'HiPages' experiences

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I think it is about time tje whole country regained authorities to step on no one c9mtrols anything anymore. Such a, scandal our leadership is lousy for not having a, standard. And tjey are allowing untrained people to do anything. Maybe its, all, about the cost. At least wm unlicensed trades guy i have had before is honest. I wont say any more

I don’t think Hi Pages is shoddy, but some of the tradespeople who use it definitely are. I have used it on many occasions in several states and have been connected to excellent and ethical tradies; on other occasions, there has been little interest from tradies in the jobs I have offered. Of course, some of the people who reply will quote ‘over the top’, but that happens anyway, even when I go to the trouble of looking in the internet and then do the ‘ring around’ to see if anyone is interested or even available.
There are other similar services available, and I have used them also, also with patchy results. A lot depends on the job, the area, and the timing. So what’s new!
And another tip – you should always check people’s trade licences. There are websites in all states that allow you to do this. If you end up engaging an unlicensed person, then it is your fault.
I have no problems with the Hi Pages service. You just need to be diligent. And if the right people don’t reply first time around, you can always relist the job. I have often done this and been satisfied with the outcome.
Since the demise of the old local yellow pages, it has been difficult to locate local tradies, because of major franchises using subbies all over the place. I have found that services such as Hi Pages, Oneflare, Service Seeking are all useful, you just still need to go through the normal processes of weeding out the people you don’t want to deal with.

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One of the irritatingly good as well as bad changes wrought by the internet is that there is no longer a local paper with ads, but there are many, many sites portraying themselves as places to find trades and services all in competition with each other.

A tradie or service provider has to be in all of them to assure their visibility, and they must get really tired of the time wasters who want free advice or just waste time through indecision or lack of clarity in what they really want. The sites vary from very fair subscriptions for the tradie/service provider to a fairly big charge for sourcing the work. Comparing a 20% charge for referring work might not be so bad compared to the fixed price for a traditional newspaper ad, but the ad could bring in 0 or 100 jobs for the same money. Some sites use a membership model where the tradies/service providers pay for (eg to see) the lead. Many business models, most that skim lots of money as do payment systems. All seem successful in these times since not being there is being invisible.

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Hi Phil,
ah yes, the internet. Not necessarily the source of all evil, but certainly of much of it. Have you ever tried typing into whichever search engine holds you captive the following “plumber + my suburb” If you have ever done that you will get over 6,000,000 suggestion, the first several hundred of which probably are nowhere near your actual suburb, they just happened to have paid somebody smarter than you to jiggle the search results so you are tricked into thinking they are in your area.

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Gets germane about 3/4 through…

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I totally agree with you about not having local papers. Tbey were always the easiest way to find trade’s. The world is cut throat in many ways. How can the consumer be at fault if ones doesn’t check about licensing it should be fine if they are not legitimate. Im steering clear of the internet unless i do a generic search.

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We still have ours (privately owned and operated) and two others that pop up from time to time (large publisher). As well as in print it is also available free on line.

There are numerous trade headings and pages to choose from. It’s not the absolute solution. The plumber we use does advertise, but the septic services pump truck operator does not need to. The second was recommended word of mouth. The plumber is the 4th we have used and are now happy with. At least one of the others we tried does not advertise.

Some of the best trades and services providers we have used do not advertise, other than a yellow pages listing. They don’t need to do any more. Local knowledge is important. Equally important is reputation as a customer. In a smaller community local knowledge works both ways.

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Unfortunately it’s a critical but very poorly regulated industry riven with issues of which this is simply another example. Years ago for many reasons the pendulum swung so far in favour of tradespeople that it’s unlikely to come back for decades or at least as long as the Govt keeps relying on building as a pillar of the economy and dumbing down regulatory compliance services.

It’s supply and demand, and demand far exceeds supply. Tradespeople can milk consumers by charging simply what they think they can get away with, often based on what they heard another tradesperson got away with, and since interest in practical self-sufficiency (eg learning how to change a tap washer or do basic handyman jobs) is waning, wages increase and the population ages many people are in the position of just coughing up. Which leads to ongoing price increases…and really who can blame tradespeople for doing this because money is money. I’ve even heard of them essentially auctioning their services to the highest bidder in the current pandemic environment; the more interest they get the more they increase the price and when they’re inundated with work they can take their pick of price and location. And if they leave you in the lurch by not turning up or doing a rubbish job it matters not one jot to many of them because they’ll still be inundated.

It’s also sad that questionable levels of competence are prevalent and rudeness/arrogance is commonplace but most of us would probably tolerate the latter if there wasn’t also an issue with the former.

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Fair trade are pretty useless at enforcing. Even though consumers can report shoddy practices. I can vouch how useless fair trading was with another issue i had it was a pointless exercise. In regards to reporting trades i cant comment it only i noticed the website mentioned if you have had poor workmanship to report

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The issue may not be the building and construction industry? Decades prior business including our larger industry groups moved to make trade training someone else’s problem. Some expressed this as the unemployed being asked to pay for their own training on the prospect there may be work in the future. Government appeared to step back and accept it was up to the individual to meet the needs and costs, the reward being future employment.

In recent years the outcome has been more demand than trained applicants. One consequence has been more off shoring of skilled work. A second has been a push to bring in overseas trained labour to fill skilled vacancies.

It’s likely more complex, which ever way it is dissected. Consumers in most instances don’t have a choice. When something needs fixing or a job doing, few can be put off without paying more in the future. At the same time our legislators are advised by committees dominated by business and trade groups. Well meaning they have ensured for a homeowner doing much more than opening a window on the home requires a trade qualification and license for the work.

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A related issue is that many easy DIY type installations and repairs are illegal without ‘the license’ and that is often more expensive than hiring a Tradie who has one even for one’s personal use. I’ll not belabour it. How hard is it to replace a tap? Some might reasonably think the shortage of hireable skills is by design.

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@mark_m yes totally agree. It’ll probably never be considered a ‘crisis’, as it should be, given it’s a persistent long term problem that’s both universal and serious and which affects people’s quality of life (health included). It is indeed complex but I wonder if there’s a simple solution to it such as a regulated hourly award rate for trades charging out their time to customers so they can’t be gouged. No doubt that sounds outrageous to some but if employers can pay a trade $X and charge customers whatever they like (yes I’m aware that there are overheads in running a business) then why can’t we do the same for sole traders?

@PhilT yes certainly that’s true for plumbers, sparkies and ac but I’d wager a lot of stuff doesn’t need licences eg carpentry and landscaping work. It’s not hard to replace a tap/door/lock at all for some but also it’s beyond many.

Interested in your thoughts re the shortage being by design. Do you suspect there’s
too much money vested in keeping it the way it is?

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I had a terrible experience with a tradie through Hi Pages and will never use the service again. This person did the worst quality work imaginable and became extremely aggressive and abusive when I would not pay until the job was completed properly.

In the future I will never engage someone without a personal recommendation.

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Its become very difficult to find a normal qualified person now a, days. Everyone is on a, rush. Im amazed how one person wanted full payment instantly. Just can’t choose or know who os good. Local papers were better than now. Maybe before people were not out to dobad work. That is wjy i fixed leaking taps because of the bad experience when someone didn’t turn up whem, says. I just said don’t bother coming. He, wss more interested in me liking a job before completing it. That really deplored me s9 glad they never came

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Nothing I assume or presume would make it harder or prohibit them calling a tradie. As the population seems less able to DIY in general, or change flat tyres, there will always be a service industry to provide for them.

Regulations/laws on one hand are designed to protect but as a practical matter create and preserve ‘closed shops for the licensed’. Issues surrounding licensing would better be under a tangent of ‘right to repair’ so I’ll not ‘go there’, here.

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This advice can’t be ignored and is something which has been common place for decades. With the invent of social media and digital disruption, there is a tendency to think that every can be ‘convenience-ised’ without compromising on service or quality. Trades are very different where there are many professional tradies which offer outstanding service and to high quality jobs…and likewise there are those which will do the bare minimum to get the job done.

Those who are professional are often busy as they get their business from word of mouth and/or repeat customers. Those who are at the other end may be chasing work and using tradie type platforms to gain customers. I know what option I would take when looking for a tradie.

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Tried Hi Pages for a concrete retaining wall. The first tradies quoted straight away at a good price for retaining wall and steps so went with them. A second company contacted me but I’d hired the first. Bad move. The 3 men had no idea about how to install a wall correctly, complained about the clay soil and wouldn’t back fill. Also had no idea how to install steps or connect agi pipes to the stormwater. I fired them (payed them fairly) back filled myself and used a ladder to get onto the terrace for a couple of months till I could get the other company back. They are now my go to landscapers. They corrected the mistakes, with attention to detail and are about to landscape the large front garden.
Apparently Hi Pages get paid by the companies to suggest them however they do not screen them. Purely advertising. The first tradies quoted $17000 but afterwards I realised they were not licensed to do jobs over $10000. I wouldn’t use Hi Pages again.

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I couldn’t believe a plumber who wanted credit before even doing anything he got told where to go. Such a, load of rubbish at least previously people just did the job without wanting a, rating. Honestly thwy should be closed down. Bring back local papers with decent adverts woth handy people who come as, allocated. I, say another kick in the guts good trades.

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I tried Hipages numerous times to get tradies to do carpentry work, general handyman work and landscaping work, all to no avail. Wasted heaps of time waiting for someone who didn’t turn up. One person from Hipages who did some work for me was so high I thought he was on cloud 9. So no, do not recommend the use of Hipages at all, any tradie worth his salt will be working flay out for himself without the need to be on a website, especially here in Perth

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