Angies list
- Thread starter duc916
- Start date
Tim The Tool Man
Well-known member
Not worth it at all. It is a glorified payed referral service that lies to its clients saying it is otherwise.
I tried it for awhile. I live in a rural area and there was not much information for my area so I cancelled. After I cancelled, they called me way too often trying to get me to give them info on local businesses. It was very annoying. I recommend not giving them your phone number.
sberry
Banned
WTF does she know about construction work,,, hahahahaha
jomobco
Well-known member
I agree with above posters. I actually had them filter comments from me so I dropped them.
Buckaroo5
Well-known member
I have used Angie's List in the past and found the input to be very useful. You can't take all the comments as gospel (like any on-line review) but you can use it to assess overall trends. I have not found the information to be fundamentally biased but it does not surprise me that some folks in the service trades would think otherwise.
Dennis93
Well-known member
That's like paying to read reviews on amazon. Just use the BBB and neighbors. This way you can actually see how they responded to complaints, and assess your neighbor. You never know what loony is writing those reviews, good or bad.
Tried it a few years ago and was not impressed with some of the highly rated contractors on the list. Might be better in an urban area where there's more businesses and reviews. They make it difficult to cancel the membership.....I'll never go back as a result of that hassle.
I've been using them for almost 4 years, so I'll expand on what was said above. I do live in a populated area with plenty of contractors and reviews, so bear this in mind.
*Not a lot of reviews in general. It's not like looking on amazon and finding 10-100 reviews on any given product. So if you're trying to find background information on a contractor, unless they put their name on AL and market themselves through there using coupons and such, you'll be lucky to find many if any reviews on a contractor.
*Quality of the reviews are all over the place.
*I'm not so certain the reviews are skewed in favor of the contractors (edited). I put up an honest account of a less than perfect experience years ago. Next business day I got a call from the contractor (who I had been unable to get off their a$$es for a few weeks). By the following week they were out at the house finishing the job. That same afternoon I updated the review to reflect was actually transpired and the following day I got a call from the contractor asking if I was happy and then asking me to update my review. When I told him I had...to reflect what actually transpired, they sounded pretty disappointed that I was unwilling to edit the review to make it seem rosey! AL never modified the review nor did they call me asking me to edit it.
*There are other sites similar to this, but some funding by the contractors that choose to advertise. If this is to benefit the consumer in any meaningful way, it can't be supported by the contractors. It ***** that you have to pay for the service, but I'd rather have that than something paid for by the contractors themselves.
*I did cancel the service (which was a PITA), then came back when a contractor offered a service I was interested in. The added cost for non-members basically meant it cost me nothing to re-enlist and get the member price. I forgot to cancel when that period was up and sent them a nasty email because they didn't send me a reminder or anything. I explicitly told them "no more automatic renewals under any circumstances". We shall see if they followed my instructions.
*I'm currently requesting quotes from contractors on a new roof. Now this is a category where there are tons of reviews in AL. Some were found on AL, some from local contacts. The best quote and the one I finally settled on was from a contractor that seems to feed off AL reviews. He had a very large number of reviews (37 or so) overwhelmingly positive. The only negative review was a person that postponed their job on the day the work was scheduled to begin. It sounds like the contractor wasn't happy, nor was the customer, and the situation never really improved after the initial goof (by the customer). Anyway, I hope this ends well, but my dealings with this person so far have been excellent, AND they don't require a 50% cash deposit like every other contractor I've spoken with. They collect payment only on completion of the job and also provide a 15 year guarantee on labor which is longer than everyone else's standard warranty (though the others are happy to upsell to an extended warranty).
*I've had no luck finding bargain rate contractors, but I've had pretty good success finding contractors that are reliable and easy to deal with. And honestly, I'll take that any day over the bargain price because it costs me too much time and energy to deal with dodgy people and shoddy work. If that's what I want, I can use craigslist and that's free.
*Membership price is a little steep. If you're doing something big like a roof, I'd say it's worth it to check out or screen your potential candidates, just don't expect every contractor to be listed there, as that will not be the case. But if you need an odd job done here and there, I'm not sure it's worth the membership price. This site is a tool, like any other. And if you don't have good referrals from friends and neighbors, it's better than nothing at all. But given the choice, I would rather rely on friends and neighbors, because I haven't found reviews in some categories of work I wanted to hire out. The site has the potential to be so much more valuable (like Amazon) but not under their current subscription model. There simply aren't enough reviews to really make it the one stop shop they would like it to be.
As for the comment about using the BBB, I think that helps you identify the really bad actors, but it does not necessarily help you identify the good contractors or differentiate them from the "okay" contractors (my opinion on the matter at least). I used that as a final sanity check to make sure there is nothing dodgy about the person I have selected, but I don't use it to come up with my short list.
*Not a lot of reviews in general. It's not like looking on amazon and finding 10-100 reviews on any given product. So if you're trying to find background information on a contractor, unless they put their name on AL and market themselves through there using coupons and such, you'll be lucky to find many if any reviews on a contractor.
*Quality of the reviews are all over the place.
*I'm not so certain the reviews are skewed in favor of the contractors (edited). I put up an honest account of a less than perfect experience years ago. Next business day I got a call from the contractor (who I had been unable to get off their a$$es for a few weeks). By the following week they were out at the house finishing the job. That same afternoon I updated the review to reflect was actually transpired and the following day I got a call from the contractor asking if I was happy and then asking me to update my review. When I told him I had...to reflect what actually transpired, they sounded pretty disappointed that I was unwilling to edit the review to make it seem rosey! AL never modified the review nor did they call me asking me to edit it.
*There are other sites similar to this, but some funding by the contractors that choose to advertise. If this is to benefit the consumer in any meaningful way, it can't be supported by the contractors. It ***** that you have to pay for the service, but I'd rather have that than something paid for by the contractors themselves.
*I did cancel the service (which was a PITA), then came back when a contractor offered a service I was interested in. The added cost for non-members basically meant it cost me nothing to re-enlist and get the member price. I forgot to cancel when that period was up and sent them a nasty email because they didn't send me a reminder or anything. I explicitly told them "no more automatic renewals under any circumstances". We shall see if they followed my instructions.
*I'm currently requesting quotes from contractors on a new roof. Now this is a category where there are tons of reviews in AL. Some were found on AL, some from local contacts. The best quote and the one I finally settled on was from a contractor that seems to feed off AL reviews. He had a very large number of reviews (37 or so) overwhelmingly positive. The only negative review was a person that postponed their job on the day the work was scheduled to begin. It sounds like the contractor wasn't happy, nor was the customer, and the situation never really improved after the initial goof (by the customer). Anyway, I hope this ends well, but my dealings with this person so far have been excellent, AND they don't require a 50% cash deposit like every other contractor I've spoken with. They collect payment only on completion of the job and also provide a 15 year guarantee on labor which is longer than everyone else's standard warranty (though the others are happy to upsell to an extended warranty).
*I've had no luck finding bargain rate contractors, but I've had pretty good success finding contractors that are reliable and easy to deal with. And honestly, I'll take that any day over the bargain price because it costs me too much time and energy to deal with dodgy people and shoddy work. If that's what I want, I can use craigslist and that's free.
*Membership price is a little steep. If you're doing something big like a roof, I'd say it's worth it to check out or screen your potential candidates, just don't expect every contractor to be listed there, as that will not be the case. But if you need an odd job done here and there, I'm not sure it's worth the membership price. This site is a tool, like any other. And if you don't have good referrals from friends and neighbors, it's better than nothing at all. But given the choice, I would rather rely on friends and neighbors, because I haven't found reviews in some categories of work I wanted to hire out. The site has the potential to be so much more valuable (like Amazon) but not under their current subscription model. There simply aren't enough reviews to really make it the one stop shop they would like it to be.
As for the comment about using the BBB, I think that helps you identify the really bad actors, but it does not necessarily help you identify the good contractors or differentiate them from the "okay" contractors (my opinion on the matter at least). I used that as a final sanity check to make sure there is nothing dodgy about the person I have selected, but I don't use it to come up with my short list.
Tim The Tool Man
Well-known member
Here is my post from another thread about Angie's List. All I will say is that they are a bunch of liars and they blatantly mislead the general public.
I am a contractor. Angie's list contacted me to see if I would want to pay them to receive referrals from their members. My positive rating would depend on what I paid them each month. I told them to pound sand and not bother me on my work phone/email ever again.
Angie's list is NOT what they advertise on TV. As a contractor I CAN pay to get a better rating. If you don't believe me look it up for yourself:
http://www.knaddison.com/technology/why-angies-list-*****#comment-6161
http://www.jeffreysward.com/editorials/angies.htm
http://www.knaddison.com/technology/why-angies-list-*****#comment-6122
I am a contractor. Angie's list contacted me to see if I would want to pay them to receive referrals from their members. My positive rating would depend on what I paid them each month. I told them to pound sand and not bother me on my work phone/email ever again.
Angie's list is NOT what they advertise on TV. As a contractor I CAN pay to get a better rating. If you don't believe me look it up for yourself:
http://www.knaddison.com/technology/why-angies-list-*****#comment-6161
http://www.jeffreysward.com/editorials/angies.htm
http://www.knaddison.com/technology/why-angies-list-*****#comment-6122
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The first and third links are dead and the second only explains the direct marketing aspect of the business. If I'm understanding you correctly, as a contractor, you can pay more to get more reviews on the website, but this is not a function of the greater presence through advertising or direct marketing, but by somehow skewing the customer reviews and ratings that are displayed?
info2x
Well-known member
First time I've ever seen the pay for ratings bit that tool man describes. My Dad's business was on Angie's list and he never mentioned anything like that. Oh well.
I've had good luck. Found a dentist and painter that I really liked. The painter that my neighbor told me to use was 2.5x the guy I ended up with and was just going to cover up problems instead of fixing them like the guy I went with.
I've had good luck. Found a dentist and painter that I really liked. The painter that my neighbor told me to use was 2.5x the guy I ended up with and was just going to cover up problems instead of fixing them like the guy I went with.
Toolfool
Well-known member
I've been a general contractor for 29 years. Never needed more than word-of-mouth advertising. I know a guy who I consider to be a "hack" carpenter. He joined Angie's List and continues to get referrals. Says enough for me.
cslye
Active member
One thing I noticed with AL, if you start a sign up and then stop when they ask for money.. Just keep waiting, they will offer you a discount a week later, and if you wait a couple weeks they will eventually email you a discount code which makes the cost almost reasonable.
All I have used it for in my area is to find the small operation contractors, the same people who post on craigslist etc but with some reviews. It has also helped a bit when people post prices for jobs done and the photos to guesstimate if something I want is 5k or 50k.
Word of mouth does not help me much, because I don't know anyone who has had work done in the past.
As for the cancel thing, I always use one time credit card numbers when buying services like this. The number goes bad after a short period of time or a fixed dollar amount. Plus, if they get hacked, I could care less if my credit card number gets stolen...
All I have used it for in my area is to find the small operation contractors, the same people who post on craigslist etc but with some reviews. It has also helped a bit when people post prices for jobs done and the photos to guesstimate if something I want is 5k or 50k.
Word of mouth does not help me much, because I don't know anyone who has had work done in the past.
As for the cancel thing, I always use one time credit card numbers when buying services like this. The number goes bad after a short period of time or a fixed dollar amount. Plus, if they get hacked, I could care less if my credit card number gets stolen...
Tim The Tool Man
Well-known member
Sorry for the bad links in my previous post. I think I fixed them. ((http://www.knaddison.com/technology/why-angies-list-*****#comment-6122))
I never signed up for Angies List. I never even visited the website. I was approached by them shortly after I changed my website hosting company. So either they pulled my name from the web host or my business was reviewed by a member...
70chevellegsp
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2011
- Messages
- 238
My construction company advertises on AL and we have a substantial amount of reviews. We first were introduced to it by one of our customers and we looked into it and decided to try it out. The advertising that we pay for is similar to search engines. Our plan puts us in the top 10 if someone searches for one of our specialties. It has helped my business and also has helped a lot of customers as they have a semi-public forum to resolve issues if they occur. I have NEVER been offered leads from AL, it is a customer based system and the only thing that vendors can do is advertise and offer coupons/discounts. Once you receive a certain number of "A" ratings from your customers, they allow to use their logo and give you a "Super Service Award", but its all based on customer ratings, not $. They also give the ability for problem resolution very similar to the BBB. And, as far as the BBB goes, that is one of the biggest scams out there IMHO. A business can pay to be in good standings there, and the converse is true also, I've been down that road with them. Anyway, AL is a pretty cool business model where they generate revenue from memberships of the general public for the ability to search thru reviews, which by the way, grows everyday, and also thru advertising dollars from vendors. It's not an end all be all, nor is it corruption proof, but for right now it is working well in area.
kc-steve
Well-known member
This thread is like a free version of angies list about angies lst.
LOL yeah I'm just glad my services (business consulting) aren't in Angie's list because there will always be someone where we parted ways with bad feelings no matter how hard I tried to do a good job. I sure wouldn't pay for the info.
In a bad economy, Angie's list feeds on the insecurity of business owners and contractors.
Steve
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From the customer's point of view, would I want to deal with someone that is afraid of what people might say about their services? For me that would raise more questions about your work or work ethic. Don't sell customers short, those that use online reviews are used to sifting through good and bad reviews. No single review tells the whole story, but patterns and trends do. One bad review every 3 months and only 3 good ones doesn't inspire confidence. But one bad review in a year with 19 good ones leaves me feeling a lot better. Also, I have seen some good responses from contractors, even some admitting they dropped the ball and apologizing. Mistakes happen and if you're willing to own up to it, I'm more inclined to see that in a positive light. Of course there are some bad responses as well, where the contractor would have been better served by not saying anything. Finally, whether you use AL or not, your customers can still review you on there. So it really doesn't matter whether you choose to market through there. If you have enough business that you don't need referrals through an online source, good for you. If you don't, it's a perfectly viable avenue, and I think you might be surprised how well it can be leveraged for an honest and good contractor. The only catch is you have to return calls, show up on time, be responsive to the customer and do the job reasonably well. If you do, the referrals will snowball over time and so will your business. If you don't, the opposite will hold true. The point is it can go either way, it's not just a complaint board.
A couple other things...when I look for feedback, I'm perfectly aware the first results I see are from the contractors that paid to use AL for advertising (just like google). In many cases I quickly move past them and keep digging. The theory being, just because someone has deep pockets to spend on advertising doesn't make them good. I'm sure there are a lot of lazy people that won't, but the people that use the internet for shopping, reviews and everything else in their life get this. Also, I don't use the newspaper or bulk mailed items to learn about contractors and their services, that stuff goes straight to the recycle bin on the way through the garage. Never makes it inside. There are a lot of businesses that choose to advertise that way, and I'll never hear of them.
I've met some great small business owners that do very well because of AL. Would they survive without it? Maybe. Would they thrive, probably not. They would be drowned out by the people with the shiny trucks and big buildings, which would be unfortunate.
It may sound like I work for AL, but I assure you I don't (and my previous comments in this thread support that). I know there are a number of working pros on this website and just wanted to present another view if they are looking for ways to expand or build a business.
kc-steve
Well-known member
My work ethic is fine. Those that don't have a good work ethic don't last in business very long. But I think it is wrong to feed on people's insecurity in a bad economy when the same information can be found FREE in many other places.
Why do people here feel the need to attack someone personally, without knowing squat?
Steve
My apologies.sberry
Banned
I think its a crappy genius scheme that ranks right up there with ISO 9000 hahaha
SpatialStage
Member
I subscribed to Angies List when I bought my first home and found that all of the same places were on Yelp and offered the same "referral discounts" as Angies List. Not worth the money at all.
I would try looking on www.Yelp.com before I paid any money for Angie's list. At least that's free.
TheGrooveking
Well-known member
Have you implemented ISO9000, or did you work for a company who is ISO9000 registered?
TheGrooveking
sberry
Banned
It seems Iran across that program a time or 2. It may be fine implemented properly but it didn't seem to fix anything except get the people pushing it paid first.
I checked them out years ago with the better business bureau, there where many complaints against them. I think there were several lawsuits against them. Angies list would charge business money to move themselves up the list. If you didn't pay Angies list would delete positive reviews and leave negative reviews.