When you find yourself in the stressful position of needing to find an electrician fast, the last thing you need is a shark or cowboy turning up on your doorstep, charging an extortionate amount of money, making wild promises and then disappearing without a trace leaving an unfixed problem behind them. Choosing a reliable electrician shouldn’t be half the battle, it should be the only thing you need to do when you need repairs to your electrics. Emergency electrician Brisbane are well experience in finding fault electrical issues.

However, spotting an unqualified and uninsured con is difficult, so what are the signs to look out for?

Charging too much

You pay for what you get right? If you have the money to spend and want to make sure you’re avoiding all the scams out there, dishing out top prices for a well-known brand seems like the sensible thing to do. However, these larger companies advertising an abundance of tradesmen in every county won’t be sending out their own employees, instead your project may be sold or given to a sub-contractor who will be the one actually carrying out the work, with no actual affiliation to the large company you’ve paid or the credentials that go with it.

Charging too little

This might seem a little bit counterintuitive as sham tradesmen are renowned for charging too much for little or no work, but a common hook to attract new customers is a dirt cheap price. If you’re looking for a quick solution to a smaller problem or on a tight budget, you may be overjoyed to find a service advertised at a rock bottom price. However, when the job is underway, cowboys and scammers invariably find more work that needs to be done, and then another and before you know it you’ve dished out more of your hard earned cash than if you’d paid a reputable company in the first place.

Small prices can also reflect the quality of work you may receive, with many unqualified electricians using a watered down quotation to get in some practice. This could leave you with an uninsured tradesman fiddling around with your wiring and doing a sub-par job, ultimately costing you more money when you inevitably have to draft in another contractor to fix his dodgy attempts.

The Rewire

An early warning sign you’re dealing with a less than reputable worker is a quote for more work than you’ve asked for. A common trick is to visit an older property and declare the wiring out of date and unsafe before recommending a complete rewire. They may skate over the fact that this is a huge procedure that could take several weeks, requires the property to be vacant while this work is carried out and prepare to re-plaster and decorate. If this is unnecessary it could cost you more time and money than the majority of us can spare, so if this is suggested by your contractor, go and get a few other opinions from industry professionals along with a periodic inspection. These should take a few hours and can only be completed by 2391 qualified electricians with the correct equipment, and are another good way of sorting the legitimate electricians from the scammers. Don’t accept a basic health check as a basis for extensive and expensive works.

Dodging the Written Quotation

A written quote isn’t set in stone, but it does have some legal standing. If your selected contractor verbally quotes a price for a certain amount of work, carries it out and then bills you double, you have no proof that they agreed to a lower price and thus no security. If you demand to have a written quote before the work is carried out signed by both yourself and the tradesmen, then you have a piece of paper that contradicts this new bill that you didn’t sign. It should be noted that if additional work is carried out, you’ll need another quote reflecting this price change, don’t be caught out by verbal agreements.

Ignoring Contracts

Working without a written and signed contract is one of the clearest signs that this tradesman is attempting to work outside of the law. This is an underhand way of carrying out repairs with no formal agreement of the standard to which this work should adhere or the agreed cost, leaving them with a convenient loophole to demand money from you if they carry out any work at all at your property. Asking for cash only payment and failure to charge VAT are also warning signs that this electrician is dodging the lawful procedures of contractor work.

Too easy to get hold of

Urgency is often present in matter of electrical repairs, and it may be a huge relief to find that a contractor can come over this afternoon and begin a week’s work straight away. However, you should stop to think why they are so readily available when most reputable electricians are booked up for weeks or even months in advance. Of course a cancellation can happen to anybody, but a clear calendar should set off some alarm bells. Unscrupulous workers often hop from one job to another without planning in contrast to reputable companies and contractors with work booked in advance. A good job completed by the right person is worth waiting for.

Too difficult to get hold of

The absence of contact details or a website address is also very suspicious, suggesting that they are reluctant for you to get hold of them after they leave your house. Take the time to consider if this is because they have regular complaints and less than regular work contracts due to their reputation.

A little research on an electrician or electrical repairs company can go a long way. Read their reviews and, if possible, talk to people who have had work done by them previously. Always demand a written quote and a record of all works done and never give cash up front.

For a reputable Electricians with credentials you can trust get in touch with ours, visit [http://www.se-electrical.co.uk]. Trustworthy qualified tradesmen in the Chester, Wirral and Wrexham area.

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