If you have been living at the same property for a few years you will probably have built up a strong address book of reliable local traders to call when you need taps fixed, boiler serviced, or electrical wiring checked. But what do you do when you need some work completed and you can’t get hold of your normal electrician or they are fully booked?
How to find a reliable local electrician online
Personal recommendations are often a great way to find another electrician, but neighbours often recommend the same people, so those recommendations are less helpful when you already know they are not available for the job. Or if you are new to an area and don’t yet know anybody local to ask for a recommendation then you will probably start to search online.
A quick search on Google or any of the various trader review sites like Checkatrade or MyBuilder will provide you with a number of options. However, it can be tricky to work out from online reviews whether these electricians are right for the task, what their rates are, or whether they are available on the days you need.
How to find the best local electrician for the task
Google search results are a mixture of sponsored and organic results and their reviews are unverified, so it can be very difficult to know which electrician you can trust from a quick search. You may be lucky and the first result is a skilled and highly qualified electrician that is competitively priced and available when you need them, but the reality is that you may need to wade through pages of results to find the right person.
On dedicated trader review sites like Checkatrade or TrustATrader you will find more reliable reviews, but you are still presented with a long list of potential electricians and very little to tell them apart. How do you know which electrician will be the best for the task and how much they might charge when they are all local and have reviews of 4.5 stars or higher?
On CanCan, you just book the service and we always send you the right person for the job. No need to waste time filtering through dozens of options to hear about their experience. You will always get the right electrician with the right qualifications for the job.
How to find an electrician that is available when you need them
Part of the difficulty in trying to book a new electrician is that even once you have narrowed down your list of options to those with the best reviews and most relevant experience you will still need to contact each one to find out about their availability. Many electricians are booked up weeks in advance, so if you need a job completed quickly you may need to call five or ten traders before you find one that can do the job when you need it.
On CanCan, you select the service and book a time that suits you. We’ve built a team of highly skilled and qualified independent electricians so we have the right person for the job available whenever you need them. No need to call dozens of electricians or wait for weeks for someone with availability - just pick the date and time and we make sure that the right electrician for the task is at your door when you need them.
Should you always choose the cheapest quote?
After whittling down your list of possible electricians to those who have the skills and experience for the task and are available on the dates you want you then need to get quotes. Like all trades, the hourly rates for electricians can vary significantly. You will always find some electricians that are competing at the bottom of the market and others that charge a premium, but higher rates do not always equal higher quality.
It may be that those charging lower rates charge extra for a variety of add-ons so the total bill ends up more expensive than expected, whilst those charging more may include everything in their price. Or it may just be that those charging higher rates are busier and so can be more picky about the jobs they take. Whatever the reason for the price differences, it can be confusing to get quotes for the same job that vary by up to 50%.
On CanCan, you always know exactly what you are going to pay. Once you have selected the service you need and added your postcode you can see the hourly rate you will be charged. This rate will always be competitive and we only work with trusted and reliable electricians so you can rely on their work.
If your regular electrician is away on holiday or booked up for weeks, try CanCan and get a highly experienced and qualified electrician ready to complete the job whenever you need them.