50 customer reviews of angi.com
View Photos
Angi (formerly Angie's List) Rating
Based on 50 reviews from Angi (formerly Angie's List) customers, company has accumulated an average rating of 1 stars, indicating that majority of customers are not satisfied with its service.
Overall satisfaction rating ▼
What are Angi (formerly Angie's List) socials?
Angi (formerly Angie's List)
reviews and rating on BBB
Review of Angi (formerly Angie's List) customer complaints, rating & accreditation on Better Business Bureau
What is Angi (formerly Angie's List) rating on BBB?
Angi (formerly Angie's List) has NR rating on BBB
Is Angi (formerly Angie's List) BBB accredited?
Angi (formerly Angie's List) is BBB accredited
Are there any registered complaints of Angi (formerly Angie's List) on BBB?
There are total 0 complaints of Angi (formerly Angie's List) registered on BBB
See more Angi (formerly Angie's List) information on BBB
This being said, we called Angie's List customer support one more time, but this time to cancel the service. They said that they could cancel it, but we would have to pay a significant early termination fee, which would make it a lot more expensive than just keeping it for the remainder of the year contract, if we were to grab at least a couple of jobs here and there. We kept it, but mentioned that we would NOT renew it for the following year.
We are also subscribed to Home Advisor, which we pay per lead instead of monthly like Angie's List, and at one point we started receiving leads on Home Advisor that said "Lead submitted via Angie's List". This is where we realized that Home Advisor and Angie's List are owned by the same people, and we were paying twice for the same lead. We are paying Home Advisor for that lead that came in, but also Angie's List monthly for the same lead that found us on their platform. We called customer support again, and they tried to explain how it worked and why we weren't paying twice, but didn't make sense at all. At this point we asked again to cancel our contract, to which we were told one more time that it would be an early termination with a high fee. We were again convinced to keep it till the end of the contract. Once again we let them know that we would continue with the subscription until the end of the contract, but we would NOT renew it.
This year we sent them an email asking when the contract was up, with the idea of NOT renewing. They answered right away saying that our contract had been renewed for another year, after we specifically mentioned at least a couple of times that we didn't want to renew. We told them that we didn't want to renew, and that they knew that from last year, and they said they sent us an email regarding the renewal, and if we wanted to cancel the contract, we would have to pay an early termination fee. EARLY? We told them last year that we didn't want to renew!
We also told them we didn't receive any emails from them, but they kept saying they did send it. We checked again the email address we have in their system, but couldn't find anything. They then said they sent it to an email address we haven't used in over a year, and we don't even have in our Angie's List platform. Even though we kept saying that that email address was not in use for over a year and it's not the one they have on file, they kept insisting that the email was sent and because they didn't receive a reply, they auto-renewed the contract. That is insane. AND THAT EMAIL WAS NEVER OPENED until they told us they sent it there.
We told them many times that it was ok to charge us for the couple of months of the running year, but to please cancel that contract with no early termination fees, but we always got a negative response.
We can't say for sure we know how to insure we can cancel after maximizing what we are committed to, since if we cancel now we pay early termination fee, and if they send us a renewal email under the radar again and we don't catch it, you automatically are renewed.
Not surprisingly, if you Google Angie's List for complaints, you will see many negative reviews about their deceptive business practices and questionable validity of how they promote the "best" service providers. I suppose what is most surprising of all though is, in these current unprecedented times where businesses, especially contractors that focus on residential/non-commercial customers who either have been financially impacted by the COVID crisis or are afraid and want to distance themselves from the risk of virus exposure,, Angie's list is taking a very hard line. Insurance companies are voluntarily reducing premiums, small businesses are feeding front line essential workers, banks and credit cards are easing restrictions, but Angie's list management won't even return phone calls to if nothing else have a fair conversation. Calls to customer service who referred us to a manager and promised a call back followed by 5 voice mail messages were not even returned. The salesman said you signed the contract and they will not deviate from it, even though we never knowingly opted into a renewal. Legality aside, in these times, is this the company you want to have your back or be your "trusted advisor?"
There are two sides to every story, so I encourage you to Google "Angie's List Complaints, Angie's List Scam, Angie's List Deceptive Sales Practices" to name a few searches. If you are a consumer I encourage you to do the same, including looking at consumer reports and phrases like "Is Angie's List Reputable?"
So the day arrives and I make sure I'm home in time. 10, 20, 30 mins pass and no one has come and I have not received a text msg either. So I text the provider and get nothing back. So the time comes and goes and the next thing you know, I get a text from my bank account that the money for the job has been withdrawn. I was aghast! I can't believe the charge for the job happens automatically without the person doing the job giving some notification that the job is complete. I immediately called support and explained that no one showed up so Angi (formerly Angie's List) said they would reverse the charge and it could take up from 3 to 5 days. Luckily it was reversed within 1 to 2 hours. But, only the job rate was refunded. There's a fee for joining I guess which is still a terrible thing because if what happened to me happens to many others, this Angi app is making out like a bandit. I know I will never use their service again. I guess some things are better done the old-fashioned way ( I wound up going to a neighborhood website where people offer their first hand experience with a "provider" and found the best plumber in the whole world, I kid you not.)
Bottom line is do not waste your money in the Angi app.
Beware of the fine print as well, you have to pay a 35% cancellation fee when you do cancel. Basically I will have spent $1455 for one month (I can't stand it any longer than that).
The "leads" are price shoppers, nothing more. You can NEVER get decent customers when you're dealing with price shoppers. Some of them may not even be real leads. With two of them, I responded within 3 minutes of receiving notice that I had a "project" awaiting. There was no answer at the phone number given and after leaving a message, never heard back from either "project".
I've been in business 13 years and Angi is the absolute WORST "advertiser" I have ever dealt with. May I suggest getting on Next Door. In the same period of time where I got FOUR phone calls with absolutely no income received and $1455 spent on Angi, Next Door gave me FOUR jobs that all ended in revenue and my expenditure on advertising to get those jobs was ZERO. Stay away from Angi unless you enjoy flushing your money down the toilet.
‘Due to a last-minute pro call of your service has been rescheduled for 11/20 at 2:00PM'
I was shocked to receive this correspondence. Hardly any notice of the cancelation was provided, and I was not consulted in any way to re-schedule the appointment. Call me crazy, but I think I should have a say in when a stranger will come into my home.
The reschedule time was for a Saturday and would not fit into my schedule at all. So easy, I just cancel it right, WRONG, I started immediately sending e-mails and texts to cancel this appointment. I spent several hours writing emails, sending texts, making phone calls, and scouring the website to find out how to cancel the appointment that I didn't schedule, nothing worked. Remember the relentless calls I received in the beginning, yeah now that I had an issue no one would talk to me. All the numbers are answered by voice recordings and no one was responding to the various e-mails.
Saturday rolled around and sure enough the appointment was not cancelled despite the various forms of communication I provided. I was able to contact the service person before hand and inform them of the cancelation. Angi (formerly Angie's List) did not come, but I was charged for the service I never received. Not only was I charged for the service, I got another notification for my ‘next cleaning appointment'. I didn't schedule any other cleaning appointments! They already had my credit card information, and they were going to run with it.
In summary, this company is a complete and total joke (to be polite). They are thieves, they are after your credit card information, once they get that don't plan on speaking to them again. If you ever want to put yourself through complete and total frustration and agony contact Angie's list aka Angi, otherwise look elsewhere.
You people who are upset with AL seem not to know very much about it, because otherwise, you would join and be glad of the $48 you spent because if you are planning on doing any sort of major repairs on your home, you can get very reliable reports. Also, I "lent" my AL login info to a friend in Tennessee and when the work she needed done on her place was finished, I never got my own account transferred to TN. I realize that giving my login info to a friend skirts the AL agreement, but since I hadn't used it to find a contractor for over a year, I didn't think it an issue. I'd rather pay $48 a year up front than get duped by a horrible contractor for $4800.
I think they realize that people can have two homes in different parts of the country, and I never had any repercussions from it. They never got confused and sent me stuff for TN. So to those people complaining about that issue, frankly... I don't see it as an issue. And who would you rather believe? 100 AL reviews that says my business is a great business and if you were a customer of theirs, you could get that info in 5 minutes... or spend your afternoon wasting you and your friend's and neighbor's time by asking them "who do you like for gutter cleaning?" They don't know. Angie's List knows.
Today, 6/25, I called the "Card Adjustment Team" myself, only to find out that Max had submitted a refund request for me way back on 6/18! The money's already back on the card! This is good news, but I had no idea that Max had quit me and never texted or called to say he was giving up. Apparently, there's an email somewhere in my Spam folder. All that time, aggravation and effort by me FOR NO REASON!
P.S. I found a reputable painting company in the tiny local Yellow Pages, had the owner come out to measure and answer questions, received the bid today and have put down a deposit on a bid that is half of what Angi estimated. I will never, ever use Angi or Home Advisor again!
I wish I knew the information about Elite Foundation Repairs in Feb. 2021, that I currently know about them now in Jan 2022. I would NEVER have used Elite Foundation Repairs!
On 02/23/2021, Wai Lee, a structural analyst from Elite Foundation Repair, was referred by my realtor to assess the problematic foundation issues, for a home I was having inspected, prior to purchasing the home. The home inspection revealed foundation measurements that were beyond acceptable range, per TX home inspection standards. Wai Lee completed his assessment, took measurements of the home foundation and presented me with a written estimate for $2950 to install 5 piers on the master bedroom side of the home. He stated that the 5 pier repair was minor and was not a repair that needed to be done at that time. During a follow up phone conversation, days later, Wai confirmed his statements and stated that if it was his home he would "leave it alone and not do any foundation repairs at that time." Wai Lee NEVER discussed any possibility of a plumbing leak being the cause of the foundation issues, nor did he discuss or suggest that a plumbing test could be done on that home to determine if there were any leaks present in the plumbing, during his initial consultation on 2/23/21, or on the follow up phone conversation I had with him.
On 10/21/2021, Wai Lee was rescheduled to do a foundation reassessment, due to the tiles in the bathroom beginning to crack. He then at that time, discussed the age of the home (1972), that the plumbing in the home was 50+ y/o cast iron pipes with high potential for leaks, that it was likely that a leak in the slab was the cause for the foundation issues, that the cost to repair and replace the cast iron plumbing could be $30,000 - $50,000 and that a $150 plumbing test for leaks, needed to be done, before any foundation repair could be completed.
Wai Lee/Elite Foundation Repairs' failure to discuss crucial information regarding this home or make a basic recommendation, to have a $150 plumbing test done, to determine if there were any plumbing leaks present that were causing the foundation issues, cost me an additional $6000 in foundation repair ($8550 total) and $15,000 in plumbing repair, on a home I had only owned for 8 MONTHS. I would have avoided, these $21,000 repair costs, had I been given this information, PRIOR to purchasing the home.
I have contacted the owner of Elite Foundation Repairs, Jefferie Ellison, presented the facts of his situation to him and asked him multiple times, what he is willing to do to be accountable for his company's neglectful actions and to negotiate with me as his customer, to assist me in recovery of this avoidable $21,000 in repair costs, that I was left to pay for. His only responses were to deny the facts and distort the truth. He made NO attempt to show ANY good will or responsibility to me as his customer and his responses have only served to demonstrate, what I consider to be a total disregard for customer service or appreciation and a complete lack of professional integrity and ethics.
I am currently exploring all recourse options, including legal recourse. I am committed to file formal complaints to the authorities, regarding my dissatisfaction with Elite Foundation Repairs' business practice and I hope to protect others from being put in this same situation by them, as well.
Please also read other customer complaints on Elite Foundation Repairs on Better Business Bureau TX.
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
Angi (formerly Angie's List) provided me absolutely no benefit the first 4 moths for $1200, and now expect me to pay another $945 to cancel the contract, because the contract does say Patio's instead of Decks. Checking our online portal it shows that we are listed under Decks, however they wouldn't allow us to advertise that as we had received a bad review the week after signing the contract (from a 2 year old project who just wouldn't be made happy). So I didn't get a single lead for a service we actually provide and now have to pay even more to cancel the contract... but they offered a free month of service to advertise products we don't even sell for some reason, how helpful of them. Be extra careful if signing with them, they could care less if you actually get anything for your money, so make sure you have it all correct and expect to it just be like signage, maybe someone will see your name now and then, but probably won't get any value directly from Angie's List - and if they do make a mistake, and you don't catch it yourself right away, they'll accept no responsibility for it. Bad service, no value, and they couldn't care less, highly recommend against using their paid services.
Additionally, the very first time it rained following installation of the pool screen, the Super Gutter which he installed was leaking. We brought this to Mario's attention and were promised several times that crews would be by to fix it. They never came and now, months later, the problem has still not been resolved. As with the drain issue, Mario does not return numerous calls or messages and clearly has no intention of correcting the problem and standing behind the workmanship of his crews.
So be forewarned that although this company may at first be responsive and faster than some to perform installation, you don't get what you pay for, there is no quality control and no customer service. They are just quick to take your money and then you will not hear from them again.
After this experience, I began to look into this company and found that they have undergone several name changes, as well as Contractor license number changes and locations. It is apparent now why this was done – they screw customers and then try to get more by changing into something else (ie: Mario Russo Aluminum, Mr. Aluminum, Treasure Coast Marine Inc., Family Pools). The company you hire may even have a different name, but be warned against an Owner named Mario Russo.
• The owner of CREO Remodeling Refined, L. Paul Gilliland, performed or was responsible for the renovations himself.
• Initially, Mr. Gilliland gave me a considerable low estimate but as the renovations got started Mr. Gilliland continuously request additional monies that quickly exceed the estimate he originally provided. When I questioned him about the additional monies, he said the cost of materials was higher than anticipated and stated that I had "expensive taste." He refused to provide me with receipts for the materials and stated that he was " not required to show them" to me and threatened to leave in the middle of the job if I continued to "harass" him. He also threated that it would be impossible for me to get another contractor to complete the job.
• At the initial meeting, Mr. Gilliland provided me with his business card with the address crossed out. When I questioned him about the address, he said that he was having new business cards printed and once received he would give me one. Throughout the five month period that Mr. Gilliland was working in my home, I would ask him for the new business cards. He kept saying that Angi (formerly Angie's List) were ordered, and he had not received them. When I pursued this, he again threated that he would leave in the middle of the job and it would be impossible for me to get another contractor to complete the job if I kept "harassing" him.
• Within days of Mr. Gilliland completing the job, I noticed that there were several items in the master bathroom and in another bathroom that were not operating properly and needed to be repaired. I immediately attempted to contact Mr. Gilliland for him to complete the necessary repairs. I left him many voicemail messages but he refused to answer my calls. I also left multiple text messages to which he also failed to respond.
• Since Mr. Gilliland failed to answer my attempts to contact him or provide me with any legitimate mailing address, I was unable to resolve the issues with the necessary repairs. Therefore, I did some research to find his address. I found four Paul Gilliland addresses in the Delaware Valley area and sent a certified letter to each of the four addresses. All the letters were returned to me with an annotation "addressee refused to accept." The purpose of these certified letters was for him to make good on the commitment he made to me. I paid Mr. Gilliland the increased charges and deserve to get the quality of work he promised.
• Since Mr. Gilliland failed and refused to hold up his end of the agreement, I was forced to hire a plumber to repair the bathrooms. Mr. Gilliland forced me to endure unjustified additional expenses because of his mediocre craftsmanship and failure to respond to my communication attempts to repair the bathrooms. Because Mr. Gilliland refused to resolve an issue with his workmanship, he owes me $355.00 for reimbursement for the plumbing repairs that I had to pay a plumber.
• I strongly recommend that anyone considering hiring Mr. Gilliland obtain the proper IRS form to ensure that he properly report the earned income as required by law. Mr. Gilliland told me about his gambling habits and admitted to having high debt. I am not confident that Mr. Gilliland reported the monies that he collected from me as earned income so I completed and mailed the appropriate form to the IRS.
Even worse, if you later sell your property, or just decide that you aren't getting your money's worth from the new "List," you'll have to telephone or email Angie's List and request a "stop" on the automatic annual renewal (or request that the "List" be removed from your membership, altogether). There is no way to flag this "List" on the website as "do not renew."
There's nothing wrong with automatic renewals of membership subscriptions, but any website that allows you to sign up for an additional membership service should also allow you to CANCEL that service at any time, without going through extraordinary efforts, like calling or mailing the company. Lack of such a "stop charging me!" function should be a red flag for any subscriber, or would-be subscriber.
Scripts Complete offers top-tier secure & certified Arabic transcribing services. We provide not just high-quality services but also competitively low costs. We have a team of qualified and native Arabic transcribers with years of transcribing expertise who offer the best language transcribing services online.
"Arabic transcription services are provided by Scripts Complete with top rates
Of at least Industry Expertise levels. We offer not only quality services, but competitively affordable prices."
Our Other Language Transcription services:
English transcription
German transcription
Spanish transcription
Portuguese transcription
Chinese transcription
Italian transcription
French transcription
Korean transcription and more languages
Accepted Audio/video File Formats
For transcription, we accept all audio and video file types, including MP3, WMA, RA, FLAC, APE, AIFF, OGG, AAC, MOV, MP4, MPG, WMV, 3GP, and others.
Why Scripts Complete for Arabic Transcription Services?
Hiring a Arabic transcription service such as Scripts Complete may be the greatest option in terms of Arabic transcript quality and accuracy, as well as other criteria such as rapid turnaround, low pricing, and content security. We are an approved Arabic audio transcription firm with native transcribers to handle your project requirements.
Scripts Complete offers the most economical price on the market for speedy and quality Arabic audio transcription services. Our highly skilled Arabic linguists are well-versed in the culture and complexity connected with the Arabic language, ensuring high-quality writing that does not require editing.
Our Arabic Transcription Services Include:
Arabic audio transcription service
Arabic television transcription service
Arabic video transcription service
Arabic transcription translation service
Arabice interview transcription service
Arabic audio books transcription service
Arabic movie transcription service
Arabice script transcription service
Arabic qualitative research transcription service
Multi Language Transcription
We offer Arabic transcription in a range of linguistic combinations. We provide transcribing services in language pairings such as:
Arabic to English transcription
Arabic to French transcription
Arabic to Arabic transcription
Arabic to Korean transcription
Arabic to Italian transcription
Arabic to Spanish transcription and more
For more information on transcription Arabic or any of our other transcribing services, feel free to contact us straight away for a FREE QUOTE.
https://scriptscomplete.com/Arabic-Transcription-Services.php
Have to find a QUALIFIED worker on your own and pay AGAIN.
Owner: Jeremey Groll
I used several search engines out there to locate a contractors(s) to work with me to vinyl side my home and replacing all windows (18).
It's tough to locate a contractor that does both and presents a bid that is affordable. I was very fortunate to find Jeremy Groll, Sensible Home Products, LLC; Owner and hands-on contractor who presented me with an honest bid that not only gave me choices on every decision to be made, but was also very upfront regarding cost and the possibility of additional challenges that may be facing me once the job starts.
I was given a very fair price for the quality of product I decided to use; both with the siding and window choices. I have always been suspicious of contractors, having experienced poor quality of work and schedule overrides in the past. These doubts and fears have stemmed from past experience. Well, Jeremy and Sensible Home Products, LLC have renewed my faith in contractors as well as fair reliable business practices. There was some cost override with this job due to conditions that could not be foreseen until the removal process began.
Jeremy kept me up-to-date on almost a daily basis via text, phone and pictures of the area(s) needing repair. It was an amazing experience to have this kind of support and status updates from my contractor. From the day I met with Jeremy to discuss the project until the day I put the key into my new front door I had and have full confidence in the person, the Company and the crew Jeremy has working with him.
If you have a home project, big or small, I recommend giving Jeremy Groll and his company Sensible Home Products, LLC a shot at bidding it. When we initially met Jeremy showed me a few on-line reviews of his work and I thought, yeah, he could have written those, but I'm now happy to be one of his satisfied customers writing this review. Thanks for a stellar job Jeremy!
Michael-Manchester, CT
During the construction of our ADU, Mike was just a text or phone call away. He kept us informed of upcoming events and visited our job site almost daily, sometimes more than once a day. He was present at all 12 of the City inspections. Every step along the way, we noted the high quality of materials Mike uses from the Ganahl lumber to the thick insulation and roofing paper to the copper pipes and shower hot mop, and mold-resistant drywall. Mike uses materials which meets or exceeds code requirements. Everyone on Mike's team is extremely skilled in his/her craft, many having worked with him for decades. Mike is old school and does not take any shortcuts.
Along with high quality construction and materials, Mike is extremely efficient. Our ADU was completed in four months, as promised. Progress was made every day. From the rough work to the finishes, Mike scheduled his team members just in time which resulted in an extremely efficient and smooth workflow. Mike builds with his heart. His passion is infectious which inspires his team members to do their best work. The results are evident in the finished product. Our neighbors and friends are extremely impressed with the quality and build of our ADU.
If you value a well-built home and appreciate attention to detail, you will not be disappointed with Mike Maman. You WILL get what you pay for with MF Construction.
I handn't had a need for services since 2017, I guess. Prior to that, Angie's List was one of those great sites that could steer you to a great contractor. A quick search and you could find authentic reviews for local contractors and choose ones that were really great. I found a house painter, an indoor painter, an electrician, a handyman... you name it, Angi (formerly Angie's List) had it.
Fast forward to 2021 and the basement sink started to gurgle every time we flushed the toilet and backed up a bit when we took a shower. I figured that the problem was with the sewer main. I went right to Angie's List and found 'Angi.' I figured it was just updated rebranding and moved forward. Oddly, they wanted a fair amount of information, more than I remembered from before. I put it in and pressed on.
The top hit was a local plumber with five-star ratings, so I figured I go with it. Strange, I thought, that they would give a pre-payable price quote online without me having to email or even speak to the plumber, but I didn't think much of it. It was upwards of $400. Sounded like a lot when noone actually knew what the exact problem was. I went with negotiating my own price. I got the name and address and figured I'd just try calling.
Everything seemed fine. The guy was delayed--par for the course with this kind of thing. He fidgeted around in the basement for nearly 2 hours and came up to give the bad news. He couldn't fix the clog and we'd need to replace 70 feet of sewer line. The basement was a mess with--literally--crap all over the place and fecal footprints here and there. There was an old dresser next to the outlet for the sewer main, which extends below our front porch. I have no idea what he was doing down there but there were feculent footprints atop the dresser as well. It smelled like the monkey house at the zoo if they hadn't cleaned up for a week. As he couldn't fix the problem, there was 'no charge' but we were given a card to call for the sewer main replacment.
The whole thing just didn't seem kosher to me. We called a neighbor who recently had some construction done on his home and we were told to call Ken's Plumbing in Edison. At first they weren't sure if they could get someone out there that day, but I guess they heard the urgency in our voices. Just after plumber #1 left the premesis, Ken's guys showed up. They scoped and snaked the drain in under 45 minutes and we were good to go. They assured us that we did not need to replace the sewer main. And, by the way, the sewer line is only 50 feet long. They apologized for the mess, even though it wasn't theirs, and even cleaned up the larger chunks of sewage. They gave us the cards for a couple of reliable professional clean-up experts; the one we went with was professional, prompt, and did an thorough job. Kudos to Ken and the boys... Oh, and to top it off, Ken's (who came at the drop of a hat) charged over $100 less than the original contractor's estimate and less than Angi's pre-pay price. Lesson--be skeptical and always opt to negotiate your own price.
As a referral service and a service that makes a profit by taking a cut from each job referred, the modern Angi (a/k/a Home Advisor) is really a contractor promotor. I have no idea if the reviews are curated by Angi, but the plumber that came to us basically made a mess and told us we would need thousands of dollars work of unnessessary work. And, truly, without calling another plumber, how would I know? Things like this, car repairs, medical care... you rely on the professionals to be honest and tell you what really needs to be done. Otherwise, you might have to go with that expensive but unnecessary cylinder replacement, have all your heart valves replaced for no particular reason,... or replace a sewer main that works just fine... And, I suppose, if Angi takes a little cream off the top, it all goes well for Angi and the contractor, but not so well for your bank account.
CONCLUSIONS: I wouldn't trust the reviews on Angi--the reviews appear real to me, but it seems to me that they may remove anything less than three stars. Spotlights on Angi are likely paid, promotional spots. It is doubtful that the companies are spotlighted because of merit. I imagine all kinds of contractors use the service (so apperance on Angi absolutely does not mean that the contractor is bad), but as Angi probably charges a percent of the profits for referrals, it probably costs less to go outside of Angi/HomeAdvisor. Angi's pre-pay option is likely more expensive than self negotiation and finding your own contractor is even less expensive...
Canvassing around, I guess it's hard to find a site anymore that has unvarnished, unbiased reviews of local help. Word of mouth seems to be the only way to go. There are a number of service-type sites, but they all seem to have the same arrangement with the businesses that they serve. I will not use Angi in the future. Home Advisor reminds us why, when it comes to the internet, it's still a bit of a wild wild West out there. Absolutely not recommended.
Before writing this critique I purchased a membership, studied its materials, and also as a journalist interviewed spokesperson Cheryl Reid by phone.
Angie seeks to minimize ringer listings (reviews by the reviewees) by "proprietary" means which may include cross-checking reviewers' phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, etc. Angie also restricts the number of reviews of a single provider coming from one user—but I couldn't discern much if any protection against a merchant's attempting to buy off bad reviews by offering incentives to the reviewers to withdraw them.
Particularly worrisome is the fact that Angie will without prompting reveal to each service provider the identity of every reviewer of that provider's service. After I discovered this practice I asked a rep about it. The rep boasted that no lawsuit against a reviewer had prevailed. The rep would not say how many lawsuits had been filed. Of course, defending even against lawsuits that fail can be extremely costly, stressful, and time-consuming. "Reputation protection" services have of late become quite popular, and there is a dismaying probability of lawsuits from negative reviews. There's also the fact that a consumer may continue with a problematic provider (like a physician specialist for example) rather than take a chance with a competitor. In such instances the consumer may be reluctant to write a review even partially negative, knowing that the provider will be reading the review.
The likely result of Angie's notification policy is all but the most positive reviews will be self-suppressed or at least toned down, affecting seriously the reliability of Angie's List assessments.
Angie's List does accept advertising from listed providers who wish to offer discounts, and it reportedly solicits that advertising aggressively. Members may choose to search for providers offering these discounts, which purportedly don't otherwise affect the listings or their placement. They're available only from A- and B-rated providers.
***Membership agreements***
You must agree to Angie's privacy policy before joining. This document takes up an excruciatingly long page of tiny text, essentially impossible to get through and harder yet to comprehend. However: the super-diligent will note that buried in the interminable fine print is permission for Angie to disclose *any* information "permitted by relevant law." (So why all the fine print? Guess.)
The general membership agreement makes you liable for "liquidated damages" of up to $10,000.00—yes, ten thousand dollars—for a single violation of its terms, which cover such issues as how you use the reviews. These terms are about as easy to understand as those of the privacy policy. Moreover, you incredibly must agree in advance to any changes in the agreement made without notice to you.
(On the other hand, Angie is not at all strict about fulfilling its own membership obligations. The same membership agreement states without qualification that "Monthly and annual memberships include a subscription to the Angie's List monthly magazine." Yet in over a year I never received a single issue. When I inquired, I was told that magazines aren't sent to those with my class of membership—but that I was free to upgrade.)
Many members will be surprised to learn that they've signed up for membership in perpetuity. Angie's memberships are opt-out, that is, automatically renewed and re-charged, until the member affirmatively resigns. You can opt out of the opt-out when signing up—but if you do, get confirmation in writing!
***Site navigation and customer service***
Site navigation is quirky and sometimes frustrating. Customer service is highly accessible and friendly but too often clueless, and simple inquiries can consume half an hour or more.
***Bottom line***
I don't advise joining unless (a) you realize that Angie's reviews are skewed to the positive, (b) you're unconcerned about your privacy, (c) you're willing to wade through the extensive and opaque general membership agreement, (d) you're prepared to re-read the changeable agreement before taking any action related to the service, and (e) before joining you've opted out from automatic renewal, and have written confirmation in hand.