Scam?

[The Medway Handyman]

Hi All

In the early days of my Handyman business I had an e mail enquiry from a guy wanting flat pack assembled. At almost the same time I had the same enquiry from

who purport to be an advanced search engine specialising in my type of work.

I then got a call from them, saying that they were indeed THE premier search engine for building work, and to prove it they would send me 3 job enquiries absolutely free.

I've since had another direct enquiry from someone, also for flat pack assembly, immediately followed by the same enquiry from them. Both these original enquiries came from AOL users.

Two more enquiries have arrived from Bello, but not directly, both users have Hotmail accounts.

The catch is, the first three jobs are free, the next 100 jobs cost £400 paid in advance. Seems too good to be true - then it probably is.

The first guy (who had a genuine need and paid in full) was a Nigerian. The guy at Bello sounded like he was too. Not being racist, but Nigerians are well known for financial scams of all kinds.

If I search Google for flat pack or anything similar Bello don't come up in the first 5 pages at all.

This seems similar to the old 'past posting' scam. Could these guys have a way of intercepting AOL or Hotmail users who search for my services, then sending the same enquiry to me? Both AOL customers claimed just to have used a search & found me directly.

Call me suspicious...............

[mark]

cost £400 paid in advance.

What do you think? I only saw that in your message. Learn to see through adverts, scams, offers etc.

[Weatherlawyer]

Wo the hell has got 100 jobs on their books? Just up your street too.

First of all even if the trade used the internet the way it is used for white collar work, they wouldn't have 100 jobs for you. There will be no time clause to et your money back if the jobs don't come in before you rach retirement age.

Hang on to your money. You are being conned, maybe even stalked. I'd give you a 30 quid job if I was going to get 4oo quid back from you through it. If it is too good to be true it is.

With these 419ers and any variants, the donkeys doing the cold calling all sit in a mud hut in the disease ridden back of beyond. The gang masters live in Park Lane when hey are not on holliday in the Caymen Islands.

[Mike Halmarack]

I'm sorry to see that you're still struggling to get sufficient work. When I was a handyman in the south of England I had lots of work right from the beginning. From your website I see that you charge more than twice the amount I used to charge 10-15 years ago. This may be considered reasonable under your local circumstances but have you considered reducing your charges, at least until you build up a solid clientele? I know you've considered working for free. A temporary charge reduction would be less drastic. Advertising costs is another tentacle of the system around your goolies, dragging you down. I still think you should take my advice about the fancy dress sandwich board activity in the town centre on Saturdays. If you're too embarrassed to do it yourself get someone else to do it for you. You may eventually meet some local government body formed. to regulate and licence the activity but initially it should work out to be a low cost exercise.

[dom]

Bello only have a contact number and email - no address.

I'd only hand over what I was willing to loose without seeing a business that I knew was reputable/that had premises/where I could rely on credit card protection.

I'm generally loathe to hand over cash in advance for any sort of service that may or may not deliver. As a general practice services are paid for on completion, goods in advance.

On the plus side they do have a google sponored link, so they probably do get a fair few enquiries.

Question is are they using those enquiries to operate a scam by repeatedly recruiting new tradesmen, or are they establishing a pool of repeat business with those tradesmen?

A reputable business might want to screen its tradesmen, would have a business address (even if operated from home), and would look more professional if it billed you at the end of each month for the last months contacts.

If someone wants to TEST THEM. Ideally some London people. Make an enquiry on

for a handyman, wait until one contacts you - ask them how long/how many jobs they've got off Bello - if the answer is 1,2 or 3 - and several people all get the same answer - then SCAM!

Post your results back here!

[nightjar]

I think the sliding scale pricing may put people off. They will look at the rate for one hour and compare that with other tradesmen, ignoring the fact that they probably have a call-out fee on top. Supplying materials at cost

+15% also sounds more expensive than supplying them at list price, even if you are getting more than 15% trade discount and the actual cost to the customer is less.

Colin Bignell

[Dave Fawthrop]

|Hi All | |In the early days of my Handyman business I had an e mail enquiry from a guy |wanting flat pack assembled. At almost the same time I had the same enquiry |from

who purport to be an advanced search engine |specialising in my type of work.

|Call me suspicious...............

I never pay out good money to anyone I can not check out.

[PeTe33]

nightjar I think the sliding scale pricing may put people off. They will look at the

I agree Colin. I just checked the prices !!

If I wanted something doing whether 1 hour or 1 day then I'd say £15 an hour is a lot for a "handy man" No sliding scale.

I'd be far more inclined to say "while your here can you just ......"

Once you're in and and build up a trust with customers they are more likely to go for repeat jobs.

Perhaps have a 2 hour minimum so there's not too much time wasting.

Better to be getting £600 a week and working a 40 hour week than £100 pound a week and not building up a client base.

Last year we had a local chap doing a lot of plastering work for £10 an hour! (but only on weekends as he worked for a building company in the week)

Also like you say Colin, stating he'll be taking a further 15% on material is a joke.

Better to say he'd give a 10% discount off list price for all materials supplied!

Tell the customer how cheap you are, NOT how expensive!

[Chips]

From the Whois database at :

" bellonetwork.com Registrant: Max Erixon MaxMathias Europa AB " Started in Sept. 2005, so quite new.

They/he also own :

bellonetwork.com bellonetwork.com.au bellonetwork.com.es bellonetwork.se

and, of course: bellonetwork.dk

Addresses: Bello Network ApS - Lyngby Hovedgade 46, 1. sal. - 2800 Kgs. Lyngby - Danmark Bello Network Sverige AB 556680-2103, Södra Förstadsgatan 2, SE-211 43 Malmö, Sverige

I'll let you decide. If it isn't a huge trans-national scam then it's a huge trans-national company. Judgin by the

Although the UK one could be a fake trying to pass itself off as a subsidiary ...

Chips.

[owdman]

Scam. I've had many similar over the years - most common being offer of inclusion on a list or directory for a fee, with guaranteed work. I point out to them that if I work for anybody they pay me, not the other way round.

cheers

Jacob

[me]

No it's not a scam, send me £200 and I will tell more :-)

[The Medway Handyman]

Did I give the impression I was short of work? Sorry if I did. Far from it I'm glad to say. I've been fully booked since 1st March and am booked up 3 weeks ahead.

Far from reducing my charges, customers are more than willing to pay them. Its not been a problem at all. If anything I'm too cheap.

Free only for publicity. I'm offering a half days labour as a competition prise in the June issue of a local paper.

I haven't forgotton the "fancy dress sandwich board activity" idea - one of the more creative ones!

What I asking about is "Is this a scam". I have no intention of being involved.

[The Medway Handyman]

Fortunately my customers don't agree! You couldn't earn a decent living at £15 per working hour. None of the people I've worked for have a problem with my price. Some even add a tip to my prices.

You can't work a 40 charging week. Out of 40 hours you will be lucky to charge for 30. Out of that £600 a week you have to pay for fuel, consumables, advertising, tax, NI, vehicle expenses etc. Better off in McDonalds.

Should I go & collect them for free? It would cost the client time & fuel to collect them, why should I do it for free? Again, nobody seems to think it's a problem.

I would never ever tell a client I was cheap. That would be a huge marketing error. I don't want or need to work for people who are looking for 'cheap'. People don't want cheap, they want reliable, quality, communication, professional etc.

[Mike Halmarack]

Yes, by the very fact that you were considering this "opportunity" to gain more customers.

I'm glad for you.

The customers who 're willing to pay the charges are willing to pay them. If you're booked up for the next 3 weeks and beyond, you may have cracked it.:-)

A concept with fascinating possibilities.

What do you need publicity for with your current enviable order book and growing list of satisfied customers? Based on most of the experienced advice you've already received, word of mouth is what lubricates the main customer channel.

I'd say it's a scam.

[EricP]

Snip

Sounds like a good derivation of the old Trade Directory scam.

Hi Suspicious.:))

[EricP]

Google on BelloNetwork

Seems like some sort of franchise worldwide.

Probably a yank had a bright idea and sold it on.

[The Medway Handyman]

To make sure my order book stays full. You can never rest on your laurels (whatever they are). I spent far to long as a sales rep to think it's easy getting business. You have to constantly top up the pipelone or it runs dry.

[Mike Halmarack]

I wish you every success with that.

[PeTe33]

Doh!

Just that you seemed to give the impression you were considering paying £400 for business, otherwise why would you even mention it rather than dump it along with all the rest of the junk mail?

[nightjar]

As the only people you will get as customers are those who are happy with the price, saying that your customers are happy with your price is no guide to whether your pricing policy is successful. The number of customers you get at those prices is the guide to that. My computer guru costs less than you do.

....

My suggestion was that you say you will only charge them list price. If you can't get better than 15% trade discount off list for most materials, you are buying in the wrong places.

...

However, they also want all those things as cheaply as possible and I think you present your prices in a way that makes people think you are expensive.

Colin Bignell