That sounds pretty bad. I could see not wanting to give an honest review if it was negative. These are people who know where you live. Ouch!

In the old days, the vendor could only figure-out who you are by the date and price or description of your job. They they get your personal info.

So, I quit.

http://blog.upboom.com/2010/12/28/6-reasons-why-angies-list-sucks-continue-review-on-angieslist-com/

My biggest concern is that hey no longer hide the identity of the reviewer. They claim this is to help the vendor improve their practices, but in reality, vendors can now intimidate reviewers into changing their reviews. Angie’s List claims to police this, but in fact they have transferred any legal liability from their company to the people doing the reviews. They have also put reviewers in danger by releasing the names of who they are and where they can be reached.

I changed my last two negative reviews, then quit Angie’s List. I don’t need desperate vendors hassling me on the phone.

Second, I have suggested for years that AL reduce the annual fees for people who submit reviews. This seems so logical, but they refuse to do this. Why should I crank out writing, now putting me at risk, so they can make a profit?

Finally, I had several friends write bogus positive reviews about a given company to prove that AL can provide totally bogus data. All of those fake reviews were posted.

Angie’s List has lost all value. Boycott them.

The first time I used the List, I dove in headfirst, deciding to give it a try. The second time, Angie’s List actively recruited me back, saying that they now had a lot of contractors in my area – which was not true.

To be fair, I believe they gave me my money back both times I signed up. I would love to love this service, because it’s badly needed in our area. Unfortunately, it seems that too few people use it actively enough to make it worthwhile.

My company got two reviews on there by users. A person who hired my company after meeting face to face, gave an “A” rating. Then a few months later, a person who only emailed, and never got an estimate or work done, or even talked to us, gave an “F” rating.

That’s phase one of this story. Here is phase two:

Another person uses Angie’s List and sees those two reviews. They get an estimate from us, and from one more Angie’s List referral. I answered the potential customer that it will take two full days to prune 17 trees. The second company says it will take only a couple of hours. So the customer picks the first company, because from experience, he knows it takes days, not hours.

Now can you imagine reviews and results more widespread than that?

There were even screen shots taken of these reviews to show how radically different they can be. I’ve been sharing those with other arborists and landscape contractors on a few forums so they can see verbatim what is written on Angie’s list and what the report forms look like.

M. D. Vaden of Oregon

I joined Angie’s list June 2009 because we were moving out of an older home but needed to have repairs done to help us sell. I thought Angie’s list would be a useful resource, far from it. Very few listings and even fewer reviews/ratings. I have been checking the “list” every time I need any kind of service and still I can’t find much of anything. So I decided before my annual renewal I would cancel.

WAIT A MINUTE…..I can’t seem to find an easy way to do this. I can’t even delete my credit card info, see when the membership will renew, or even an email address to cancel.

I used their “contact us” form to send my request for cancellation. Let’s see how long this will take, because I have read enough nightmares on how difficult it is to cancel.

As for all the work I have scheduled since joining Angie’s I have not used any of their limited info, instead the Better Business Bureau is what I have relied on and it’s free.

Not worth joining Angie’s List…I just hope
I can cancel without too much of a headache.

I’ve moved from neutral, to thinking it may be a farce. But one advantage I can see with a fee, is that it adds a commitment hurdle, which may be good. I’d wager that people who are willing to pay a bit of money each month are probably more reliable than average.

So far, I’ve been reviewed once there, and the review is accurate. Not because the review is good and I like it, but because the review matches the references listed at my own website’s background page – many of which are from professionals. And referrals from similar professionals hold a lot of weight.

I think the greater value in Angie’s list will build as reviews multiply. That will show trends, and trends tend to erase the ambiguity of mere opinion.

Cheers,

MDV
Oregon

ONE MORE THING: THEY DO GET PAID BY CONTRACTORS AS WELL AS THEY CHARGE THEM TO STAY ON TOP OF THE LIST. THEY DO NOT VERIFY THE ACCURACY OF THE PEOPLE WHO RATE A COMPANY OR WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP THEY HAVE WITH THAT COMPANY. THE NEW YORK TIME HAS CALLED THEM “NOTHING MORE THAN A GLORIFIED YELLOW PAGES”…..

Sorry for writing in all caps……I hope that this simply tells you how passionately negative
I feel about this outfit. I hate to see people getting blatantly and arrogantly ripped off because, in my opinion and experience, Angie’s List sucks.

I hired a contractor that I found on Angie’s List last year to do my kitchen backsplash, and he did an absolutely phenomenal job and came in under his initial quote.

Ordinarily, I’m 100% against registration and setup fees, but in this case, when you’re in a pinch and can’t get a recommendation from a friend or coworker, I’d definitely recommend Angie’s List.