Organistations such as The Association of Master Tradesmen help stamp out cowboy builders and rogue traders. They also help educate the general public about ways to recognize a rogue trader and ways to protect themselves. The AMTUK 10 Step Guide is a simple guide, almost a check list for the customer, including things to check, ask or do before choosing your tradesman.
You can request a copy of The Association of Master Tradesman 10 Step Guide by emailing
info@amtuk.com or calling 0845 8890225 and speaking to one of their helpful team.
The Association of Master Tradesmen has helped many customers in providing quality, vetted, insured tradesmen. One customer, Mrs X, felt bullied and threatened after realising she had signed a contract with a cowboy builder. The contract between Mrs X and the tradesman was handwritten on printed paper – with unfair and contradicting terms. When the building firm began to demand the full balance of the project up front 5 working days before the work was due to start, the customer contacted The Association of Master Tradesmen after receiving their 10 Step Guide to seek advice on what to do in this situation.
The Association of Master Tradesmen advise any customer to be wary of tradesmen looking to do cash deals or demanding the full balance of a project upfront. AMTUK would also advise the customer to always draw up a contract between yourself and your appointed tradesman, to reflect staged payments and contain terms that both customer and tradesman are happy with before signing any agreements.
Naturally the customer was now very wary and after doing some research on said company, the customer found the them to be trading under a new name, once investigated, there was an abundance of ‘Warning’ reviews from previous customers who had work carried out by this firm, pleading with potential new customers to read their reviews before taking any action.
AMTUK put 1 local tradesman in contact with the now worried couple. L W builders Home Improvements are one of our very dedicated tradesmen who share the same passion for stamping out Rogue Traders. Being a reputable, trustworthy building firm, they hate loosing out on contracts due to cowboy builders and their luring charm.
Naturally the newly appointed tradesmen was willing to help, spending many visits to and from the customer trying to get her out of her contract and saving her property from butchering.
After noticing a number of contradicting terms in their Terms & Conditions the contract was in fact invalid due to the companies own violations.
Weeks later, the customer began receiving threatening phone calls from the Rogue Trader. Instinctively scaring the customers and making them feel very vulnerable Mrs X contacted L W Builders as well as AMTUK who advised she should log their query with Trading Standards so that they may carry out further investigations. At the time we went to press, further investigations were still underway with Trading Standards and no outcome had yet been decided.
Mrs X appointed the AMTuk tradesmen to carry out the works after their horrible ordeal and months of stress. Mrs X said “people keep stopping to comment on the workmanship and good the front of the property now looks, we are now having him back to do more internal works and have recommended him to all of our friends”
Luckily for Mr & Mrs X, they had support from a quality tradesman and a trade association to help them with the stamping out process. They had a very narrow escape and a happy ending. However for many others that have been stung - the stories do not always end so well. Trading Standards receive over 100,000 complaints every year on shoddy workmanship carried out by cowboy builders across the UK. Help AMTUK stamp out rogue traders – use a trade association like theirs to avoid any hassle.
You can visit their website on
www.amtuk.com