FAQ

I am a tradesman - how do I add my business?

We'll be happy to add your name to the site. In case you were wondering, it's absolutely free to list (no catch!). Please click here to get your business listed on Albertatradesmen.com.

How do you check the reviews are accurate?

Nothing is more important to us than to ensure reviews posted on Albertatradesmen.com are fair and accurate, and we go to extraordinary lengths to get it right. Over 90% of the reviews we receive are positive. We have systems in place to do basic checks on all reviews received, but because the few negative reviews we receive have the greater potential to cause harm we focus our attention on those. Here's what we do before posting a negative review on the site.
First, we always email the reviewer to confirm they have submitted a working email address. In most cases, that email asks questions about the work done - did you pay the bill, did it go to court, if so what was the result, and in some cases we ask if the reviewer would be willing to prepare a formal statement.
Once that is done, our lawyer reads and checks every review, and in many cases (about half), he suggests either further questions to go back to the reviewer with, or in some cases asks to see documentation and court records if available. Only if we are satisfied the reviewer is sincere at this point do we post the review.

I'm a tradesman and I have received a negative review. What can I do?

First, you may post a response to every review, which we will publish as quickly as possible. Second, you may contact Albertatradesmen.com and have all reviews of your business switched off. Third, if you believe the review is untrue or malicious, please contact us immediately and we will advise you of further options available. Fourth, you may offer to put things right with the customer (in many cases we find tradesmen didn't know there was a problem and are keen to make amends) and we will contact the reviewer on your behalf with this request.

What’s this Albertatradesmen.com all about then?

Albertatradesmen.com is a place where Albertans can read and write reviews of tradesmen in their area. It’s completely free and you don’t need to be registered to read the reviews. You can find out what other people thought of that plumber or reno artist you’re thinking of hiring right now, without having to fill out any forms. Easy.

What’s to stop tradesmen writing glowing reviews of themselves?

While there’s no way to prevent it 100%, we have taken various precautions to eliminate ‘self-reviewing’.

Precautions? Like what?

Firstly, no one is able to leave more than one review for the same tradesman, so there is no chance of someone sitting down and sending 50 great reviews of themselves.

Secondly, you must be registered with a valid email address before you can write a review, that way we can contact you if we suspect the review is not genuine. Third, we record the IP address of all reviewers, meaning if somebody signs up mutliple times using different email addresses from the same location we can be alerted. And finally, NO REVIEW WILL EVER make it onto the site without first being checked by one of our Review Editors. If they’re not happy, or feel the review is not genuine, they will contact the reviewer to discuss it and, if still not satisfied, will simply discard it.

Will the tradesman know it’s me who wrote a review of him?

We will never divulge names or other information to the tradesmen under any circumstances.

If a Tradesman thinks a review of his work is unfair, what can he do?

We will investigate. Please contact us immediately regarding your concerns.

Fair enough. I like what you’re doing and want to reach your audience – can I pay to advertise on Albertatradesmen.com?

You can. We have a range of advertising packages available and because we’re just starting out, our rates are very competitive. Click here to send us an email and we’ll get in touch to discuss which advertising option suits you best.

Should I review a tradesman or his/her company?

You should always review the company. Feel free to mention the name of the particular tradesman (or woman) in your review. All the tradesmen are listed by their company name, so even if you’ve always known your builder as simple Bob Jones, you will need to know the name of Bob’s company in order to review his work.

What do the stars next to the review mean?

When you write a review we’ll ask you to rate the performance of the tradesman in five categories - Quality, Integrity, On Time, On Quote, Value for Money. For each category you’ll need to give your tradesman a rating from 1 to 5 stars. We average all the values to arrive at the overall Star Rating.

How are the search results ordered?

Whichever tradesman has the highest average star rating is at the top. If two tradesmen have the same star rating, then the one with the most reviews will go higher.

I wrote a review a while ago and it still hasn’t appeared on the site – why not?

Perhaps your review was judged by our team of Review Editors to be slanderous – you can only review the performance of a tradesman, you can’t comment on him personally. For example, you can say "Bob Jones did a lousy job of my driveway" but you can’t say "Bob Jones is fat and lazy". Either that or the language or content of your review was deemed to be inappropriate for Albertatradesmen.com. Contact us here if you’re concerned.

While I have found this FAQ to be comprehensive and helpful, I still have some questions/comments about the site. Can I drop you an email?

Please! We want to make Albertatradesmen.com as useful as possible and so your comments, suggestions and criticisms are always welcome. Please click here to get in touch.