Any users of Angie's List?

We signed up before taking on some extensive housework (still ongoing) and it’s been invaluable. I don’t know that we’ll maintain the subscription once the work’s done, but it has been so much better that picking tradesmen blindly or through a couple of recommendations.

Many of the guys we’ve hired have given us a discount because we found them through Angie’s list. And they’re also conscious of the fact that if they fail to satisfy, I have the power to impact their rating.

This totally looks like a spam setup, doesn’t it?

@thorninmud It does? I am moving and wanted recommendations on movers. After unsuccessfully asking acquaintances, I tried Angie’s List. I just wanted to know what others though of it.

@marinelife Ha, no it’s perfectly cool. I’m just amused that if everybody here didn’t know us, this would look just like one of those “Has anybody used Guanchow Carting Agents for their shipping needs?’’ kind of threads.

I joined Angie’s List a few months ago. So far, I’ve been very disappointed and annoyed that I wasted my money. That website never seems to help me. If I try to research a merchant, I find nothing for that particular business. When I search for good service providers, I get nowhere.

Maybe it’s just me…

@SadieMartinPaul I was a little underwhelmed by my first experience. Thus, this question.

It does @thorninmud :-)

I haven’t used Angies List but I have used sites that rate tradies and put you in touch with different tradespeople and have found them useful. I still think word-of-mouth is the best recommendation when it comes to tradies. That’s how I’ve ended up finding tradespeople I have used repeatedly and for the longterm.

In each city, Angie’s List is only as useful as the people make it. If consumers don’t take the time to rate companies, businesses, handymen, etc. in their city than Angie’s List won’t have many recommendations for you to consider. When I first joined there were only a handful of ratings in my city. Now it has grown to where it’s the first place I turn to for recommendations.

As far as being worth the money, no, not really.

I live in one of the first towns Angie’s List started, so the network is VERY well established here. I get a lot of use out of it. I have no idea what it’s like outside my area, but its very well worth every cent if you live in central Indiana.