Angie's List? Good or Bad?

[ssawka]

Anyone have a membership to Angie's List? Do you feel it is useful, or are you just paying for ads? We need to have a number of things done around the house and will be looking for contractors. There is currently a Groupon for a membership to Angie's List for $14. I just don't want to do it if it is a scam.

 

[clutter]

I joined when my fencing contractor told me he had a coupon on the site. Other than that, I didn't use them, and just cancelled my membership. I guess it depends on whether you can find suggestions from others.

 

[vicki_c]

I joined thru that Groupon offer about a month ago, because we needed to find an HVAC contractor. It worked great for me - found a small local company with many good reviews and we were happy with the work (and he had a coupon there too). Seems a much better approach to me than the typical Yellow Pages point and guess!

I probably wouldn't join if you don't have an immediate need for something, or don't think you will in the next year.

 

[twocat]

Try the Better Business Bureau, they're free.

Angie's List will never get a dime of my money.

 

[dismom301930]

I have never used Angie's List, but we have used Service Magic several times and been very happy with the outcome. That is how we found the plumber we use all the time now.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Try the Better Business Bureau, they're free.

Angie's List will never get a dime of my money.

I agree.
Your friends, neighbors co -workers have likely used someone and getting a Personal recommendation is better than some alleged Unknown person on a site you pay for...After getting a name from someone, check the BBB and see that you are satisfied.
Id not pay someone so they can make money off of a simple asking/calling checking BBB...but thats just me.......
good luck

 

[LilyWDW]

The thing with Angie's List is that a good number of companies will PAY people to leave good reviews. It is also restricted to those who pay to be on the site so you might be missing many customers. As such, I would never trust a single review site. I would still have to use other sites in order to be sure I am getting a fair and unbiased review. Thus, paying for that information is a waste of money.

 

[jgreco]

The BBB is the biggest scam there is.

When I owned my business they would not give me higher than a "C" rating even though I had never had a single complaint and had been in business for 7 years because...get this, I would not pay to be a member of their organization!!! Ratings have nothing to do with your reputation and more of who will pay to play.

Yet, there was a business that I used that WAS a member of BBB that STOLE from me, I had to do a credit card charge back after 4 months of waiting for office furniture and guess who still has an "A" rating? Even though there are numerous reports on "The Ripoff Report" about them.

Nothing new http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/business-bureau-best-ratings-money-buy/story?id=12123843

 

[pklein09]

I bought a membership to Angie's List because I needed a dentist and a dermatologist. I looked through everything and the area in which I live had very few listings for either category. As I looked further, there was very little information for my area period! I live near Princeton, NJ and figured there would be something. Nope, everything was centered around Philadelphia, way too far for me to travel. I called them back - with in 24 hours - and asked for my money back. When I explained why, they told me I could still use the service by filling in reviews on businesses in my area. I politely told them that I wanted to utilize their service, not gather information for their service. They gave me my money back. I did find a dentist in the area through personal references, but I eneded up at a dermatologist my family uses in South Jersey.

 

[shortbun]

man, the cynics are out on this thread!
OP, we are members and have had great luck. Also, my husband got several recommendations from his clients so he joined and got lots of great business from them. He NEVER paid for a recommendation nor was it ever suggested by Angie's list. Also, none of the businesses I've found with Angie's list ever solicited a recommendation in any way. We remodeled our old house and then our new one in the last 3 years. I've hired loads of contractors-landscapers, wallpaper removers, specialty plumbers, renovation contractors, tilers...not one solicitation for a good Angie's List review.
And remember-the coupons from any source are supposed to be business builders, so if you don't intend to develop a good working relationship with a businessman...don't expect him to give you anything extra because you happened to see a Groupon coupon.

 

[MomToOne]

I just use Yelp. It's worked well for me - I found a FABULOUS plumber via Yelp a couple of weeks ago during a crisis.

Warning - skip over any businesses on any review site that have just a few glowing reviews. Those are often made up by the owners or their friends. Look for businesses with lots of reviews that are balanced (list both good and bad things, even if they are minor).

 

[msmama]

I joined with a groupon last year when I needed a new deck.

Is it something I took advantage of when I needed it? Yes. Is it something I'd bother paying for once my year was up? No.

I didn't really know anyone who'd had their decks done (anyone whose opinion I'd trust anyway) so Angie's List worked for me. Now that I'm more familiar with the area and have more friends, and a wider circle of people to ask for advice, I don't think I'd bother.

The reviews worked for me and I agreed with the other reviewers of the company I eventually chose. I also took the time to write reviews for companies I WOULD ABSOLUTELY NEVER recommend.

 

[Andrea]

I would never pay to read reviews... not when you have friends, family and google !!

 

[Gina]

The BBB is the biggest scam there is.

When I owned my business they would not give me higher than a "C" rating even though I had never had a single complaint and had been in business for 7 years because...get this, I would not pay to be a member of their organization!!! Ratings have nothing to do with your reputation and more of who will pay to play.

Yet, there was a business that I used that WAS a member of BBB that STOLE from me, I had to do a credit card charge back after 4 months of waiting for office furniture and guess who still has an "A" rating? Even though there are numerous reports on "The Ripoff Report" about them.

Nothing new http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/business-bureau-best-ratings-money-buy/story?id=12123843

This. The BBB would be the very LAST place I would go to for an unbiased "all-clear" on a company. They make their $$ from companies paying them to clear out their bad records of complaints, and starting new with a clean record and new, clueless customers.

Like others, I go to friends, family, and sites like Yelp, FB, & Twitter when I need a recommendation for a company.

 

[LSchrow]

i agree with others about BBB (no, i don't own a business).
it is a service that businesses have to pay for, so it cannot be unbiased else it would go out of business itself.

we prefer asking friends, neighbors, relatives, even other customers in home improvement centers for their suggestions. BBB and angies list are just advertising tools for companies.
ask anyone who isn't getting money for their opinion if you want to hear the truth

 

[ssawka]

Thank you all for your replies. I still have not quite decided, but I am leaning towards not joining. As others have said, I know word-of-mouth is usually the best method, but you can't always trust that either. Just because someone know someone (i.e. a friend or relative owns a company) does not mean that company is reliable. The problem that we have where we live is that there are just too many companies. If you ask 10 people that had the work done you are looking for, chances are they all used a different company.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

I can't find the Angie's List Groupon...is it still available? Will someone please post a link? Thanks!

 

[ssawka]

I can't find the Angie's List Groupon...is it still available? Will someone please post a link? Thanks!

http://www.groupon.com/deals/dc-hg1-angies-list-dc?c=all&p=0