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A Comparison of Different Web-Based Sources of Recommendations

Comparing different web-based sources for contractor and interior designer recommendations

For Internet savvy users, the natural choice to select or compare a services will be of course google. Take for example, simple do a search on the Internet by typing “recommending a reliable ID” and you will easily find 20 to 30 websites compiling their own list of IDs and ranking them according to their own criteria. 

While the reviews on Google are helpful as it helps to reduce footwork by walking into each ID showroom to enquire, there is simply too much information and they are scattered everywhere. To be able to make sense out of it, you will need to know which are the ones that have higher credibility than the others. However, reliable you perceive the review to be, end of the day nothing beats your own judgement and gut feel, hence, do not rely fully on these reviews, always perform your own due diligence to assess the credibility.  

In general, ID reviews can be provided by different platforms for dfferent purposes. The most common reason is increasing web traffic to own’s website and getting a fee for providing a ranking to respective contractors. As a consumer, you will need to differentiate and understand these purposes in order to assess the respective credibility. The following are some platforms that are commonly referenced for the purpose of looking for an ID. 

  1. ID/contractor companies own website: The first one and probably the most common one is to publishes an article to “rank” top 10 IDs and finally pointing back to their own services as being ‘the’ ID to go to. These websites are generally ranked the lowest in terms of credibility as they are merely going on a merry go round but eventually trying to market their own services. There will be a strong motivation for them to down-play the good services of their competitors to make themselves look credible. These websites are easy to detect from the URL provided, if the URL name is the same as “the” recommended IDs from the list, they are probably selling their own services. 
  1. Peripheral services trying to gain web traffic: Another common category of website are companies that are offering peripheral services such as instant cash reno loan doing a ranking of contractors and review. Strange but they do exist. These kinds of review are often low in credibility as they are trying to increase web traffic to their website to offer their services. Not to mention, some may even collect a fee from contractors to rank them at higher positions in their review.
  1. Renovation portals’ review: Recently there are a number of renovation portals spouting in the market. They are in the market acting as a middle man to refer home owners to IDs registered under their belt. These IDs pay a flat fee to join in order to receive customer leads for renovation jobs. According to our understanding, reviews and ranking of their IDs will involve additional payment. As such, credibility of such recommendations are low to moderate.
  1. True blue review websites like reddit, Glassdoor, Google Review: These are review portals that are often independent from any contractors’ influence and reviews are often provided by owners on their own accord. Although independence is observed and moderated do not amend or mask any negative reviews. However, reviewers can come from all walks of life and the fact that some of these reviews could be coming from competitors. Our recommendation is to take them with a pinch of the salt and perform your own due diligence. We would rank the credibility as moderate in addition, the different rating systems in each of the system may also cause confusion and will need some effort to interpret. 
  1. Reno forums: This is similar in nature to review websites. Reno forums could be commercially driven or start off by individuals for the purpose of experience sharing. Again, read the reviews with a pinch of salt and judge on your own. The reviews typically will be of moderate to high credibility.
  1. Government or linked bodies – like HDB, BCA and CASE Trust are what I considered as high credibility. You can search for a contractor from the Directory of Renovation Contractors (DRC). Engaging these contractors is a private contract between you and the contractors, and HDB is not privy to it. The contractors are fully responsible for the contractual obligations towards their client, including the quality of their works. If there is any disagreement on the pricing, schedule, or quality of the renovation, both parties need to resolve the matter between yourselves. If the matter cannot be settled amicably privately, you can seek assistance through CASE, Singapore Mediation Centre or the Small Claims Tribunal. Alternatively, you can seek remedy through court proceedings. You can refer to CASE’s Consumer Guides and CCCS’ Fair Trading Practices for some tips when looking for a contractor. You can also refer to CaseTrust Accreditation for Renovation Businesses to know more about the scheme and what consumers can expect from a CaseTrust Accredited Renovation Contractor.

You may also wish to know that CASE has a Company Alert List where it displays a list of business entities which have had complaints lodged against them

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