Having spent the last 40+ years in the construction industry myself and always delivering a
first-rate service, only to have it undermined by the proverbial ‘cowboys’ who either come in
before or after you’ve done your own particular job – placing you firmly into the centre of
‘The Cowboy Trap’ – I can say, that it’s not much fun.
Most people believe that if a builder has a good postcode and plush offices combined with
impressive stationary that they must be getting the real deal. The truth is far more scary,
and it’s a point that really should be taken more seriously by the public at large if they
want to avoid the dreaded Cowboy trap.
The most successful Cowboy businesses are those that are not afraid to invest heavily on
the ‘posture’ or branding of their business. After all, they need to attract as many
customers as possible in, so they have to make themselves appear so attractive you’d be a
fool NOT to take them at face value and trust them with thousands of pounds of your
hard-earned money……. The bait for the Cowboy Trap is set.
You are taking all of the good advice being offered to you by getting several quotes and
double-checking references being offered to you. The Cowboys are ahead of you here by
firstly tricking you into thinking you’re safe in their hands. They buy large full and
half-page ads in the Yell.com Check-a-Trade and other referral agencies.
Often on credit, and with no deposit. …….. After all, you’ll be paying that bill, (if it ever
gets paid at all that is) because you’ll be paying a good deposit up-front for the work you
need completing. (Won’t you?)
The Cowboys will also have joined the various trusted trade agencies which are usually no
more than subscription memberships (Except CheckFred of course) who are only after the membership fees, and do not themselves (usually) follow-up on the references provided. Even when they do, they’ll be checking primed references who often receive payment for the reference service provided.
All in all, the Cowboy Trap is extremely hard to identify and even harder to avoid. Once IN
though, it’s almost impossible to get yourself OUT. – The answer? – You need to find a strong
chain of trust. – You need to find a builder or other trades-person who is totally trustworthy
and then you need to follow down or up the chain of trust to identify those who will leave
your property clean, safe, tidy and with the work left to the standard you are entitled to
expect.
You also need to pull up your trades-person/professional AS SOON as you notice things
aren’t right. Whether that be the standard of work, their timekeeping or their general
behaviour. It’s no good complaining when you’ve allowed somebody to continue in their
own blissful way if you KNOW that it’s wrong.
A TRUE Professional will actually appreciate you telling them.
They’re not mind-readers and everyone has different sets of standards they live by…..
Always speak up, on the very first day if necessary…….
That way, everyone knows where they stand and the ‘Cowboy Trap’ can’t spring shut on you.
Remember – YOU are the Customer/Client – YOU pay the bill at the end of the job.
Chains of Trust are not easy to find if you’re new or unfamiliar with your neighbourhood,
but it’s not impossible. Frustrated by the problems thrown up by the Cowboy Traps
wherever we turn, I decided to offer the solution (as best I could). I set up a business to
business referral club that wasn’t driven by Money but by the quality of it’s members.
To do this, I selected several tradespeople that I knew I could really trust to deliver a
quality-driven service to their customers. I then asked them to recommend others that
they would vouch for without hesitation. Taking the law of geometric progression into
account here, it’s not hard to see how a good selection of very Trustable Tradespeople
will have signed up to the club and are available to be approached by anyone looking to
avoid the dreaded ‘Cowboy Trap’.
Sadly, due to Hosting Problems, That site and ALL of it’s files vanished into the ether.
But ‘this website’ – checkfred.com – has been set up with the same intentions, although
as yet, is a work-in-progress.
Please check out other pages in the sidebar, footer or Menu before you leave.
Thank You 🙂