Angies list
Has anyone used Angies list for renovation/demo work? Are the reviews trustworthy or could you do the research without the lists help? Thanks
Has anyone used Angies list for renovation/demo work? Are the reviews trustworthy or could you do the research without the lists help?
Thanks
Very interesting, all the negative comments on Housblogs.
For those of you who have seen Angie’s List, is it essentially all positive – like Zagat’s, with only the praised companies listed – or does it include workmen that people consider to be rude, incompetent, scoundrels?
I quote from above…” You should always, always do your research”
Don’t know who mentioned it before but I used http://www.goodpeopleguide.com to find someone to do work in my yard and came across Galway Bay. I was very happy with the references and their work.
Review sites are a tool to research… and a place to help out one another. So When you have the opportunity put up a review any insight on a contractor is valuable to your neighbor.
I really appreciate this question, because it’s something I’ve been tempted to do myself.
I’ve been very leery, because you have no idea when you’re paying for – I’m surprised that they don’t have a small sample available for free. I don’t know what it costs here, but it’s up to $80 in some cities, and the more that’s on there, the more expensive it gets. That’s a lot to pay when you have no idea if you’ll get useful results or not.
I’ve been contemplating the idea of sharing a subscription with someone else, and splitting the cost, so I’m interested to hear that some of you had good experiences.
I got my contractor off a referral from Angie’s list and he turned out to be fantastic. I also got a painter and a plumber from my previous apt. from the site. Some categories have a lot more listings and reviews than others; I would only go with a referral that has several reviews (and that aren’t all obviously posted by the same person).
I guess angie’s list is a mixed bag.
I used angie’s list with great success. The last time was for an emergency bioler work. I needed someone at my building at midnight. yellow pages had a few who would come right away but I would have to pay $300 emergency fee plus parts and labor. My wife found someone from Angies list and he came right away and stayed at the building till 2am to finish the work (3 hours work in total). He charged me $80 for the job. A city inspector came in the next morning, gave the job a clean bill of health and all was fine. The bioler specialist even called after the inspection was done to make sure all was ok.
I highly recommend angie’s list. (im a landlord)
A reference to a contractor is still a crap shoot if you don’t know the quality standards of the person offering the reference. Check out the work the contractor did for that person. It may not be up to your standards. Or it may have been a trivial handyman job. Or he may have a vested interest in getting his lazy brother-in-law a gig.
I love Angie’s List, which I use to make my short list to get estimates. I find tons of references, and have been happy with the contractors I’ve found there. It’s something like $30 a year–a great bargain, I think.
You should always, always do your research.
When someone posts a review any where, you have no idea who posted that review – friends, family members, etc.
Always talk to several contractors.
Always check for a valid license and current liability insurance.
Always ask for at least 5 quality references and call all of them. Stop by and look at their work, if they’re close and the reference doesn’t mind.
Always be there whenever work is being done so there are no surprises down the road.
Try ConstructionDeal.com – it’s fast, free, and you can decide how many bids you want to get. Don’t always go with the lowest bid because they have to cut corners to get to that price. Unless you want corners cut. Then, you’re on your own.