quote $2,500 including supply of a basin.
Both plumber 1 and 2 seemed pretty proud of their businesses. I recommended he ring (my) plumber 3.
Plumber 3 - asked for photos, estimated $300 labour plus costs of materials, $350~400 all up ex/GST.
It is an interesting world.
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