Agencies to avoid....

[TheFaQQer]

In conclusion, I would recommend other people do not take jobs bsed far away where no accommodation is provided unless you don't mind taking risks with your income.

The alternative is that people take roles that they have properly costed before accepting them. You know, kind of how a business operates?

I've only ever had one client provide accommodation in the UK before - contract ended so I moved out of my rented place, client then asked me back for two weeks and I told them that I'd love to but they needed to find a hotel so I wasn't out of pocket. After a week or so of them saying "no chance, but we really need you back", they booked me into a nice hotel in London and I billed them the hotel and food bill

[TheFaQQer]

It didn't cost that much! 1 day cost the same amount I'd earn in half a day but if you factor in tax and the fact you have to pay 7 days for a hotel it was actually costing the same of more than I'd earn in a week with the hotel rates doubling in August.

So, it did cost more than you'd earn in a week.

[fatJock]

I can't help thinking that the poster moaning about Venn may have found himself on the list of contractors to avoid.

Take some responsibility and don't expect to be spoon fed. Oh, and get a car and learn to drive otherwise your client audience will be limited.

My agent rings me every few weeks checking all is well and I'm scratching my head to wonder out why. If it wasn't I'd be telling them.

<Mod snip>

[cojak]

Agencies to avoid....

Only 1 hotel available so had no other choices, the only airbnb in the town was fully booked and was only £10 cheaper than the 'budget hotel' I used. All other bnbs were more expensive than the hotel. At the end of the day I assumed I'd be getting cheap accommodation onsite once started , as promised by Venn, and then be able to find a longer term landlord house to rent but the lack of housing in general was what shocked me and the only landlords offering viewings had already given the houses out to longer term tenants.

I simply won't accept any contracts now unless they are based locally or unless I can secure accommodation before starting the job, which is tricky if you are asked to start the job the same week or 1 week after being made the job offer!

Ah well, it's a hard lesson learnt.

Many of us had this tail of woe when we worked away for the 1st time. I know I did.

As you don't sound like an IT contractor (your rate appears too low), I would suggest that newbies just be aware of your story and take note.

The answer is not to be bullied into starting a contract until you are ready. This includes getting the contract reviewed and getting suitable accommodation.

[SueEllen]

To make things clearer I have neither my own house nor a car so nothing to fall back on in terms of accommodation or being able to drive off to contracts and drive to cheap hotels a distance away.

Until you get a car then don't take contracts that aren't in big cities or local.

[nosolog]

A few comments:-

1. Why did you believe the agent?
2. Why book a hotel that you can't cancel? It might cost a tad more but book one that you can cancel day before?
3. Why do you think client cares about your accomodation?
4. Why are you worried about this two week trial? A lot of contracts I've done have this sort of thing - it gives clients an out in case you're a complete tosser.

Literally only 1 hotel available that week in the town. There'd be no opportuntiy for me to cancel the day before anyway as I had to stay there overnight before the job began and didnt find out about the onsite accommodation situation before I arrived in the town! If Id've cancelled the hotel the day before the job started meaning I was not in the town in time for the job start date I would have the job offer retracted by the agency.

It was an amendable rate where you can cancel or amend up until 1pm on the day of checking in but I later found out that they can only offer refunds for the amount you pay in person not for anything paid in advance on the website. That wasn't a huge issue, anyway, I had no choice but to book the full week as there was no other accommodation available before I went to the flat viewings etc.

When the client first mentioned the job I said 'NO', I wont take it unless there is guaranteed accomodation and he told me there would be and he would arrange it. He should care because the alternative is that he gets no contractors and therefore loses his commission and the contract to another agency. This specific contract finds it hard to recruit due to the location (although that is mainly because not many people want to live in a small town with no shops).

With regards to the 2 week trial, I wasnt initially worried because the agent promised that everyone passes it but once I had spoken to the client directly he confirmed that is not the case so if it had ended after two weeks I would have lost money to the hotel and had I managed to sign a tenancy just before the end of the two week trial I would be having to pay for a couple of months in a house I was not living in i.e. another financial loss.

It seems to me most people get lucky and get contracts in a big town with cheap hotels available, alas that was not my case. Ironically, I know a few people who turn up in the morning to the job location with no accommodation arranged because they dont like to plan things and they have got lucky by finding a cheap bnb or begging a stranger to let the kip on their sofa for a fee.

To make things clearer I have neither my own house nor a car so nothing to fall back on in terms of accommodation or being able to drive off to contracts and drive to cheap hotels a distance away.

[nosolog]

Yup, first week will always be cheap and cheerful, or more likely on points.

Only 1 hotel available so had no other choices, the only airbnb in the town was fully booked and was only £10 cheaper than the 'budget hotel' I used. All other bnbs were more expensive than the hotel. At the end of the day I assumed I'd be getting cheap accommodation onsite once started , as promised by Venn, and then be able to find a longer term landlord house to rent but the lack of housing in general was what shocked me and the only landlords offering viewings had already given the houses out to longer term tenants.

I simply won't accept any contracts now unless they are based locally or unless I can secure accommodation before starting the job, which is tricky if you are asked to start the job the same week or 1 week after being made the job offer!

[nosolog]

Should've read some of the threads on this board before going.

Anyway a trick Venn tried on me 9 or 10 years ago or so when I was still very inexperienced handling recruitment agencies.
Venn called me with some job and asked if I were interviewing anywhere else I said yes at Easyjet, even told them I had the interview a few days ago and I was waiting for feedback from the hiring manager who was not at the interview in person. Few hours later someone called me claiming to be the hiring manager from Easyjet asking me how the interview went and if I could remind him who the interviewers were, at that moment I realised it must be Venn calling and I told them it were Mike Hunt and Ben Dover (probably he didn't fall for that, but I so wish he called Easyjet and asked for these persons), it was also lesson learned never to reveal where you are interviewing.

I think all agencies do this! I've had plenty ask me where I'm currently contracting and I know they just want to ring up the client and offer a lower rate to the client to win the contract meaning I'd lose the job. It's definitely a good bit of advice for newer contractors.

[nosolog]

A few comments:-

1. Why did you believe the agent?
2. Why book a hotel that you can't cancel? It might cost a tad more but book one that you can cancel day before?
3. Why do you think client cares about your accomodation?
4. Why are you worried about this two week trial? A lot of contracts I've done have this sort of thing - it gives clients an out in case you're a complete tosser.

I shall'nt be doing it again. What a few people on here fail to realise is that there was no cheap acommodation available in that geographical area so I had no choice but to book a 'budget hotel' which happens to charge a lot in that area and the job offer was conditional on me being able to start with less than a week's notice!! The onsite accommodation I was promised by Venn was £18-20 a night which is fair enough.

I believed the agent because I was probably naive and desperate for a job at the time. I knew of other contractors who had worked for the same client (but not agent although I do know someone who worked for this agent on a different job but they never needed accommodation) allbeit it at a different site and they had managed to get a long term contract although it turns out they worked 4 days a week only and had transport so only had to pay for a hotel 4 days a week rather than 7 days and could access small cheaper bnbs in a different town with a car.

Yeah, the 2 week trial means you aren't guaranteed the job. In the end I spoke to the line manager directly (ie client) and it turned out he cannot guarantee more than 2 weeks.

Funnily enough all my former colleagues said I should have stayed for an extra 7 days at the hotel and leave after 2 weeks althoguh tht would have made me a loss of £300-600!!

Anyway, I'm putting my story out there for other new contractors as a warning/lesson learned.

I still won't work for Venn again because they lied and wasted my time and the agent was totally unprofessional and it turns out he knows nothing about my profession and I would have never taken the job had I thought I'd have to stay in a hotel all week but with these jobs if you aren't willing to start ASAP you lose the job to another contractor or to a competing agency so you don't have much choice.

Decided now that I will ONLY be contracting in an area very close to where I live ie within walking distance or somewhere which is not expensive to reach by train or bus and somewhere with flexible start times including evening work otherwise I'd be making no more money than I do in a permanent job and no possibly even losing. I was already contracting weekends but was about to jack that in for this full time job, thankfully managed to keep the weekend job which is through a much better agency.

I currently will be sticking to local weekend contracts only as these usually have flexible start times and if anything home-based pops up I will look into that as my industry is working towards becoming electronic-based (ie you can work from an encrypted laptop).

In conclusion, I would recommend other people do not take jobs bsed far away where no accommodation is provided unless you don't mind taking risks with your income.

[nosolog]

Exactly. I would have booked something cheap and cancellable. Travelodge etc in the uk.

Now if someone else wants to book me a mega expensive hotel then crack on.

If that was possible I would've booked a Travelodge, but none in the area. The only hotel available was at an extortionate summer rate and the only airbnb in the town was also fully booked (and had it not been fully booked it would still have been pricey at £79 a night!).

I actually paid extra at the hotel to get their flexible rate which lets you cancel or amend up until 1pm on the day however when I got there I found that they could only refund whats paid for at the hote and no refunds on anything paid on the website in advance.