Any thoughts on Angies List?

Ralph Q

Ralph Q

New member
Just wondering if anyone here has advertised on Angies List? I was quoted $168 per month to be featured on the first page, whenever anyone does a search for Gutter Cleaning in my area. I looked into Pressure washing but their is literally hundreds of them in a 5 mile radius. have read some horror stories about contractors not getting any leads whatsoever. Then when they cancel their advertising ,all of a sudden bad reviews start showing up from people the contractor has never head of. Don't know if that is true, could just be sour grapes, but I read that in more than one place from seemingly unrelated sources. I also read that they pressure you to offer "The big deal" in which you pretty much have to give your services away just to make Angies List look good. And all customer contact goes through Angies List, which seems weird to me. It also seemed strange to me that they are even selling advertising, given the tagline they use, "no contractor can pay to be on Angies List". Any insight on this would be great. I want to hear it from real experience before I put out that kind of cash.
 
I have big reservations on AL based quite a bit on what you are describing. I also don't think we should be letting AL determine who the so called qualified contractors are in the industry.
 
I joined as a customer but what i found was weird is that if you want to get reviews that mean anything the customer has to be a paid member. Just another agency that is buying reviews. The BBB is the same way. People think these places make contractors reliable and good workers. Their motto : show me the money and you get paid. So far for me the best advertising has been word of mouth and my vehicle lettering.
 
I have heard from contractors that Angies list wants contractors to pay to be there so it is buying credibility which does not make sense to me, it is supposed to be a place where you can find reputable contractors, not see who is paying to be listed on their site, just like the BBB, pay money and you are instantly "Accredited". What a joke!
 
Christopher said:
I have heard from contractors that Angies list wants contractors to pay to be there so it is buying credibility which does not make sense to me, it is supposed to be a place where you can find reputable contractors, not see who is paying to be listed on their site, just like the BBB, pay money and you are instantly "Accredited". What a joke!
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You nailed it Chris! Stay away from Angie! That's exactly what it is, a big joke. When you do land a gig, even if you ask them to leave a review, most of them won't. Yes, if you pay Angie enough money, you will land a few residential jobs, but not worth it at all.imo

Todd McCown
Pressure Pros
(210) 913-9457
pressurepros@Hotmail.com
www.powerwashsanantonio.com
 
I don't remember if it was 60 minutes or Dateline or some other documentary type show where they investigated the BBB and showed where you buy your "Accreditation" and had proof of many instances but it would be interesting to have them do the same thing for Angies list so the public would know the truth about what is happening out there.
 
Christopher said:
I don't remember if it was 60 minutes or Dateline or some other documentary type show where they investigated the BBB and showed where you buy your "Accreditation" and had proof of many instances but it would be interesting to have them do the same thing for Angies list so the public would know the truth about what is happening out there.
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It probably started out honest and with the best intentions.

One doesn't win when they are the largest or make the most money. One wins when they have the courage to say "No, I am not going to do that" when tempted to sell out.

Lawyers and investors probably took it over.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2
 
I guess I am old school but having a professional looking rig, lettered with your number and a nice informative website will work every time. Yard signs and also a great way to advertise. I have been burnt in the past by paying for some advertising. I still like to tell the story of when my wife wanted to contact me (before we were married) she looked me up in the yellow pages.
 
Ed Thompson said:
AL works pretty good for us. We do a lot of rez work so customers will see our good ratings and feel comfortable using us. We have about 15 great reviews so people won't quibble much about price. I pay under $200 for 10 counties/mo. I'm moderately satisfied with Angies List.
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I respect your thoughts Ed , thanks for sharing


Oct event San Diego free free text me for more details !!
 
Tony Shelton said:
It probably started out honest and with the best intentions.

One doesn't win when they are the largest or make the most money. One wins when they have the courage to say "No, I am not going to do that" when tempted to sell out.

Lawyers and investors probably took it over.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2
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Yes I believe they just went public not to long ago. I guess cash is king and credibility can be bought. I declined the advertising after thinking about it and the sales rep calls, emails all day long trying to sweeten the pot. That alone makes me not want to advertise at all or give a rats a$$ about my reviews.
 
Ralph Q said:
Just wondering if anyone here has advertised on Angies List? I was quoted $168 per month to be featured on the first page, whenever anyone does a search for Gutter Cleaning in my area. I looked into Pressure washing but their is literally hundreds of them in a 5 mile radius. have read some horror stories about contractors not getting any leads whatsoever. Then when they cancel their advertising ,all of a sudden bad reviews start showing up from people the contractor has never head of. Don't know if that is true, could just be sour grapes, but I read that in more than one place from seemingly unrelated sources. I also read that they pressure you to offer "The big deal" in which you pretty much have to give your services away just to make Angies List look good. And all customer contact goes through Angies List, which seems weird to me. It also seemed strange to me that they are even selling advertising, given the tagline they use, "no contractor can pay to be on Angies List". Any insight on this would be great. I want to hear it from real experience before I put out that kind of cash.
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John Orr loves Angie , maybe he has done thoughts for you


Oct event San Diego free free text me for more details !!
 
I am very happy with my contractor listing on AL. I advertised in their magazines for a while was not really impressed with the results and stopped it. Last year i began their online advertising. first year wasn't that great. Then we changed the add and the keywords and my calls from that have increased 100 percent. that being said, I got quite a few calls when I didn't pay to advertise. You don't have to pay to advertize. The search algorithm on Angie puts the contractor closest to searcher , combined with most reviews at the top. I have, I think 65 reviews in five years. 25 or so aren't even members. Even if they are not members, I still ask the cust to mail the review in and AL prints it. I use my Super service awa rds in my ads, and link to al in all my corespondance. Even non angie members know what the Ssa is and use it in their decision.
The bbb is a money for nothing scam. You don't have to pay a dime to angie and can still get tons of work. But you Damn better be good or you will get slammed.
 
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