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Posted by dpb on June 19, 2007, 2:59 pm
DerbyDad03 wrote:
> On 18 Jun, 19:36, email.bloc...@yahoo.com wrote:
>> Is Angie's List a Scam???
>>
>> Responding to their promotions on National Public Radio (NPR), I
>> recently signed-up for a membership on Angie's List. What a good
>> idea, I thought: a database of local service provider reports,
>> submitted by people in my local community, and supported by our
>> membership fees.
>>
>> I was wrong. If Angie's List isn't a scam, in my opinion they
>> misrepresent the services they provide. Here's what I experienced:
>>
>> (1) Sign-up and Ease of Use
>>
>> It cost me $10 to sign-up plus a $6.95 monthly recurring fee. The
>> website was easy to navigate, although there were some
>> inconsistencies. For example, Angie's List claims to have a "Penalty
>> Box" for service providers; I could never find it.
>>
>> (2) Provider Reports
>>
>> Reports for most providers in my local community were sparse; in some
>> cases non-existent. There weren't more than two or three reports in
>> most categories. Not enough to see a trend.
>>
>> (3) Submitting Reports
>>
>> I submitted four reports based on service providers I had recently
>> used (one plumber, two roofers and one mortuary). Two of the reports
>> were "glowing" and two of the reports were negative. All of the
>> reports were clearly written, honest and used no profanity.
>>
>> Angie's List claims that it takes two business days for reports to be
>> posted. After about a week, with nothing posted, I sent an inquiry to
>> their customer service department. I received a timely reply advising
>> me that it was taking them longer to review reports because they were
>> receiving "over 1000 reports a week." I didn't know that Angie's List
>> "reviewed" reports.
>>
>> After several more communications, over the next couple of weeks, I
>> learned that Angie's List would not post three of my reports because
>> they made reference to alternate service providers. I was not aware
>> that Angie's List "edited" or "censored" reports.
>>
>> (4) Reports Credibility
>>
>> I have no confidence in Angie's List reports. Here's why:
>>
>> First of all, I immediately noticed that reports for some providers
>> were suspiciously similar. If there are only two reports for a
>> provider, and both reports have almost identical wording, one wonders
>> about the credibility of those reports.
>>
>> In some categories, Angie's List has service providers which offer
>> coupons. Coupons! Does this mean that Angie's List has marketing
>> agreements which some providers? This would hardly enhance the
>> credibility of a provider.
>>
>> Clearly reports cannot be credible if Angie's List "edits" or
>> "censors" the reports. From my own experience in submitting reports,
>> I know that Angie's List does precisely that.
>>
>> Finally, how would Angie's List report on a company with a known bad
>> reputation? In our community, Whittier Home Roofing has just such a
>> bad reputation. But Whittier Home Roofing didn't show up on their
>> list for Roofers. I then searched by company name. Sure enough,
>> Whittier Home Roofing showed up as a service provider. However, when
>> I clicked to see the reports, Angie's List displayed the message:
>> "We're sorry, but Angie's List is not sharing information about this
>> company currently."
>>
>> So that's it, Angie's List gladly publishes glowing reports about
>> service providers, but "edits" or "censors" reports which are
>> negative.
>>
>> (5) Customer Service
>>
>> Communication with Angie's List customer service was always timely. I
>> was prepared to file a complaint against Angie's List with our state
>> department of consumer affairs, however, Angie's List agreed to refund
>> my sign-up and membership fees and terminate my membership. So, I
>> can't call them a "scam." However, Angie's List is, in my opinion,
>> disreputable.
>
> Angie's list has been discussed numerous times in various groups. Just
> search on Angie's for some links.
>
> Here's a copy of my $.02 from another thread.
>
>
>
> Nice web site tour, but here's the issue I see.
>
>
> Contractors don't get on the list until a member submits a comment
> about them. Now let me quote something from the FAQ:
>
>
> Q - Why would I use Angie's List when I can just ask my neighbors for
> recommendations?
>
>
> A - How long would it take you to find 25 people who have all used
> the
> same contractor and then conduct an in depth interview with them
> about
> their service experience? Spend hours on the phone, or just log onto
> Angie's List and find trustworthy contractors with a proven track
> record in minutes.
>
>
> OK, for this to true, I would have to assume that there are actually
> 25
> people in my city who are not only Angie's List members, but have
> also
> used the same contractor AND submitted a review of that contractor.
> Somehow, I'm just not confident that there are enough members in my
> community to make a $57 membership worth the money. They do say
> "Annual
> membership dues are backed by our 110% money back, satisfaction
> guarantee" so I guess you could be dissatisfied real soon after you
> join
> if you really wanted to check it out.
It's one of those ideas that sounds good when you first hear it, but as
is so often true, "the devil is in the details". It first relies on a
large population so that there are sufficient potential clients and
"reviewers/customers" to have _any_ chance for success. That, then,
creates its own problem in that in a large metro area, the contractors
reviewed may be 50 miles or more removed and don't do business where you
actually are even if they are "in" the same metro area. That doesn't
even begin to address the issues of how to judge the competency of the
reviewer to actually make a value judgment, the issue of favoritism or
bias/grudge earlier raised, etc., etc., etc., ...
I think it's a fatally flawed concept in reality but may well perform
its primary purpose of making the originator a bundle before it goes
belly-up--and remember, _that's_ the fundamental objective. If it
happens to connect one or two individuals to a contractor on the way, so
much the better, but that's pretty much a sidelight I think.
imo, ymmv, $0.02, etc.,etc., ...
--
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