I recently used Craigslist to find a painter for a small interior paint job. I searched my area, found a few listings, and sent out a few emails. I spoke with three painters, and setup initial appointments with two of them for the following afternoon. One never showed up at the appointment, and the other seemed ok, so I set up a follow up for him to actually do the job. He did the job a week later - and it was awful! He didn’t use enough coats of paint, and he made a mess which he didn’t clean up. We haggled back and forth about how much I should pay him for such a lousy job, and eventually settled on a price slightly lower than we agreed to.
Experiences like these are all too common with Craigslist. The main problem is that there is no sense of trust - I have no way of telling how good the person I’m hiring is, until after I’ve hired them! Furthermore, after I have a good or bad experience, I can’t share that back to other people. Craigslist is great for certain things, and lousy for finding a quality contractor.
That’s when I discovered Angie’s List. Angie’s List is similar to Craigslist, in that it’s a long-standing site (it was launched back in 1995) that has local listings for over 140 US cities and metro areas. Unlike Craigslist though, Angie’s List has ratings and reviews, and the site focuses exclusively on contractors and local service providers. It’s a far superior way to find high quality contractors. The downside of Angie’s List, however, is that you have to pay to access its listings. Membership costs $6.95 per month, or $53 per year, plus a $10 per month initial signup fee (you can switch from monthly to annual billing anytime after your initial sign up). The way I look at it, though, compared to the hundreds if not thousands of dollars you’ll be investing with your contractor, an Angie’s List subscription fee is a small price to pay.
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If you hire contractors frequently, it is well worth it to get an annual subscription. If you only need it for one job, I’d recommend going with a one month subscription and use it on a one-off basis. Currently, Angie’s List has over 650,000 subscribers who submit 20,000 reviews each month, so there’s plenty of reviews to help guide your hiring decision. I live in the Minneapolis area, and the coverage of listings and reviews has been great. So far through the service, I have hired a painter and a plumber - both have been excellent experiences, the communication was great and very professional, and the work completed was superb. I submitted rave reviews for both, and I’m sure they’re both getting great business based on their great work.
Here’s a sample report card you’ll see on a typical Angie’s List review:
Is Angie’s List available in your area? During the sign up process, you’ll be able to select your region. If it’s not listed, then you’re out of luck. However, with over 140 cities covered currently, chances are good you’ll be able to find your city. While my experiences with Angie’s List thus far have been good, I’d love to hear your experiences as well. Share them here!
Click here to save 10% off an Angie’s List subscription, use coupon code SAVETEN.
Also check out this map of Angie’s List depth of coverage city-by-city across the US. It shows depth of coverage in contractor searches across the US.
