Angie's List: Have You Used it to find a Contractor? Thoughts?

[Joshua Dorkin]

I'm having a horribly difficult time finding contractors for a large project I need completed at my home. One of three red flags appear when I contact one:

a) They come and never follow up with an actual bid - over 50% of the contractors who have come to see the full task.
b) Their bids take much longer to return then promised. If you can't return a bid on time, how are you going to be able to complete a large project in any kind of reasonable amount of time?
c) Their bids are incomplete or include several areas where markups are excessive (eg. bid came in that included gutter work that was 2x the bid of all other bids on that part of the job).

So - I'm running out of patience - fast - and need to get this job done in the next 2 months.

Which leads me to Angie's List. Have any of you used this site to screen contractors (looking for a GC)? What are your thoughts?

[Jason S.]

I think I will start a second company, charge much more per job, get listed on Angie's List and then rake in the dough from customer's willing to pay extra. It's easy to satisfy when you are being paid much more for the job than you would have originally charged. Anything the customer wants that's a little extra - just do it.

Apparently Angie's list is like the BBB, giving false security to the Buyer and undeserved credibility to the Business.

And yes, it is easy to game Angie's List, even with their checks and balances.

With that said I am certain that there are many reputable businesses listed.

1. Reviews are unpaid.
2. Reviews at the top are from paid member's.
3. Contractors at the top of the list can buy their way to the top, though they cannot buy their rating unless they game #1 or #2 above.

[Julie Grupke]

I know this post is old but I just signed up for AL then came to BP to search your guys' opinions on it.

Few things I noticed - the letter ratings don't tell you anything nor do the result rankings, but the comments sure do - especially when I found several raving & borderline threatening contractor responses to negative reviews!

I couldn't believe some of the things written - from "You gave me an F for not returning your phone calls??" to personally insulting the reviewers to saying reviewers were taking food off their kids' table.

AL totally dropped the ball on site moderation, something you BP moderators excel at. Makes BP more professional and useful for all - AL's lack of it did the opposite for me. I can read ranting insults on Facebook for free, if that's my mood. :) I wish Amazon had contractor reviews!

[John Moore]

Go to your local large lumber yard or large supplier and ask the service manager to make recommendations for the type of contractor you need. They are aware of most contractors reputation and how they conduct their business (volume, time in trade and if they have good credit) I have found them to be a very reliable source.

[John Moore]

Approach the local lumber yard or large construction supplier and ask them for referrals. They know their reputation is on the line and will recommend professional types with equally good professional reputations and who have good credit standing with the supplier.

[Bill Gulley]

Best way to find a good contract is through professional organizations initially and by word of mouth. Building regs is a good source after you get the into general conversations and ask to see permits and inspections with completion dates for a final inspection.

I don't trust any site like AL as anyone can join, make statements as to how great someone is, so that may boil down to how many friends a contractor may have and how big his/her extended family might be. :)