What they said about us.....
"The robust installations are a good advert. A no-nonsence approach."
Tim Jenks
Senior Executive
Confederation of Aerial Industries
"This is a company that has been built up on a solid reputation.
I am fortunate that I know Woking Aerials work, his reputation goes before him. Any person employing Woking Aerials is assured of a job well done.
Again being able to see work close up shows that Alan provides a service which is to be envied.
The system viewed by me was very impressive...."
Chris Glover
Inspector
Confederation of Aerial Industries
"This assessment was carried out as an NVQ assessment session.
I observed Alan, visit a domestic property, qualify the customer, fault find/diagnose the reception issue, and install a complete new aerial system.
This was done to an exceedingly high standard."
Kevin Dawson
Assessment & Training Executive
Confederation of Aerial Industries
Kevin has been the UK TV expert for ITV's 'House of Horrors' & BBC's 'Rogue Traders'
'Local' Business or 'National' Company?
What do you look for when choosing a tradesman, a big national company or a local independent trader?
Well the consensus of opinion seems to be that most people would prefer to choose a local trader, wherever possible, every time.
So where do you start to look?
Yellow Pages, Thomson Local, Yell.com etc and how do you know who is 'local'?
You'll probably look for somebody with the same STD area code as yourself, but does this make them 'truly local'?
No, it does not!
Now if I have your attention, read on.........
Have you ever trawled through Yellow Pages, Thomson's and the like looking for a local tradesman only to be bamboozled by the amount you find with the same STD Telephone Code as yourself?
You are spoilt for choice, you hadn't realised that there were so many 'local' tradesmen offering the same service to choose from.
But are they really 'local'?
Just because an advertisement supports a local STD Code does not mean that the advertiser is truly local, they could be coming from 150 miles away. But if they are so far away, how come they have a 'local' STD code, the same as yours?
The STD Code
British Telecom will rent out what they call an 'Out of Area Exchange Line'.
Out of area exchange (OOA) lines enable BT customers to connect their business to the PSTN network via a telephone exchange that would not normally serve their locality. They then gain greater flexibility with a wider choice of contact numbers, so they can choose one that fits their marketing strategy.
So be warned, just because an advert or display supports a 01483 STD Code, it does not necessarily follow that the advertiser has premises within the Woking / Guildford Telephone Exchange area, and could in fact be many miles away.
So why do they do it?
Well I suppose that if you were looking for a tradesman in Woking and you came across an advert with an Oxford STD code you would continue looking, but if that Oxford tradesman had a Woking code you might stop right there and give them a call, you would be none the wiser that they are not 'local' at all.
But what is wrong with that?
Nothing if it were not for the fact that you were actually looking for a 'local' tradesman.
Personally I find it very underhand that some businesses go to such lengths and additional expense to, as I see it, hoodwink the customer, I also think that it is a form of deceit, and that deceit has started before you might have even engaged them in any work.
If the deceit has started from the outset, how could one be sure that they are not being deceitful in other areas once they have been engaged to carry out the required task?
I don't think I could.
Woking Aerials is a 'local' business serving the needs of Woking and the surrounding community, we only have one telephone number, 01483 740188 and we are based between Woking Town Centre and St. John's Village.
Other Reading.....
Fake or Incomplete Advertising Addresses
To follow.....
The 0800 Number Scam
'Local' Business or 'National' Company?