"Martin" wrote in message
...

"Steve" wrote in message
...
Is there a website where I could leave a reverse-recommendation for a
tradesman? I have had an awful time with a Painter and Decorator who I
found
out too late was an ex-con.

I wanted to do something similar a few years back after getting ripped by
some ******* who botched the installation of a new heating system. I was
going to put up a web page detailing what the ******* did, but I was
advised
by a solicitor friend not to, it's a legal minefield.

Ended-up just spreading the word to everyone I know, and anyone who would
listen.



Wise move.

A colleague of mine had a bad time with an ex-accountant. Billing for work
not done, withholding company books without reason, plain incompetence. The
works.

So... being a kind of abrasive "do now, think later" kind of chap, he put up
a site detailing what happened. We all told him not to publicise this, but
he did.... result was that ex-accountant (who IMHO seemed to have a bit of a
screw loose, coupled with a very litigious streak) sued for defamation. He
(ex-acc) didn't have a leg to stand on for the action, but to cut a long
story short it still cost colleague what we estimate to be £10k in legal
fees in an out-of-court settlement, 16 months of hell, and great family
stress.

Just don't get involved in this type of thing unless you can afford very
good lawyers....


For the OP - the problem with such a reverse-recommendation site is that it
could be used by other tradesmen to damage the competition. So you couldn't
even really trust the reported information on the site.


cheers
Richard

--
Richard Sampson

email me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk