Ames IOWA repairs -- Angies List?

[Ranger111]

Just had a son move to Ames for college.

He took his old "junker Toyota" with him. He's not much of a mechanic. I am assuming it will need some work, maybe sooner, maybe not. At any rate, I was glancing through Yelp, etc. looking for possible repair shops.

Also told him to start asking around. In the meantime, I thought about Angie's List. Anyone with any Angie's experience? Worth it?

 

[MAO]

I just started a subscription with AngiesList. Supposedly, you can cancel prior to the end of a year and get your fee back -- I've had it less than a month, so don't know about that. I did like that promise, though, as one of the concerns I'd had with AngiesList would be if enough people were subscribed and contributing in the area you're interested in.

It seems to be a fairly nice system. Like Yelp or Google, it basically only lists those places that have reviews. There are a couple of things I am not impressed by -- they 'rank' reviews given by people who do not use the service of a company as less important than those who do use it. On the face of it, this makes sense, but if a company impresses me so badly up front that I walk out, it seems that information would be useful in a review. There's also no verification that I can see -- there's a place for a company to say, for example, "yes, I am licensed in the state of Iowa" but I don't see that AngiesList actually validates that to be a true statement.

I know I got some sort of discount which I'm not sure is still in existence. And I don't see any current 'invite a friend and you both get something' type deal going on now, or I'd send you that information. There seems to be no easy way for me to find out current prices - I think 1 year for me was going to be about $15-$18. It certainly seemed reasonable and if your son is alone in another city it might be worth getting simply to get recommendations for health care, plumbing, and general maintenance in addition to mechanics if he's in an apartment instead of a dorm.

 

[Ranger111]

Thank you much MAO

One other question, if you can stand it....

If I pay for the membership for him -- can I only access reviews for one area? In this case, Ames, Iowa.

Or, would I be able to also access reviews for companies in my state (Oregon)?

 

[Ranger111]

I just found the code SERVICE gives a 40 percent cut in the yearly rate, making it $5.99 per year.

Supposedly, you can then pay via PayPal and get an extra 20 percent....but as I was doing a "fake payment" to test the codes, saw that it is a total automatic renewal.

Meaning they will automatically renew me next year. Really uncomfortable with that sort of thing, even if I am paying through PayPal (never went to the next screen to see if I would have gotten an added $1.xx PayPal discount).

 

[MAO]

Ok, I did some more digging around and if you buy their Plus or Premium tiers, you can add more cities (not sure if there's a limit; add 'not impressed with FAQ/help information' to my list of less-than-pleased-with caveats.) I evidently have the Plus tier and it's normally $19.99. And, yes, it's an automatic renewal type thing, which is why I have a note in my calendar to consider cancelling it about 11 months after I started it. But I'm with you - a credit card, to me, is easier to deal with cancelling than I feel PayPal would be. So that would be about $12 for the Plus tier, if you don't go the PayPal route it sounds like.

So, yes, if you pay about twice what you were thinking of paying, you should be able to use it for multiple locations. Which is probably a better deal than a single person like me having it.

 

[Iowajes]

I'm not in Ames, but Iowa City, another Iowa university city.

I found the number of companies to be very lacking, and many were over 45 miles away and didn't actually service my area.

I'd get referrals from people specifically in Ames (which I think you are trying to do here, but most people don't seem to say they are from Ames, and the number of people on DIsboards from Ames is likely to be small) before joining.

 

[MAO]

Yes, that is exactly the concern I'd have with starting a subscription for a town like Ames. However, if the OP gets the next tier up and uses it not only for Ames but also for whatever town s/he lives in, that might make it worthwhile. Assuming, of course, that the town s/he lives in is big enough to have a fair number of referrals! Though there is the promise of a refund if you're not happy with the service, so that may be sufficient mitigation of risk to try it out.

eta: just realized I'd not changed my location, which might explain why I clicked on this topic in the first place! LOL (it used to say St. Louis, MO)

 

[Ranger111]

I actually went to school in Iowa City (Go Hawkeyes!). But that was many decades ago.

My brother lives outside St Louis MO in Kirkland. He used to be a big poobah at St. Louis University Medical Center.

Anyway, thanks to both of you for the help.

I think for the price of Angies (with the discounted codes) I will give it a shot. Pretty cheap.

But I do not see anything but basic membership when I call up Angies Web site and as noted, their FAQs are next to worthless.

Guess I will give them a call in the morning and see what they say about "super primo" membership.

Thank you both again!!