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.

OTOH if he's been inside for stealing from little
old ladies whilst doing some decorating maybe that's another matter.

This is very close.


If so I don't think that conclusions should be drawn from his past. If
he can't earn an honest living

This is all rather pollyanna-ish

I found the fellow in a room he had no reason to be in, having gained entry
from the scaffolding.

On 10 Sep 2003 18:14:44 GMT, (Steve) wrote:

I found the fellow in a room he had no reason to be in, having gained entry
from the scaffolding.

I retract what I said previously

I thought you might have been referring to his workmanship, and I
couldn't see the link between being a porridge merchant and a workman.

PoP

"PoP" wrote in message
...
On 10 Sep 2003 18:14:44 GMT, (Steve) wrote:

I found the fellow in a room he had no reason to be in, having gained
entry
from the scaffolding.

I retract what I said previously

You shouldn't. Your excellent previous response is still valid.

The OP originally said they had "an awful time" with this tradesman. When
you asked what the awful time was, they replied with the above.

But this doesn't add up to a row of beans. There are a number of legitimate
reasons why the tradesman might have been there, & their is no suggestion
that he was actually doing anything which could be construed as an illegal
activity, or prelude to crime.

If that's the worst accusation that the OP has, then I'd consider it as a
recommendation.

Joe Lee
---



I thought you might have been referring to his workmanship, and I
couldn't see the link between being a porridge merchant and a workman.

PoP

"Steve" wrote
| OTOH if he's been inside for stealing from little
| old ladies whilst doing some decorating maybe that's another matter.
| This is very close. ...
| I found the fellow in a room he had no reason to be in, having gained
| entry from the scaffolding.

Do you have a friendly community constable you can have a discreet word
with? If the chap is only out recently he may still be on probation. (Or
there may be a whole string of crimes just waiting to be cleared up :-(

Maybe he just wanted the bathroom quickly though.

Owain

Steve wrote:
OTOH if he's been inside for stealing from little
old ladies whilst doing some decorating maybe that's another matter.

This is very close.


If so I don't think that conclusions should be drawn from his past.
If
he can't earn an honest living

This is all rather pollyanna-ish

I found the fellow in a room he had no reason to be in, having gained
entry from the scaffolding.

Sounds like an ideal front job for a thief to have.
"Window cleaner" is an old favourite.

"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.

"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

On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 11:42:49 +0100, "RichardS" noaccess@invalid
wrote:

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.

I recall there was a site in australia called notgoodenough. something
or other, and it had plans to come to the UK too, not sure what
happened but a bit of google work would probably turn it up, you could
see how they handled it, wasn't half bad from vague memory.

Take Care,
Gnube
{too thick for linux}

You could register a free email and web space account, like hotmail
and geocities. This would make it harder (but not impossible) to
track you down.

Alan

(Steve) wrote:

Hello Steve

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

Don't think so. The legal ramifications would make hosting such a
thing a time consuming and painful process, I would think.

--
Simon Avery, Dartmoor, UK
uk.d-i-y FAQ: http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/