I don't trust angies list....I have a neighbor who is a stone mason and he is very highly regarded on angies list.....even though he is currently serving 2 years in jail for fraud and non-performance, and he has about 11 more fraud case pending....

My problem with them is the ratings come from customers who may know next to nothing. Sure, they "arrived on time and were pleasant and completed the work on time", but what about the methods, quality and necessity of the work?

We recently got a bogus assessment for chimney repair from a firm with high AL ratings to the tune of a $3500 relining. A second opinion confirmed there was absolutely nothing wrong with our chimney.

As posted, it is mostly worthless information and companies PAY to have their names come up on the first page

You are asking people who pay for a service to take the trouble to give it to you for free?

Renovator, that was my original thoughts as well. Why would you expect people to do this for you?

Damn - does no one like Angie's List? I just paid for it (with a 1/3 off discount) the other day!

I don't trust them.
I don't like that a contractor can't dispute reviews (or for that matter never even know what is there).

Plus did you know they call the contractors (numerous times) trying to get them to pay for advertising on their site? Or to pay to be a "Preferred" listing. Even thought they state on their website "Companies can't pay to be on Angie's List".

DH got a call from a potential customer last week, but she expressed concerns because she said he is not licensed or insured. HUH? Yes he is and has been for over 15 years. When he asked her where she heard that she said "Angie's List". He said, "How would they know, they have never asked me".

Reminds me that I need to contact them and complain.

Damn - does no one like Angie's List? I just paid for it (with a 1/3 off discount) the other day!

Good luck (:)

Plus did you know they call the contractors (numerous times) trying to get them to pay for advertising on their site? Or to pay to be a "Preferred" listing. Even thought they state on their website "Companies can't pay to be on Angie's List".

So true, they even got my cell # and were pestering me,I had to hang up on them.

Update; I did send and email to Angie's list and they did allow me to create a login so I could correct our company info. We can see that there were 6 reviews (all A's) but we can't see who or what they were.

Still, I don't like that the only way we found out was when a customer happened to mention it.

I have Angie's list and find it useful. Not a guarantee but better than selecting from the yellow pages. And I have seen numerous responses from contractors when they get a complaint. I always read. In many cases, they get one bad complaint and the rest are often exceptionally good. So everyone has a bad day.
What I think is unfair is when clients can give an F rating to a contractor who came out and collected info for the job and never responded with a bid (as they usually promise). This has happened to me and I don't hold it against the contractor - they are busy people - they probably decided they didn't want or need the job and then forgot to notify customer. Not the best practice but it happens.
I'm fairly sure Angie's list notifies the contractors with the reports. Make sure your contact info is correct. My housekeeper who is on the list and moved and didn't notify them. Not good business. It's fixed now and he has really benefited from the service (and I found him on Angie's list and the quality and speed of his cleaning is amazing.)

If I were a contractor, I would get on Angie's list as soon as possible. And then "suck up" to anyone calling me as a result of Angie's list. And once I got enough good reviews, I wouldn't worry much if I got a bad review now and then knowing that most rational people will accept that all jobs don't always go great especially given the high incidence of miscommunication.

And I don't pay much attention to the coupons - not what I consider that useful in choosing a contractor.

"I'm fairly sure Angie's list notifies the contractors with the reports. Make sure your contact info is correct."

Nope, the only contact they made with us was trying to get us to advertise on their site. That said, we have not ever gotten complaints. I hope they do a better job contacting the contractor in those cases.

And how would the contractor know Angie's list did not have the correct contact information, if they did not even know they were on there?

I like Angies List. I've been a member for 8 years now.

Have you checked the BBB? Its free, while not a perfect system at least its something to work with.

Angie's List has brought me good contractors--
and people/companies DO get info on their posts AND can dispute the negative reviews...
I see that when I look for people in various professions...
so the fact that someone gives information that is nor born out by actually USING Angie's List makes me wonder how well that poster knows the site...
Angie's List doesn't mean you should hire anyone blindly---
and in some areas it doesn't really do that much good....
I have two areas--Tarrant Co (DFW TX) and Sarasota FL
the town in FL I have house in is south of Sarasota and smaller--
lot of the listings on Angie's List don't serve my area

that being said--one of the best rated pest control companies I called when we bought that house and wanted pest treatment failed to follow up on my call and service request...
so we wound up using someone with excellent BBB rep who is not in Angie's List...

I have found a great contractor/remodel guy, an electrician, lawn irrigation, tree service from the Angie's List for my TX area...
it just depends...
and there are times I can give pass along info when people ask...
but if you are an Angie's List member AND you aren't in a particular area, you have to pay to see it....

I read that Angie's List is still not actually making money which kind of surprised me...
so I really don't think the companies are paying to be listed or the company would be showing more profitability...

"I read that Angie's List is still not actually making money which kind of surprised me..."

Hiding profits to look like your not making $ is still easily doable with a good accountant!