Angieslist making contractors look bad?

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KVA

Senior Member
Location
United States
On the tv commercials they only talk about contractor reviews but she says the site has over 500 categories such as doctors, dentists, lawyers etc.. I seen 3 different commercials and the main focus was contractors and not a word of any other profession.

It makes it look like contractors are the most untrustworthy...at least that's what I get from it.

In my opinion you need to be more careful finding a doctor and dentist then you do a contractor. A mistake from a dentist or doctor can be more life threatening then a bad tile job or paint job or whatever.

And the one commercial they make a thing about a lady hiring a bad contractor and having to pay to do it over:roll: But you can bet good old Angie would never have a commercial about a bad dentist or bad doctor!

Every time i see her smug face she makes me sick like she actually created that site to help people. It's all about the money nothing else.
 

templdl

Senior Member
Location
Wisconsin
I got onto angie's list when I was in business for a short while between industrial jobs. Your customer, whether you're a contractor or not has the ability to recomment you to others through Angie's list. Once on Angies list I believe that they have a program that allows you to promote your customers to join Angie's list. It's been about 8-10 years since I was on it and can't remamber the details.
Basically it is all about doing good work and if a customer who is a member of Angie's list recommends you to be listed on it that's a good thing.
Personally, I would work to be on it as it's just another way to gain customers. When you do a job ask if the customer is a member of Angie's list and if so tell them that if they are saticfied with your work would they recommend you on Angie's list.
 

readydave8

re member
Location
Clarkesville, Georgia
Occupation
electrician
I've heard plenty of bad stories about bad doctors and dentists but can't remember any horrible experiences, I've got plenty of bad stories to tell about tradesmen and contractors, even a few electricians. So one person's experience does not prove anything, but I'm tempted to wonder if there might be a reason: is it easier to get into tradesman business than doctor business? And so are there more bad contractors than there are bad doctors?

Or are contractors an easier target? I'm here to learn, hope I didn't offend anyone.
 

KVA

Senior Member
Location
United States
What about bad restaurant experiences? I've had plenty of those over my lifetime over bad contractors and I'm sure most people have. Your going to have way more experiences with restaurants and other services during your lifetime. Yes you don't have thousands of dollars at risk but still not sure why she doesn't focus on any other service in her commercials:?

If she wanted to be soley a contractor review site then advertise it like that don't single us out. It's all how you look at it I guess but that's my opinion on the subject.

It's a shame that tradesmen built this country and we are the most "reviewed"

And what is up with all the A and B ratings so since it's real reviews you don't see any C,D or even F rated? And the goofy awards that are given out like water. I think I seen a "best ceiling fan installer 2011" somewhere what a joke:lol:
 

tbakelis

Senior Member
I've been on Angie's list for 5 yrs now. I think its great. Def a good rate on return. First 2 yrs were slow because of not enough reviews. But now with over 50 reviews, phone rings every week. Just my honest opinion.
 

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I'm glad there are some of you who have had good experiences with Angie's List. Several years ago someone I did work for placed a positive review of my company on Angie's List and I got a second job as a result of it. I went to do that work just after a snow storm. The HO had just moved in and the work he wanted me to do was minor work (i.e change out GFI receptacles, hang light fixtures, etc.) I wasn't there more than 2 hours. Then the HO asked me to figure out why a receptacle didn't work so I spent almost an hour trying to trace the problem. The entire house was wired with armored cable. The crawl space was a rats nest of cables that I can't believe was done by a qualified electrical contractor and must have been done by the previous HO. I wasn't able to locate the break and nothing made logical sense with respect to troubleshooting (i.e one receptacle wasn't connected to another in a 12'x12' room, switch didn't turn on the receptacle, etc.). So I told the HO that I didn't want to run up his bill tracking this down, tracking snow into his house and that I would come back in the spring when he settled in and the snow was gone.

Long story, short he wrote such a bad testimonial about me to Angie's List that they contacted me and asked whether I would like to write a rebuttal, which I did. My whole point to this is that it doesn't matter whether customers provide an accurate testimonial or not. Once it's in print and another potential customer reads it they seem to take the bad one as gospel truth. The trick is to rack up 15 or 20 positive reports before you get that one bad one. In my case it was the 2nd one that did me in. I haven't gotten another referral from Angie's List in some 5 years, yet they still e-mail me asking whether I would like to advertise
 

PetrosA

Senior Member
I'm listed there too, but no reviews yet. I'm also very uncomfortable with the thought of a negative review from a "troll" minded customer, since I've been through something similar with a newspaper interview where I got misquoted beyond belief and I know what it's like once it's "in print."

I got myself listed as a result of one of the GCs I work with getting blasted by a customer there before he set up his own business' listing. He found out through a third party that his company had been listed, reviewed and recently blasted by these people who were pretty much just looking to get their two bathrooms at a major discount. Because he hadn't set up his account, Angieslist didn't contact him to file a rebuttal. So I figure it's better to take control before anything hits the fan so damage control can be done ASAP.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
I'm glad there are some of you who have had good experiences with Angie's List. Several years ago someone I did work for placed a positive review of my company on Angie's List and I got a second job as a result of it. I went to do that work just after a snow storm. The HO had just moved in and the work he wanted me to do was minor work (i.e change out GFI receptacles, hang light fixtures, etc.) I wasn't there more than 2 hours. Then the HO asked me to figure out why a receptacle didn't work so I spent almost an hour trying to trace the problem. The entire house was wired with armored cable. The crawl space was a rats nest of cables that I can't believe was done by a qualified electrical contractor and must have been done by the previous HO. I wasn't able to locate the break and nothing made logical sense with respect to troubleshooting (i.e one receptacle wasn't connected to another in a 12'x12' room, switch didn't turn on the receptacle, etc.). So I told the HO that I didn't want to run up his bill tracking this down, tracking snow into his house and that I would come back in the spring when he settled in and the snow was gone.

Long story, short he wrote such a bad testimonial about me to Angie's List that they contacted me and asked whether I would like to write a rebuttal, which I did. My whole point to this is that it doesn't matter whether customers provide an accurate testimonial or not. Once it's in print and another potential customer reads it they seem to take the bad one as gospel truth. The trick is to rack up 15 or 20 positive reports before you get that one bad one. In my case it was the 2nd one that did me in. I haven't gotten another referral from Angie's List in some 5 years, yet they still e-mail me asking whether I would like to advertise

Same thing could have happened before Angies list. It just would have taken longer for this bad story incident to circulate.

As far as doctors, or other medically related professionals - how many of them do you see hiring cheap labor that may not know what they are doing? If they are doing something wrong they are going to have health officials there enforcing whatever punishment they already have set for the infraction. There are occasional stories of wrongdoing. They may hit local news outlets even faster than they will spread through something like Angies list when this does happen.
 

PetrosA

Senior Member
Same thing could have happened before Angies list. It just would have taken longer for this bad story incident to circulate.

As far as doctors, or other medically related professionals - how many of them do you see hiring cheap labor that may not know what they are doing? If they are doing something wrong they are going to have health officials there enforcing whatever punishment they already have set for the infraction. There are occasional stories of wrongdoing. They may hit local news outlets even faster than they will spread through something like Angies list when this does happen.

Yes and no. There's actually very few tools to use when looking for medical advice and which hospital or doctor to use or for doing cost comparisons. Because of the way the system's set up, the doctor may not even know how much is being charged for their services. Just with simple things like a USG during pregnancy, the prices can range from $150 to well over $1,000. It's very hard to shop around for it though...
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
The large number of bad contractors is what makes contractors look bad.

No need to put the blame on Angie's list or the local news program it is all the people with low morals that contracting seems to attract ...... present company excluded of course. :)
 

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
And the one commercial they make a thing about a lady hiring a bad contractor and having to pay to do it over:roll:

Every time i see her smug face she makes me sick like she actually created that site to help people. It's all about the money nothing else.


If you hire a bad contractor then you may have problems. I tell people this all the time. I also let them know I don't work for the fun of it I work to make money. That's my whole selling point, I may not be the cheapest but there won't be any problems and there is a warranty and I will honor it.


We all do the work we do for money and yet we may help people at the same time. Doctors, lawyers even firemen and the police work for a pay check.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Yes and no. There's actually very few tools to use when looking for medical advice and which hospital or doctor to use or for doing cost comparisons. Because of the way the system's set up, the doctor may not even know how much is being charged for their services. Just with simple things like a USG during pregnancy, the prices can range from $150 to well over $1,000. It's very hard to shop around for it though...

I wasn't even thinking about cost with my comments. You just don't find as many doctors doing questionable work like you can find with contractors. Even though they are professionals they are human and do make mistakes. Those mistakes have a way of getting the word spread around sometimes, but it usually is not willfully intended to do something either the cheap way or to rip someone off. And you certainly don't go to doctor and get a bunch of low paid low level of education employees that may not even speak your language to perform the bulk of the services you require.
 

renosteinke

Senior Member
Location
NE Arkansas
First, a couple of observations ....

Every 'consumer advice' piece I've seen say you need to hire a 'good contractor.'

Everyone tells me their doctor / lawyer / etc. is 'the best.'

I have to ask: how can you tell? I mean, it's not like you can have multiple heart operations and compare the results- and just how many times do you have your roof done or an addition made to your house?

As I see it, Angie's List is an attempt to answer the market for a way to find the services you want. This is particularly a challenge in contracting, as it's pretty hard to even start looking for the contractor you need.

Here's the customer's problem, as illustrated by one of my current challenges: I wish to have central air conditioning added to my house. Even in this little town, I have been able to find about 40 holders of HVAC licenses. From that pool, only three have been willing to even come out and look , and only two have quoted the work. Even for those two, they were "too busy" last January.... heaven only knows what their workload will be in June!

Pricing? One of the two quoted nearly $11,000 for a job that I estimate, were it a prevailing wage job to government specs, would take two days and $3000 worth of material.

Let me phrase that another way: 37 of the 40 were unwilling to even look at the job. Not interested in installing a new system. Period. (Sound of bar glasses clinking in the background).

Unlike the typical consumer, I already have a contractors' license and established accounts at the HVAC houses. This gives me some other options .... like, since I have the coursework behind me, take the EPA test and DIY it.

Heck, with the advent of Angie's list, I just might add HVAC to my line-up and do something no one else seems to do around here: answer the calls!
 

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
And you certainly don't go to doctor and get a bunch of low paid low level of education employees that may not even speak your language to perform the bulk of the services you require.

If we only think of licensed medical professionals then no. But think of the whole health care industry and there are lots of problems. The one most often talked about are senior care facilities ( old folks homes ). Many of those don't have a good reputation.
 

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
Just for the record, I take my hat off to Angie Hicks. She came up with a good idea and was able to capitalize on it. By the same token, if I came up with a Goldstar List of dead beat customers I'd go broke just in the cost of law suits.:happyyes:
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
If we only think of licensed medical professionals then no. But think of the whole health care industry and there are lots of problems. The one most often talked about are senior care facilities ( old folks homes ). Many of those don't have a good reputation.
You are correct that many don't have a good reputation. They still do what is necessary to keep health department, fire marshal, other inspecting agencies from shutting down their operations. Kind of a "minimum codes" being fulfilled with most things. Biggest problem with most of them is management and owners and not the employees. Unless they are a skilled and licensed person (which you did mention) many of them are overworked / underpaid because management wanted to cut back on costs. There are limited number of actual licensed nurses or other certified staff in most of these places and most people that work there require little training to do whatever it is they do.
 

KVA

Senior Member
Location
United States
Angieslist is nothing unique or new just another person looking for ways to make a buck. Yelp, yahoo and google reviews were around way before them. She just put more into marketing her website on tv.

My point is just about how she focuses on contractors when their are 500+ other service categories out there.

And like I said before their are more serious professions to research over a contractor.

For example I need wisdom teeth removed and I was told I need to go to an oral surgeon. They took xrays and noticed a nerve in my face very close to the root of my wisdom tooth...if that nerve is damaged I could have no feeling in the side of my face. So you bet I'm going to research to find the best oral surgeon. You can rebuild a house you can't rebuild a person.

When your constantly telling people to research a contractor it creates a stigma on the profession. It has been already been beaten to death before her but we don't need to continue this. You have to research everything these days not just contractors.

Funny as I'm typing this the commercial came on and the paid actor said "the reason why I joined Angieslist is so I can find a contractor I can trust" :lol:
 

ramsy

Roger Ruhle dba NoFixNoPay
Location
LA basin, CA
Occupation
Service Electrician 2020 NEC
Angies List policy demands removal of unlicensed company profiles, or licenses reported lapsed until further notice. So, what prevents purging bad reviews this way, then using same license number with different fictitious business names, to publish future positive reviews.

Another consideration, everyone sees contractor profiles connected to Angie's List, but can't read reviews without membership. So, bad reviews don't matter when people can't read them, and they just see your company profiled across multiple sources.
 

ceb58

Senior Member
Location
Raeford, NC
To be candid, there are a lot of contractors out there doing a fine job of making contractors look bad.

That is it in a nut shell.
One of my customers runs a garden center/landscape design business and has done well for himself over the years. In our conversations he reveled he has a degree in industrial psychology. One thing he said has stood out with me over the years. By some study did at a university if a contractor dose a good job for some one they will tell 2 of their friends. If they do a bad job they will tell 10 of their friends.
So by that if 10 people have a bad job 100 people will know about it.
 
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