A Facebook page with a few hundred likes tells you very little about a hire company. Likes cost nothing, anyone can buy them, and a business with no warehouse, no insurance and no landline can look as established as one that has been trading for decades. This post first went up in 2017 after we took several calls from people who had been let down by exactly that kind of outfit, and the advice in it still stands. The difference now is that there are better places to check a company’s reputation than its social media feed.
Where to check DB Entertainment’s reviews
The quick answer is: read the reviews on the independent platforms, check how long the company has been trading, and look for a real address and landline before you trust a Facebook page. For us specifically, the places to look are Google, where the rating has sat at a full five stars across 209 reviews so far, and Trustpilot, where recent reviews say the same thing in different words.
The Google listing is the largest single record of what customers think of us. Pinx Salon, who have hired from us for their annual charity fun day since 2013, wrote there: “We have used DB Entertainment for our Annual Charity Fun Day since 2013 and have always been really impressed with their service from start to finish. The quality of the equipment is well maintained and a risk assessment is in place for each piece.” Our reviews page pulls together recent ones from across the platforms.
We are also on Trustpilot, where Dorothy Coates recently wrote: “We’ve been using DB Entertainment for many years. During this time their professional service has never dipped. They have provided us with efficient service great equipment time & time again.” Ulf Tyken, who hired lighting for a fundraiser concert, left five stars there too: “Dean ensured I knew how the lights worked so on the day it was no hassle. Great quality kit from a top tier company!”
Our Facebook page is still there and still carries reviews, and it's a fair way to see how we talk to customers day to day. It just shouldn't be the only box you tick, because every business curates its own feed and the independent platforms are harder to influence. The other thing the platforms show, if you read enough of them, is repeat business: we are a repeat supplier for clients including Amazon, and several reviewers mention using us for four, five or more years running, which no amount of paid likes will fake.
A checklist for vetting any hire company
- Look for a landline number and a real street address. A mobile number and a PO box make it hard to find anyone when something goes wrong on the day.
- Check how long they have been trading. We've been going since 1999 out of a 25,000 sq ft warehouse in Rotherham that sits a few minutes from the M1, A1 and M18, and customers are welcome to visit by arrangement.
- Read the full reviews on the platform itself so you can see the spread of feedback and when it was left, because the quotes on a company’s own site are always a highlight reel.
- Ask where the equipment is stored and who owns it. Around 95% of the kit we hire out is owned and maintained in-house, so there is no third-party supplier between you and us when something needs sorting.
- Ask for the paperwork before you pay. Risk assessments, insurance certificates and safety certificates should reach you or your venue before the event, not in a van on the morning.
None of this is complicated, and it works just as well for a bouncy castle at a birthday in Barnsley as it does for exhibition games on a trade stand in Birmingham. If you want to check us out properly, start with the about page, read the reviews, and bring the awkward questions to the office on 0114 345 0135. We're used to them.
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