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I am often asked this tricky question, which is about as easy to answer as is deciding whether a beggar is genuine. The 
correct answer is that you get dishonest as well as honest people in every walk of life, which is why it is safer, easier (and often cheaper) to Find a Handyman on Mr-Skill. That’s way you get an individual who has been assessed, and rated by other customers before.
Given that a tradesman seldom has an independent rating about you as a prospective customer, it is not unreasonable to expect that they will ask for some form of guarantee from you before blocking out their time and buying in materials. Many of them live from hand to mouth, and not trusting customers without reason is part of their culture too.
One way around the problem is to get a Handyman Quote for labour only and buy the materials for the job yourself. This is not the way the trades prefer to operate – they would rather hunt these down 
themselves at lower prices than they estimated, and increase their profits in that way. They will in any case require a deposit before starting work, in case at the end of the first week a customer suddenly runs out of money just before the first progress payment falls due.
Try to see it from the handyman’s point of view. Just as you are trying to protect yourself from a dishonest deal, so are they. If they do the job and you refuse to pay them, then there is not an awful amount that they can do, given the cost of lawyers – and you get to keep their work.
In a perfect world, customer and handyman would trust each other perfectly. Mr-Skill is a bridge along that road because they act as independent brokers who introduce parties to each other. By using 
them, the transaction is out in the open, and a handyman is unlikely to risk their reputation with Mr-Skill for a few extra pounds.
Handyman London and Surrounds have perfected their approach towards finance. When they quote, they include the deposit they require and their proposal for progress payments too. That way, there is an opportunity for open honest negotiation before appointing them.
In the end though, the trades all work in a similar way when it comes to money, and the real question is not should one pay a deposit to a handyman, but do you have a feel-good factor about the person, and why? By choosing Mr-Skill you have already made the first step in the right direction, the deal is out in the open and there is an excellent chance that everything will go well. Don’t you think that that’s a good idea?