Good, bad, a con? Couldn't find the subscription price without undue hassle.... They're advertising like crazy, so I figgered it's gotta be on par with Colonial Penn's guarownteed acceptance life crap.... pennies a day.... yeah, A LOT of pennies a day....
And dat DirectBuy Club, which seems to have fallen by the wayside.... I got a free BBQ out of them somehow, still don't know how it happened.... I think the sales guy was hot for TheWife..... Hmmmmm...... it's been a long time... I should go back, find out if he still wants her.....
"Existential Angst" wrote in news:50c3895a$0$24781$ snipped-for-privacy@cv.net:
We use Anglie's list all the time. Every time we need a service (like upholstering a couple antique chairs), a contractor (major bath remodel), etc., we start there. You still want to get competitive bids, but it weeds out a LOT of the bozos. Pricey, yes, but the peace of mind it provides if you have much work done is worth it. Not everyone we have used from the list was totally stellar, but all the work has been at least better than average, and most of it has been excellent. I'm in the Boston area, and there are a LOT of vendors to choose from, many of them folks I wouldn't let in my house based on the reviews. You still have to watch out for flaky reviews from people who clearly have weird expectations.
The other nice thing is that good contractors rely on the List to bring them business, and if there is an issue, they will play nice. If it really gets messy, Angie's List will mediate a dispute.
Also, if you recommend the List to someone and they sign up, you get a free 1 lb bag of M&M's... (hint, hint) :)
I have belonged to it off and on for a several years. (I let it lapse once and missed it). They do seem to make the costs hard to find. I just checked my account and it says my renewal will be $35 for a year. (Note that I have the lowest tier - I don't have the "health" (doctor reviews) or "classic cars" levels).
If you know anyone who is a member, they can give gift memberships starting at $7.50. Or keep an eye on sites like Groupon and Living Social; they periodically run half price specials on Angie's list. You can also do (more expensive) month to month, and then opt out if you don't like it.
I've used the list for a number of services. If nothing else, it gives me an idea ahead of time of prices for some services, like if I'm daydreaming and wonder how much a skylight would be. The businesses I've dealt with all are very interested in keeping their good reports on AL, and so are willing to work with the customers. Some offer discounts to AL customers. AL also has "Big Deals" where businesses offer a big discount on a particular service to members for a limited period of time. (I haven't used that yet, but some of the offers are intriguing).
The list is only as good as the area and the people who participate, since it's based on the customers' reports. So if it's a small geographical area or if the customer base is small or doesn't submit reviews, it might not be not as helpful.
(Oh, and if you're bored, reading the bad reviews can be entertaining...).
harry wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@f17g2000vbz.googlegroups.com:
It's one of the things you pay for. I've seen free review services go down the tubes like that because there's no way to monitor them, or provide a way to fight a bad review.
Angie's list seems to do a pretty good job of screening reviews. Companies that care about their reputation can contest bad reviews, and if it turns out to be a scam, I suspect the scammer will get blacklisted.
Ashton Crusher wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
A lot depends on the area they serve, how long they've been there and how obscure the category is. They've been in the Boston area for over 10 years, so there's real data on companies in the more popular categories.
I've used Service Magic a few times. It's free for the consumer, but the contractor pays for the referral, even if doesn't get to bid the job. Does the contractor pay Angie too? Reviews are fine if there are enough of them, but the last few jobs I've had done I didn't even look at them for some reason. Not real expensive jobs, and I've had good luck with contractors. A couple were referred by family, and the others were the first ones who showed up, even when I had subsequent cheaper bids. I have a theory that the first one to show has hustle and good business sense. That theory wasn't "pre-existing" but has come about from the results. Not sure it's true, but seems to be.
Angie's List has worked just fine for me for some 15 years (Cleveland area). There used to be just a few listings in each category; now there are dozens. I like the fact that you can call Angie's List and talk to someone who can pick out the listings and rating information for the local businesses too.
Along with the "Colonial Penn's guaranteed acceptance life ins" commercials, they keep having a commercial for a talking blood glucose meter. In the commercial they say "You dont have to prick your finger anymore". I think they should follow that commercial with one for Viagra which says "You dont have to finger your prick anymore". :)
About 2 or 3 years ago I saw reviews on the internet reviewing Angie's List and I think the consensus was like 50/50. The gripes were about how they policed the reviews and prevented fraudelent ones. I haven't followed up on this so I don't know if this is still true.
I use HomeAdvisor (formerly Service Magic) currently and it seems to be okay so far but they have had problems and got sued by some of their business clients. I wasn't aware of this till one business client of theirs told me on the phone. It's on the internet too.
Oh, now you did it. I'm going to have to go to confessional twice this week. I'm laughing so hard. Uh, er, I didn't say I was hard. Nevermind. I didn't prick the right word. I mean, I wrote the wang thing. Oh, fk it all, I hope you got the point. Hey, lets go back to home repair, and electric power deck screwing or something?
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Along with the "Colonial Penn's guaranteed acceptance life ins" commercials, they keep having a commercial for a talking blood glucose meter. In the commercial they say "You dont have to prick your finger anymore". I think they should follow that commercial with one for Viagra which says "You dont have to finger your prick anymore". :)
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