Would you ever feel uncomfortable with giving negative feedback here?

[Azira]

Have you ever felt really unhappy with a tradesperson who everyone else on the forum rated well, but felt uncomfortable about giving negative feedback here because you felt there might be reprisals from the person in question?

[broccola]

No. Firstly, there's a legal defence of "fair comment" to libel - i.e. if you say that a painter did a bad job on your wall, and that's a reasonable thing to say, he's not going to be able to go after you for ruining his business. If by reprisals you mean that the tradesman will come onto the forum to scream and shout, well, he's entitled to.

I really like the fact that reviews here can be negative if needed. I once got a plumber on the basis of lots of "recommendations" on a similar SE London forum, and the guy did a terrible job. When I tried to post on that forum to warn others (with photos of botched work etc) my post was deleted because the site took positive comments only. Practically that means that a tradesman can use five different names to post glowing reviews of himself, but a legit customer stung by bad service can't warn others. The EDF system is great.

[JaneyD]

I was very recently threatened with libel action for stating the facts about a situation where I was let down by a tradesman. Sadly my nerve gave out and I agreed to have the posts deleted but in hindsight I wish I hadn't, as I had only stated the truth and I think people deserve to get a fair picture. I would say that as long as your comments are true and fair then you should have no fear of speaking out.

[Azira]

Thanks for the feedback. I was also thinking of the fact this guy knows where I live and may be able to identify me from my comments. Has anyone ever had the tradesperson able to identify them and contact them directly?

[broccola]

I'd suggest you get in touch with them in writing to explain problem and request discount from fees / that they rectify the problem, then raise your grievances here if they're not amenable. Yes, they know where you live and God knows what they'll do if they think you've harmed their business. You can change details so as not to identify yourself / give it some time so there's a few more customers between you and him?

In general I think poor tradesmen should be named and shamed. We put our trust in them to do work, often in an area where we know next to nothing (plumbers, mechanics...) - it feels terrible when they rip us off.

[sedm]

Azira - yes that happened to me. I was worried about leaving feedback because of reprisals but in the end decided to because I had such an awful experience, despite the many positive reviews on the forum.

The tradesman in question did get in touch with me afterwards asking me to take down the post but nothing else came of it...

If you are really worried about it, is there a way of leaving feedback without identifying who you are?