toopie28

I wouldn't go by Angie's List or Yelp.

Neighbours is the way to go. Or even go into the store where you would buy the material for the job and ask for recommendations. Then invite them for a quote and research their company and contractor number.

You go through a lot of trail and error.

After all these years I finally have a brilliant plumber, roofer guy, and painter. Screwed by electricians every time and still trying to find a floor/tile guy.

Bob

It was really kind of cool to watch. Probably helped that it wasn't summer mind, but they weren't messing around. I only saw about 6 people but who knows if they had more on the other side or not.

Either way, they weren't slacking like builders I'm used to seeing around

Mr Weeze

Can I ask why you rule them out? I really do want personal recommendations, but failing that I'm wondering whether it is better than nothing.

toopie28

Well, you don't have to rule them out entirely - I suppose it's what yiou feel comfortable with.

Regarding Yelp - the owner of a local small store nearby - I was speaking to him, complaining about Yelp - see why below. He told me that Yelp has totally extorted him and other merchants that he knows. They are bombarded with calls and when they don't advertise they are getting these mysterious negative reviews, and all of their good reviews are filtered.

One of them did become an advertiser and the negative reviews disappeared and the good reviews became unfiltered. So I believe it's a pay thing and get good reviews.

My colleague was recently slammed on Yelp - online biz and the complainer wrote an unflattering review about her company and service. Never mind that her company does not even SELL what he is looking for and she told him so. He still had his review posted and even though she protested it's still there.

Went to a rest that had great reviews - it STUNK!

I've had the BBB call me to tell me I've received a bad rating - even tho I'm not part of the BBB. Anyway, they told me they would make it go away if I joined for a yearly subscription.

So that's my experience. Good reviews with money.

I don't like the fact that you have to pay for AL. There are other ways to search. Check local forums - city-data is good. I think there are contractor forums too - for whatever specified work you need done.

Sorry you asked, right?

Mr Weeze

Thanks!

MMcD

Hi Mr Weeze
Perhaps this will help you to stop wondering...and either try it or not...
or ......it's just not worth agonizing over!
http://www.pcworld.com/article/23733...rship_fee.html

https://support.angieslist.com/app/a...N2FSM3hvZ2w%3D

At worst - if you do decide to give it a try - you'll at least be able to cull out a few local contractors to meet with you and bid on your project. In the course of the process - pick their brains, perhaps even pick up a few ideas which hadn't occurred to you, and get a feeling for local costs, materials etc. Even if you eventually find your contractor thru a personal recommendation - and even that isn't necessarily a "fail safe" option ( as I discovered recently to my dismay).....your Angies List membership could prove a goldmine a few months from now if you suddenly are desperate to find a handyman, for instance (one of many separate categories included in the overall list to which you'll be subscribed).
Hope this has provided some helpful direction

Sally Redux

The comments under the PC World item are interesting.

Mr Weeze

I got emailed a 25% off code reviews13, so I will join to take a look. I won't base everything off there either.

GeoffM

Bored so I started reading more about AL. Companies pay to get better ratings. I can't see how that doesn't have some basis in fact when there is such a huge amount of text out there that say as such. Mind you, by the sound of it, Yelp and others are the same.

That got me wondering about TripAdvisor: do hotels/restaurants pay anything to be on there? I thought TA was supported by general advertising and referrals to booking sites.

In any case, one does have to manually weed out the one-offs and obviously false reviews on any review site.

Yorkieabroad

LOL - Definitely a pinch of salt on online reviews. Not casting aspersions or anything, but have you ever noticed how the same phraseology keeps coming up in different reviews on BestBuy.com...

I have only ever posted one negative review I think. That was for something we bought online - there were no online reviews for the item, so it was a bit of a blind purchase, but we did it anyway. It took 4 weeks to receive the item and when it eventually arrived it turned out to be totally unsuitable for the advertised use. After much hassle, they agreed in writing to take it back and even to refund my return postage, which I thought was pretty reasonable. Once I'd shipped it back to them, they changed their mind and refused any refund. I referred it to the CC company, showed them the emails, and they refunded me.

I posted the first review online of the item. It was negative, 1 Star, but totally factual, polite and unemotional. It stayed there for a while, but a few weeks later it had been removed, and 5 reviews had miraculously appeared, all 5 star, all from people who claimed to have bought the item over a year ago and it was still performing beautifully. All of the reviews were posted on the same day, all from locations within 10 miles of the shop we bought from. Hmmmmm... Just for kicks, I reposted my review and it was removed the same day!

MMcD

I've consistently looked to Amazon.com reviews and have always found they provide a reliable guide when assessing the pros and cons of making various purchases (even if I actually make the purchase elsewhere). And it's never let me down.
It's too bad one cannot use Amazon before deciding whether or not to join Angies List

AdobePinon

My guess is that it's similar. I notice the local restaurant listings shuffle around in ratings independently of the visible reviews, and that reviews constantly appear, disappear, and later resurface. Usually the bad reviews magically disappear at some point.

Bomjeito

Best $39 we spent when we moved here to Houston. Found our chiro, family GP, gyno/OB and house painter on Angie's list right off the bat. All great. I'd get the subscription again!

The other place I got decent recommendations was city-data.