When I’m contacted by agencies with potential clients needing my expertise, I’ve recently started checking the agency’s reviews on Trustpilot and Google reviews. If there are too many bad reviews, I assume they might just be collecting data to sell on or spamming companies in the hope of getting a commission.
What I hadn’t considered before was applying the same background checking practice to potential companies I might work with. For example, I recently interviewed with a private healthcare company to assist with their Blazor development. The conversation went well, but I didn’t receive any feedback at all. Normally, you’d expect to get a yes, no, or maybe within a few days at most. This company didn’t respond, which seemed a little odd (or at least quite impolite).
On a hunch, I checked their company reviews on TrustPilot and what I found was quite surprising. Over two-thirds of their company reviews from customers were 1-star reviews. Hundreds of them. Each stating problems with the company and/or how badly they were treated.
Based on what I read in those reviews, I decided not to work with that company. It may not pay as well to have morals, but I do sleep soundly at night knowing that I’m working with companies that share my values and treat their customers well.