Myhammer?

MvP Electrics · Mar 2, 2010

hi all,

Anyone here use MYhammer to get jobs? is it worth the £50 per quarter?

Thanks

Dan · Mar 2, 2010

I made a list of a bunch of these types of websites here: Tradesmen Directories (Find a Tradesmen Type Websites) - Blogs - Contractor Forum | Construction and Redevelopment Advice for Professional Contractors and Tradesmen)

Check them all out before you sign up to any of them. There are a bunch of free similar things that just get your name listed in search engines so I'd perhaps give all those a go first. Can't go wrong with them. But we've found members are being called by sales companies offering them work and then just trying to bill you for something so don't take anything out if you get called and register your phone numbers with the TPS - TPS Registration

As for the paid ones, we have mixed reviews on tilersforums.co.uk about them if you want to do a search there to read them you're welcome. Some lads have said it's worked but most say they've only found the type of customer that wants the job done really cheap and the customers don't actually care much about quality of tradesman.

You find a lot of the companies registered with them put themselves down as a roofer, gardener, plumber, plasterer etc so they can't be good at all the trades and probably have no qualifications in any of them.

I'd consider all the free types first and then if you need to checkout a paid one.

The best way to get business online though is with your own website. Costs about the same and you're the only guy listed on it. Checkout a free demo from Mistore - Brochure and Ecommerce Website Design - Sussex, Brighton who have done loads of good websites for the trademen on our forums.

Good luck whatever you do mate.

bugsy · Mar 2, 2010

I've used My Hammer , Rated People and Free index,

My hammer charge for the job as a percentage, if you win the 'auction ' basically you bid for the job so cheapest wins - Rubbish

Rated people charge you for the clients info ( £14..00 ) could just be an enquiry Rubbish

Free index no charges all info free worth registering with plus info on Dan's link

Glyn Taylor · Jul 25, 2011

Avoid this devious company and all that are like it...

I am a tradesman and I have been a member with My hammer for 3 months. I found that it was impossible to win a job unless you quote peanuts which made the job barely profitable. This is due to some tradesmen being willing to work for barely nothing for whatever reason, customers understandable quest to pay as little as possible and another reason which I will come back to later. As a tradesman you have to pay £44.70 every 3 months for membership, about 10% of the price of the job if you win after posting a quote on the job profile or about 15% of the recommended price for the job to be given the contact details of the customer so you can quote them without going through the site. Alternatively you pay about 2-3% of the recommended price for the job to give a quote and not have to pay if you win the job, however I would say for each 50 quotes you give you win 1 to 3 jobs, and so will undoubtedly make a loss. I found that the only way to win jobs is to quote very very little and hope nobody quotes less and that the customer isn't put off by the extremely low quote and that the customer still wants the work to be done, as I have found that 30% of people who place job adverts don't go though and choose a tradesman. I soon decided that I will not continue to be a member after my 3 months was up. I mistakenly assumed that I would have some sort of warning before the 3 months was up and would maybe be asked if I was happy with the service and if I would like to continue for another 3 months, or least that instead of paying I could cancel my membership when the time came. Instead I receive an invoice in the early hours of the morning stating that £44.70 is due and would be taken from my Pay-pal account that day. I received this hours AFTER the 2nd 3 month membership began. Luckily I was awake and was able to cancel their access to my Pay-pal account so they could not take the money. I sent them an email immediately saying I don't want to continue my membership and that I was disgusted they had not sent a notification that the membership was almost at the point of renewal instead of invoicing me the morning it was due, hoping I wouldn't see it and then take the money without me knowing as they have access to members bank accounts via Pay-pal. I have also heard that they often take money out of members bank accounts apparently mistakenly and then make it extremely difficult for the person to get the money back. Any decent company would say that's fine, cancel the membership and apologise for not warning me sooner. No, instead a get an email saying that I am now legally bound to pay £44.70 and must continue my membership. I will not pay the money, but I am sure that their are many tradesmen on this site that do not want the hassle of not paying, or didn't have time to cancel their My hammer Pay-pal subscription because they weren't on the internet before the went to work to see the invoice and are simply on My hammer because of this devious tactic. Those tradesmen are probably the ones that now feel they need to quote very little to win jobs to try and make the most of their membership and at least break even with the money they have wasted on this awful devious site. So this is a good site for customers because they will get some good tradesmen for very little cost, but please I urge you not to use it, don't give this company the fuel it needs to keep running. Find tradesmen by asking friends for recommendations, looking for adverts or looking for their personal websites, don't let companies like this rob them of their hard earned profits.