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News Release from: DirectoryOf.co.uk | Subject: Directoryof.co.uk
Edited by the Marketingservicestalk Editorial
Team on 25 October 2007
Website aims to identify rogue tradesmen
Directoryof.co.uk ranks tradesmen according to what customers say about them, so rogue traders can be identified and good specialists commended.
Directoryof.co.uk was designed by someone who was ripped off just once too often With his partner Lynda, Iain Gunn of Mortimer in Berkshire designed DirectoryOf to rank tradesmen by what their customers say about them
Lynda, whose father is a plumber and who came up with the feedback idea, said: "It's very simple really, thousands of tradesmen just like dad rely on their reputation for their next job, so what we wanted to do was to create a website where people wanting a product or service can research someone's reputation".
The site can be searched by distance from your postcode and then the directory members are ranked by their "Reputation Index" or RI.
There is even the facility for a trade member to post a video of themselves promoting their services, so the customer can gain an idea of what to expect from them.
Iain Gunn has spent the last year learning web design in his spare time and has built the site from scratch.
There are nearly 180,000 entries in the database already and it is growing steadily.
"The business model is simple", he said.
"Anyone with a business can be listed for free; we sell 'RI' points that a Trade Member can call off.
"We ask new Trade Members to purchase at least 2 RI points to get them going and they can then receive up to 10 RI points (worth GBP50) for free by recommending a fellow tradesman to join.
"This way a Trade Member can build up a large Reputation Index for a very small outlay - they can then use this as a reference point when quoting for new business.
"We take feedback either by post or via the website - if the feedback is negative we ask for proof that a member of the public has transacted with the business they are complaining about.
"If all is above board, we give the Trade Member 14 days to service the complaint; if this is unsuccessful then we will post the negative feedback".
Trading Standards receive 2 million consumer and business complaints and enquiries each year and rip-off Britain is still a popular phrase applied all too liberally to UK products and services.
Sites such as DirectoryOf endeavour to champion the cause both of the consumer and of professional and reliable tradesmen alike.
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