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Angie's List - is it helpful for choosing a good plumber, electrician, etc?

pjrose

pjrose

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What thinkest thou?

We need a plumber for the kitchen sink area....faucet, pipes underneath that are weird, new disposal, new dishwasher. We have a good handyman, but I think this may be more involved.

I've asked around, but nobody I've asked seems to have a recommendation.

Is Craigs List Oops - I meant Angie's List - a good option? Is it worth the membership? A month or so ago I saw a Groupon or Living Social etc for it.....can't find it now :)
 
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pjrose said:
What thinkest thou?

We need a plumber for the kitchen sink area....faucet, pipes underneath that are weird, new disposal, new dishwasher. We have a good handyman, but I think this may be more involved.

I've asked around, but nobody I've asked seems to have a recommendation.

Is Craigs List a good option? Is it worth the membership? A month or so ago I saw a Groupon or Living Social etc for it.....can't find it now :)
Click to expand...

Craig is free. Angie is not.

If you meant Angie, sorry can't help.
 
Ahhh. Angie's list. Haven't tried them. They seem to have a big enough advertising budget. I suppose a short membership wouldn't hurt for recommendations.

Jim
 
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I think you mean Angie's List, which is a review website - http://www.angieslist.com

Craigslist is a free site for classified Ads.
 
DeniseM said:
I think you mean Angie's List, which is a review website - http://www.angieslist.com

Craigslist is a free site for classified Ads.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I mentioned that right below her post.

I wouldn't pay for Angie's list. Apparently ratings are given by past customers. I usually rely on friends or neighbors who give recommendations.
 
Alternative approach....do you know a real estate broker ? They frequently have a network of handymen that they work with.
 
fillde said:
Agreed. I mentioned that right below her post.

I wouldn't pay for Angie's list. Apparently ratings are given by past customers. I usually rely on friends or neighbors who give recommendations.
Click to expand...

True - but you didn't explain what kind of websites they are...

pjrose said:
I've asked around, but nobody I've asked seems to have a recommendation.
Click to expand...
 
Despite the advent of Craigslist, Angieslist, Yelp, et. al., the best source of referrals is to talk to someone you know and trust, who has had similar work done. And if you don't know someone who has had that work done, it's almost guaranteed that someone in your network will know someone who has had the work done and will open the door for you talk to that person.

Getting referrals in that manner beats out anonymous web referrals anytime.
 
If all else fails, I would call five or six plumbers from ads and the phone book (yes, the paper one) and ask them for free estimates. I find that usually gives me an idea of whether they're decent or not. I ask the one I'm most inclined to use for references, and I check the references.

I've also used ServiceMagic, which has a different name now. You enter a description of the job and the website matches you up with service people in your area. The service people are paying for the leads, so they're usually eager to get work. I've found a couple of really good service people through the site. And a couple of duds, but not terrible duds. Just not that great.
 
I have used Angie's List sparingly. And I have written a couple of reviews. I like it for just getting a second opinion.

I just used it for an AC problem since they had a discount available. The provider was very good, got the job done right and very reasonably priced.

But like the others I get advice from other folks too. Our plumber for example was recommended by the Realtor. I see someone suggested realtors as a resource. For our plumber it has worked out the gardener and AC guy were just so-so.

I have even hired off Craigslist. The guys did the job I asked for, but I wouldn't use them again...they were kind of creepy!!! :eek:
 
I'm not sure signing up for Angie's list would be the best approach to your need for a plumber in this case. I have used Angie's List in the past to find contractors to give me estimates for large jobs -- roofing and painting. I was very pleased with the guys I hired from Angie's List but I contacted several before settling on anyone.

I find that the fuller reports on Angie's List that detail the size of the job, cost, contractor's
responsiveness, length of time to complete, problems, etc., to be very helpful in knowing what to look for before hiring.
 
I used Angie's List a couple of years ago when looking for house cleaning. From my experience then, I was disappointed in the limited reviews for cleaning. And now I get constant requests to write a review (which I wouldn't mind doing if I currently used the site).
 
Talk to your handyman. The work you are describing is very simple and straight forward.

Since you are replacing these items and not starting from scratch there should not be a problem. The old disposer comes out and the new one slips in.

The dishwasher is a matter of turning the water supply to the dishwasher off, disconnect the water supply at the dishwasher and the small drain line at the disposer, unplug it and slide the old one out. Put the new one in. connect the water supply and electric line, attach the drain to the new disposer, and turn on the water supply.

The newer disposers and dishwashers that I've seen don't come with an electric cord so you need to take the old ones off and re-use them or buy new. Same goes for the water connection on the dishwasher. The water connector is the piece the supply line is attached to so it's easy to find and unscrew. They will try to sell you a new one when you buy the dishwasher and they don't cost too much but they really don't go bad.

If you aren't able to do this yourself, a handyman with any plumbing experience at all should be able to do this.

The problem with hiring a plumber for a job like this is that most charge a lot for just coming out then an hourly charge while there. You really are talking about a simple job.

All that being said, if your handyman says he'd rather not do it then I think talking to neighbors and friends would be the way to go. Talking to a real estate broker is a very good idea. Many of them have rental properties or know people who do and they all have handyman type people to help them.
 
We are looking at a kitchen re-do so my hubby used one of those Groupons for a one year membership to Angie's List. He was mostly concerned about the number and availability for our particular area. He wasn't overly thrilled but found the recommendations worthwhile. In addition we use Kudzu and recently had LED lights added from a CraigsList advertiser. We found our plumber and ac people on Craigslist, too. Both very competent. Obviously the best recommendations should come from people you know but references, even from Angie's list, Kudzu or Yelp are better than nothing. Of course, invariably I see lots of good remarks followed by the one or two "would never use again".:shrug:
 
Here is my recent Angie's List experience
Had a problem with low flow on our kitchen faucet. Yes, I had already cleaned out the strainer basket on several occasions. Finally a gave in and called Floros plumbing per reviews on Angie's list, Petros called back within 5 minutes, even though I said it was NOT emergency and when I described our problem, he gave me suggestion over the phone. It solved the problem INS TANTLY and cost me nothing. And now Floros has a customer for life!
 
I think Angie's list is valuable. It can certainly keep you from making a big mistake with the wrong contractor/plumber/whoever. You can pay for a month at a time which makes it easy to justify.

Deb
 
I've used angie's list a few times. Has been a slightly hit or miss experience. But more positive than negative.

Just because they have lots of reviews doesn't necessarily make them a good choice. What I've found is quite a few contractors that have put out a "Big Deal" will get a large volume but very few of those will be more than the coupon fulfillment. As an example, I recently searched for a chimney-sweep. A couple of contractors had lots of reviews but when I started to read through them they were all based on the coupon and not really specific to what I was looking for. So, just make sure to read through all of the reviews if possible.

I've actually had better luck talking to my neighbors and asking them who they've used for certain things/situations.
 
I paid half price for Angie's list and found it useful. We moved about a year ago and did quite a few projects for both our old and new home. Look for special offers for Angie's list. Also start a community facebook group if you don't have one. I found ours very helpful.
 
NKN said:
Alternative approach....do you know a real estate broker ? They frequently have a network of handymen that they work with.
Click to expand...

This is where we've usually gone for referrals.
 
csxjohn said:
Talk to your handyman. The work you are describing is very simple and straight forward.
Click to expand...

Agree. I thought the same thing when I read the work that needs to be done. I could do all of that stuff and I'm not even a handyman.
 
Phydeaux said:
Agree. I thought the same thing when I read the work that needs to be done. I could do all of that stuff and I'm not even a handyman.
Click to expand...

I have changed both mine out a few times and helped others. That's why I know it is not that difficult of a project.
 
fillde said:
Agreed. I mentioned that right below her post.

I wouldn't pay for Angie's list. Apparently ratings are given by past customers. I usually rely on friends or neighbors who give recommendations.[/QUOTE


I completely agree. Why would anyone pay for this? Do they have no friends, neighbors, aquaintences, relatives, etc. etc. to get recommendations from?????

in addition I would also be very concerned about hiring someone to do any work in my house based on what could be a bogus review written by a shill.:shrug::wall:
Click to expand...
 
My friend has a subscription, so she offered to look for roofers for me. Not a single one between Buffalo and Niagara Falls, just under a million inhabitants. No one has roofs in this area???
 
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