Hello,
Construction expert, that sounds as if the "usual" portals were devil's work. We have already recruited some craftsmen from there and it (almost) always worked well. These were all companies from the local area, which we would otherwise have had to call laboriously. Placing an ad - and that’s what MyHammer etc. basically are - is simply more relaxed because the craftsmen who have time and are interested in the job get in touch.
What is against that?
Yvonne has already described it well from her experience. These portals shift the price/performance ratio in a direction that can only be unhealthy in the long term and will consequently lead to insolvencies. The prices offered there uniformly hover at the lower limit; they have to operate at that level. In this respect, your statement "
We had 3 other quotes for the installation, which were roughly all about the same price. So this does not seem to be an unusual market wage" is misleading because these prices are far from market standard, and that is also the goal of these portals.
I wonder why you didn’t directly ask local craftsmen for the respective products plus installation? Then the question of warranty would not even arise, which, in the worst case, could certainly have interesting outcomes.
What is not fair is hiding the costs in the material.
Nothing is hidden; it is common practice to base a mixed calculation on this. Why is that not fair? No one can seriously expect craftsmen to sell the devices at their own capital cost, preferably work almost for free, but take full warranty (which is roughly what these portals encourage).
If this continues in this country, soon we will have the model of the former Tätärätättä: organization is everything, and knowing someone who knows what they're doing. Because with this approach of the customer being king, many craft companies will not be able to keep up and will have to file for insolvency—with the known consequences for employees and craftsmen and their families.
Rhenish regards