Angie's List

[Nerva]

Anyone use them? Comments?

 

[Imaginer]

Anyone use them? Comments?

It is a nice consolidated resource listing of contractors and much like Amazon's customer reviews, it works when there is feedback. There are at times offers to subscribers for various services as well. But those "specials" are on par with a good/expected competitive pricing anyways.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Yes, they are headquartered here in Indianapolis and I have a membership to their site. Very useful if you intend on hiring companies to do many projects.

 

[kranky]

Has worked great for me. The people that had good reviews turned out to be good, and I also grabbed a couple deals that saved a lot of money (like replacing the electrical panel and all circuit breakers for $300).

I also leverage it by telling the people I contact that I found them on Angie's List and how much I value the reviews, and that's why I always review people I use. They get the hint.

 

[blankslate]

sorry I confused this with Ashley Madison.

 

[DAGTA]

I use the service and consider it a good value

 

[Modular]

Why pay when there's Service Magic (HomeAdvisor) for free?

 

[Kaido]

It is a nice consolidated resource listing of contractors and much like Amazon's customer reviews, it works when there is feedback. There are at times offers to subscribers for various services as well. But those "specials" are on par with a good/expected competitive pricing anyways.

I've been wondering if they are any good...it seems like 90% of the people I know who have had work done or contracting done in their homes have had really bad experiences, so having some sort of accountability system to keep things honest seems like a really good idea :thumbsup:

 

[BUTCH1]

Has worked great for me. The people that had good reviews turned out to be good, and I also grabbed a couple deals that saved a lot of money (like replacing the electrical panel and all circuit breakers for $300).

I also leverage it by telling the people I contact that I found them on Angie's List and how much I value the reviews, and that's why I always review people I use. They get the hint.

I need my panel replaced, it's one of those FPE one's where there is a 50/50 chance the breaker will actually trip in the event of an overload, the cheapest price I could find was $500 so you did real well..

 

[Mixolydian]

I use them. It's been good so far. They always send me coupons in my email. Plus they send out a print publication once a month or so with reviews from local contractors and stuff as well as more coupons.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Who is Angie? And what is this list you speak of?

 

[Zorkorist]

The concept is tremendous. Well rated local people to help you with xyz.

I joined, and used well recommended people for projects, and was pretty satisfied.

On the flip side, they immediately made my email available to their (paying) vendors, and I started receiving phone calls and emails.

To their credit, I went into my account, changed my privacy settings from default, and the spam stopped.

My end conclusion is that it works... and I will probably renew.

But, as always, buyer beware. Caveat emptor.

-John

 

[chalmers]

pics of Angie or GTFO

 

[Mixolydian]

pics of Angie or GTFO

 

[chalmers]

Hmmm.

Maybe.

 

[Craig234]

I've used it a few times and have like 4 years worth, and have been disappointed.

One time they disconnect the call, the next they promise to be helpful but send wrong info, the next they don't have any maytches that help.

It's been a 'good idea' that seems hyped and mostly about their trying to sell you services.

 

[Blain]

I canceled my subscription after about 1.5 years (before my two year deal expired).
* I didn't like the auto renew aspect of the service.
* There wasn't enough feedback from my area to make the service valuable to me.
* Several searches pulled in businesses that were hundreds of miles away from my location. I wasn't interested in having home improvement or landscaping done by a companies 500 miles away.
* In larger cities, Angie's List may be a better value than it was for me.
* The only way to know what kind of feedback coverage is in your area is to subscribe.

I like the concept of Angie's List, but it wasn't enough of a "value" for me to keep paying.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Has worked great for me. The people that had good reviews turned out to be good, and I also grabbed a couple deals that saved a lot of money (like replacing the electrical panel and all circuit breakers for $300).

I also leverage it by telling the people I contact that I found them on Angie's List and how much I value the reviews, and that's why I always review people I use. They get the hint.

Good points. I'm kind of spoiled by their "Big Deals" and use the them all the time for yard work and routine work around the house like gutter cleaning. $99 to clean a large two story house's gutters can't be beat.

I've been wondering if they are any good...it seems like 90% of the people I know who have had work done or contracting done in their homes have had really bad experiences, so having some sort of accountability system to keep things honest seems like a really good idea :thumbsup:

Yes, and if you have a dispute, Angie's List will also help you resolve it. They also shame vendors with really bad feedback in the magazine they send out to subscribers periodically.

 

[JEDI]

Why pay when there's Service Magic (HomeAdvisor) for free?

does servicemagic do the same thing as angies list?

i thought it was a referral service paid by the contractors? (as opposed to customer paid w/angies list.)
http://homerenovations.about.com/od/legalsafetyissues/f/servicemagic.htm

and anyone have coupons for angies list subscription for northern VA?
I need the wooden front steps of my house rebuilt from the ground up. it's rotting away.

 

[MustISO]

I have friends who use Angie's List but I haven't used it. We have a local Yahoo group where people ask for and post recommendations for local businesses. Personally word of mouth is the best way to find someone in your area.

BTW, a long time ago I hired someone from Service Magic and it was a terrible experience. I simply needed crown molding installed and the guy they sent had no idea how to do it, smelled like he had been drinking and then they tried to charge me for his time.

 

[Nerva]

I am surprised how many people on ATOT uses this thing. I can't get over why people would pay to use this service, given that it isn't a lot.

Did you know that though local businesses have to pay to get on the search results of Angie's List via key word searches? Granted you have to have at least one good review from a member.

 

[PingSpike]

I went to the website awhile back when I was looking for an appliance installer. I saw they wanted to pay to access the reviews and I balked at that. Its not that I think paying for it is necessarily bad, its that I live in a largely unpopulated area with very few options for a lot of things. I just don't think it would be that useful to me because of that. Then they sent me an email a few days later saying they "forgot" to give me a discount...which actually annoyed me. I didn't realize we were negotiating!

 

[Nerva]

I think as a business, Angie's List will eventually become free because there just aren't enough people staying on as a long-term subscriber.

 

[Zstream]

I use it, seems pretty good if you live in a halfway decently populated city. It is really helpful when you're buying/selling a house or doing maintenance every so often.

 

[Saint Nick]

I think as a business, Angie's List will eventually become free because there just aren't enough people staying on as a long-term subscriber.

I trust Yelp more or less...no need to pay for reviews.