Reply to: Name and Shame

[BoredBloke]

Yonks ago there was a website called FreelanceHQ or something like that. It was a site where people could review agencies. It got closed down when a number of the ones who were at the top of the list threatened it with legal action.

[Lance]

I am working with EPM scientific now and they are using all sorts of ***** exploitative tactics. I understand they have a business to run, but so do I. so **** them.

2.

[ErosAlexander]

I am with you

Why dosnt the board name and shame bad recruitment agencies ?

In my experience most of them lie (not a nice trait) and try and take contractors for cnuts with their large margins. I mean what do they do for it?? There should be legislation in place to ensure there is a fixed margin or a one off cost.

It's worse than being a prostitutes pimp.

Agree there are some I say some good decent agents out there, but few and far between.

There is also the odd client out there that wants to pay peanuts and take the p@@s also, these should be named so contractors can avoid (if they so wish) for potential contracts.

I am working with EPM scientific now and they are using all sorts of ***** exploitative tactics. I understand they have a business to run, but so do I. so **** them.

[The Agents View]

I can't imagine why you would be opposed to the idea.


Anyway, wasn't there a "contractor supermarket" site out there a few years ago which had rankings and ratings of contractors?

I appeared on there with a bad review but I never worked out who put me on as they had got the dates wrong of my contracts. Some permie being malicious, I suspect.

I'm not opposed to the idea, I simply think it's unwise.
I'd never appear in the bad review area anyway - I'm perfect...ish.....

Malicious Permie? yeah of course it was.

[CheeseSlice]

I think a 'tripadvisor' style system would work well, so long as it was well managed and policed from spammers and contractors with chips on their shoulders.

I like tripdadvisor for its rating system that self-guides your 'pinch of salt'...
e.g.
The Premium Inn, in 'that London'.
(100 reviews)
Excellent: 45
Very good: 43
Average: 11
Awful: 1 <- guy who didn't like the colour of the curtains...
Terrible: 0

[d000hg]

surely that's an agents dream contractor. High rates and no work means that the project will have to be extended as deadlines are constantly missed

Heh. I meant the part about saying agents are overpaid for the work they do or that it's cheeky for them to make a big profit . £500+/day makes that a hard argument to swallow based on the amount of posts in General.

[istvan]

I like the "good agents list", with a caviat. You have to have a signature that shows your affiliation (contractor or agent) and you have to have 1,000 posts in this forum. Agent's and below 1,000 members should be removed by a moderator. No administrator or moderator of this forum should be allowed to participate in adding to the list. Would this work?

[ChrisPackit]

I commented recently on here about an agent that were pretty rubbish at getting back to me on a role I had put forward for - nothing abusive, just my honest opinion. The agency guessed who I was from my username, the Chris part, and rung me up - quite apologetically actually. This could've easily gone the other way and they could've dropped me from their short list costing me a £50K + contract.

That may be one reason you shouldn't slag them off in public.

[steveweaver]

Ah so were all in agreement that agents are SH1the4ds

[Spacecadet]

Should agents come here to name and shame the contractors who want £500/day to do a bit of coding in between posting on CUK, before leaving at 3pm?

surely that's an agents dream contractor. High rates and no work means that the project will have to be extended as deadlines are constantly missed

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Should agents come here to name and shame the contractors who want £500/day to do a bit of coding in between posting on CUK, before leaving at 3pm?

Definitely...... Sh1t, only 30 mins till hometime

[Scotgal]

Should agents come here to name and shame the contractors who want £500/day to do a bit of coding in between posting on CUK, before leaving at 3pm?

How would an Agent know the contractor does that? Do agents have access to contractors browsing history or start/leaving times?

[thunderlizard]

Why dosnt the board name and shame bad recruitment agencies ?

In my experience most of them lie (not a nice trait) and try and take contractors for cnuts with their large margins.

I think you have answered your own question. It wouldn't tell us anything we didn't already know.

Every 6 months or so, somebody comes on here and names an unusually good agency, which has properly transparent and reasonable margins, and doesn't try to force you into contract terms that seem copied from a particularly humiliating Medieval unconditional surrender treaty.

[DodgyAgent]

Should agents come here to name and shame the contractors who want £500/day to do a bit of coding in between posting on CUK, before leaving at 3pm?

Only the ones they are not making 20% out of

[SimonMac]

I asked the exact same question not that long ago (which you would have seen if you has been arsed to search but that's another story ) I think the general opinion is that as with everything in life people will mostly only complain with bad service but keep quiet over good. So you will always get a skewed impression of a "bad" agents.

My idea would be to have a good agents list, if one has gone the extra mile let people know rather than bitching about the bad, also I doubt agents would sue admin if there was a Nice List as opposed to a Naughty List