Angies List, no so impartial...

[Warm_in_NH]

Just a heads up if any of you use Angies List as a source for service providers. They come across as company who runs solely on customer reviews and referrals and that they're not influenced by any other outside sources. Not so much, as you can see from the email I copied and pasted below (hopefully it takes) they're always asking me for money to get "your business recommended
when a member calls..."

Sorry, I just don't think it's right that they're playing both ends of things while pretending that they're working for the consumer, when in fact they're just a big advertising site for service providers willing to pay for a slot.



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[Michael Golden]

I'm not surprised at all by this. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[lazeedan]

That is very misleading!

 

[heat seeker]

If it sounds too good to be true….

Great heads-up!

 

[Grisu]

I am not sure if I see that big of a problem here. It is not ideal for sure but I mean it is not that they offer to write favorable reviews for your business. Instead they offer to place ads on their website etc. The Call Center option would be the most bothersome to me but on the other hand you apparently earned that recommendation by getting lots of good reviews. Anyway, I prefer to get referrals from friends who I trust and therefore do not use Angie's list.

 

[gzecc]

I signed up with AL a few year ago and eventually figured out that they were playing both sides. I use Home Advisor. Its expensive to the contractor but the customer pays nothing.

 

[jharkin]

I did the Angies List think the first year we owned the house. Main problem I saw is since they are a pay service the base of users giving reviews is so small (at least around me) that many local businesses have no info at all on their site. Made it kind of useless for finding contractors. I have had better luck with word of mouth through neighbors and hte town message board.

 

[Jonathan70]

I get these same emails & 2-3 sales agents calling me every week.... When I see the state prefix on my caller ID, I send it to voice mail.
They are definitely double dipping- 1st their client who has to pay to find someone in a particular field, then they want me to pay for greater webpage listings on their site.
I was referred to Angie's by a past client..... I went thru the process of setting up account info / profile and let it go at that. I get maybe 2-3 leads a month or maybe none for 2-3 months. I do have one of the highest ratings for kitchen. & bath remodeling. My reviews are all spot on, the only negative is a A- , B+ and they state price was the reason. My clients further state that they are educated during the process and greatly appreciate it. I've been asked to pay xxx $$ to be featured in their magazine or email blast.... I said nope, I'm not going to pay to get work, not gonna happen.

Latest gimmick was they wanted to charge their Client $79 to have me come out and provide estimate & I'd get $39, said really? Lot of tire kickers out there, I said if you gave me $75 & you kept $4, I'd still be just about breaking even after fuel / travel..... Oh we can't do that , we can't work for free.....I said well then. Don't ask me to then either...

 

[jdp1152]

I am not sure if I see that big of a problem here. It is not ideal for sure but I mean it is not that they offer to write favorable reviews for your business. Instead they offer to place ads on their website etc. The Call Center option would be the most bothersome to me but on the other hand you apparently earned that recommendation by getting lots of good reviews. Anyway, I prefer to get referrals from friends who I trust and therefore do not use Angie's list.

Exactly. I've used Angie's list quite a bit with nothing but favorable interactions. It's heavily used in my area, which helps. Had some friends down south not have similar experiences but the number of reviews were dramatically lower than what I see up here.

 

[Bobbin]

Word of mouth. Cheapest advertising going and a few questions to random professionals usually gains you a good lead for work you'd like to have done.

Best place to get that done is the local breakfast joint or a locally owned "convenience" store with a lot of local contractor trucks in the yard. It's more fun to go out and actually talk to people anyway.

 

[semipro]

The money seems to be in advertising these days whether you're Google, Facebook, or apparently Angie's List.
Almost seems like's there's more money in marketing crap than there is in producing quality goods and services.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

Yep. It's crazy. I'm lucky enough that 90%+ of my new customers are referrals. Referrals are a win, win, for a job to run well, you need to be on the same mental page as your customers. If the refer someone, good chance they're of the same mindset as your customer, and another match is made.
I'd say 3/4 of the potential customers that I meet through advertising didn't work out for one reason or another. I still have a Web page but it's more of a business card than anything else.

 

[SlyFerret]

My problem with Angie's list mostly has to do with the fact that the consumers that use the system are a self selecting group and tend to be high maintenance customers.

-SF

 

[fossil]

It's so seldom that I need any of those sorts of services, I just can't imagine paying a regular fee to be a member of such a list. I have a phone book, a computer w/internet connectivity, and I have friends & neighbors with experiences to share. Rick

 

[DBNH22]

Nothing beats word of mouth referrals from someone you know well and trust.

As for Angie's list.................

When I was looking for a plumber to install my boiler I called probably a dozen of them and had conversations with most of them. There was one in particular who was local that irked the you know what out of me and then quoted me an outrageous price. Well he/his company has all kinds of glowing reviews on Angie's List.

No thanks Angie. The plumber I ended up going with was recommended by a guy I work with and it turned out great.

 

[DBNH22]

I get these same emails & 2-3 sales agents calling me every week.... When I see the state prefix on my caller ID, I send it to voice mail.
They are definitely double dipping- 1st their client who has to pay to find someone in a particular field, then they want me to pay for greater webpage listings on their site.
I was referred to Angie's by a past client..... I went thru the process of setting up account info / profile and let it go at that. I get maybe 2-3 leads a month or maybe none for 2-3 months. I do have one of the highest ratings for kitchen. & bath remodeling. My reviews are all spot on, the only negative is a A- , B+ and they state price was the reason. My clients further state that they are educated during the process and greatly appreciate it. I've been asked to pay xxx $$ to be featured in their magazine or email blast.... I said nope, I'm not going to pay to get work, not gonna happen.

Latest gimmick was they wanted to charge their Client $79 to have me come out and provide estimate & I'd get $39, said really? Lot of tire kickers out there, I said if you gave me $75 & you kept $4, I'd still be just about breaking even after fuel / travel..... Oh we can't do that , we can't work for free.....I said well then. Don't ask me to then either...

I don't want to change the subject from Angie's list but while reading your post about ripoff/worthless services I couldn't help but think of selling things on ebay and using paypal. They nickle and dime you to the point where it's not even worth it, not to mention holding your money so that they can collect interest on it.

 

[SlyFerret]

My friends that used to sell stuff on eBay, mostly electronics as they upgrade their gadgets, have all switched to selling through Amazon now.

PayPal/eBay just got to be too expensive and the terms of service heavily favors buyers. Sellers have little protection against buyer scams.

-SF

 

[blades]

Son used Angie's list &wasn't too happy. He is very new to his area 1/2 the country away from me not much I could do for him. He was more irked by contractors not following through in a timely manner on written quotes if at all, do to my advising him to get same. Trying to limit surprises as I explained it to him.