First of all, I hadn't realized the company had gone public. Moreover, what's up with this (bolded) losing boatloads of money?! How can a website that seemingly only posts reviews lose tens of millions?? (PS: They charge handsomely to be placed further up on their respective lists. I know this, as out company pays in the thousands per month.) http://www.remodeling.hw.net/remode...leman-role-in-client-remodeler-relations.aspx
Did find this.... <still scratching head> http://beta.fool.com/jonathanyates1...-ceo-proud-losing-money-which-explains-/9611/
More of this and that.... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/28/1095283/-Angie-s-List-dishonest-business-model#
I recognized Angie's List as a sham Craig's List wannabe from the first moment I saw them paying to advertise themselves.
Angie's list always seems like a scam for me. You have to pay to get access to all the shit, so all the reviewers also pay to get on there too. what the fuck man. so lame.
I think my Dad used to use them until they started charging companies to post ads. I think they started out free and then got greedy. If they would have stayed free like Craigslist, they would still be relevant.
Exactly. When they were free, I was "member" who used them to find services or whatever. I knew there was no way I was ever going to pay for such a service. Just do the legwork myself once a year when I need a plumber or electrician and save the monthly fee. I know people who are members and claim it's worth the cost. I just don't see it.
For me, I frequently got burned good with home and auto repairs. My use of Angie's List has saved me a lot of money over the last 7 years.
That's because Yelp extorts companies and threatens to post bad reviews if they don't pay them money to put them at the top of their reviews.
And yet twice in the last week I've had businesses urge me to post reviews for them on that site (Yelp).
Funny. A friend of mine asked me to give him the thumbs up on Yelp. Yelp deleted my review within a few hours. As if they knew he recruited me to make the review.
I love Angie's List and as someone who has hired a bad contractor in the past I find the $40 fee to be a bargain. I've also been doing some extensive remodeling in my house the last year and every contractor I've hired off Angie's List has been great, I've also noticed that many contractors offer X% discount to Angie list members and they go out of their way for you while they work so they can earn that positive feedback on the list. I always request a bid from the top 3 contractors on the site, I look for all A/B reviews and if there are and D/F I read what the issue was and look for the contractors response. I figure you can't please everyone so I don't expect perfection just professionalism. One of my favorite negative reviews I found was a landscaper who bid a job, told the owner he was done talking with her so she can go in the house while he took some final measurements. Then the owner came out to find the landscaper pissing in her yard. Not the worst thing in the world but not the professional attitude I am looking for.
I work for a windows & doors company. Angie's List has been (deservedly so) very good to us over this past year. We now get more leads via Angie's List vs. any other advertising source we're currently involved in. Yes, it does cost our company a good chunk of change for higher "placement". That said, though, the grades are the grades...based strictly upon customer feedback. Therefore, it would make absolutely no sense for our company to pay for higher placement if we had a bad grade, overall. Bottom-line is, people want to go with A-Rated companies. (BTW, we are 2012 Super Service Award winners, and have also made the Honor Roll). We recently received two C ratings.....due to what was perceived as confusing and/or high pressure sales techniques. We are NOT a high pressure company, so these reviews were real head-scratchers. I'm hearing that reviews that don't involved work actually being done carry a lower "weight" than the ones involving work. Nonetheless, our Sales VP directly responded (on Angie's List) to the two lower reviews. As well, he sent out the high alert to us sales guys directing us to reach out to any of our Angie's List customers asking them if they wouldn't mind posting reviews. It worked! We now have 5 fresh A-Rated reviews as to help displace the two lower ratings. Bottom line, again, Angie's List has seemingly worked for us. We're a small company of 12 employees, so the overall value of "her" service has been significant.
Sez you. But they felt it was. That tells me that rather than just say "it wasn't us", learn from it as if that was their perception, then ,maybe it's true.
They did because we had an over-zealous new guy. He's since toned down his act. We know who we are and will continue down that track. Sometimes, you have to grade on a mean average. Actually, that's how I approach internet reviews. In other words throw out the top and bottom few reviews, and see what's in the middle.
Angie should have realized that the service she provides can be duplicated by a simple google search. She should have kept the site free and enjoyed the ad revenue. Way to go, Angie!
