As a single woman who knows nothing about home repair, etc., I've found Angie's List very helpful. I've used it to find a plumber, exterminator, and electrician. All worked out very well.

You also get special offers from businesses. I just purchased 14 hours of deep cleaning from a "green" cleaning service for $200. They're scheduled to come next week so I don't know how well they clean but figured was a pretty good price for that service.

It sure has been for me. Funny you should ask because there are roofers at my house today. My neighbor recommended them but I also checked them out on Angie;s List where they got all A's. I also got a $500 discount, although they have the same coupon on their web site so I think anyone gets the discount.

I got the name of the company that did my insulation there, too. That company did a great job.

I joined AL with a special offer so I saved a few bucks on the membership. I think I paid about $28? I know the fee varies by location.

People's reviews also include the scope of their job and what they paid which is a huge help in knowing what to expect a job to cost. I always go to AL whenever I am considering using a contractor of any kind.

Another example is a HVAC contractor that offered a great discount through Groupon. Before I bought the Groupon I checked them on AL. They got good reviews so I went ahead a bought the Groupon. Got my AC serviced for $34, which normally costs me over $100. I really liked the company and would use them again.

I always add a review after using any contractor. However, I am not comfortable adding reviews of doctors because the doctor can read the review too. If I had a bad experience with a doctor I would definitely add that.

I used to use Angieslist all the time. I found some decent contractors through there, but I also had one highly rated contractor completely screw me over (quit my job about a quarter of the way through, taking my deposit (half the cost of the job) leaving me with a wide open roof and a pile of supplies in my garage.) So even if someone is highly recommended on there, it's no guarantee.

I used to leave reviews all the time (glowing ones for contractors I'd found before Angieslist who were not listed on there before my review). But several of my contractors complained to me that once Angieslist had their info (via my review), Angieslist harrassed them nonstop to sign up for advertising/preferred spots in their listings or to offer coupons via the website and the little Angieslist magazine. One of them said it was pretty intrusive and that he wished I had not left a review at all. So that left a bad taste in my mouth (not just because they were harrassing my contractors, but also because obviously they give preferred spots in their listing to contractors who pay vs. contractors who don't, so their listings aren't truly unbiased). Shortly after that, I canceled my membership and haven't been back since. I find I can find just as good contractors using recommendations from friends or on sites like yahoo (many people review businesses on there).

Angies List is easily used by anyone wanting to advertise their business. All they do is sign in and write what they want. I'd find someone who could recommend a good source rather than take a chance on the site. I know there are good businesses listed, but there are also fly by nights. It is taking a chance similar to CL.

I have AL and also consult my local BBB website. I don't think either resource is outstanding, but how else can I get information? 9 times out of 10 no one knows a person who does what I'm looking for, so I'm usually on my own.

I'm in the process of trying to find someone to make rotten wood repairs. This search has literally been going on for a year. This week a competent, reliable person will be found. (This needs to happen, so I'm putting that out there!) Please send me some positive energy/good contractor mojo if you will!

Good luck with your contractor search, however you choose to go about it!

I've used AL for about six months now. I found a repair place that would fix my microwave drawer through them and just recently purchased a special on yard service thru an Angie's List landscaping company. The yard service guys were excellent and hard working, but a check of the company's portfolio on their own website showed me that they may do great clean-up work but they had no design sense when it came to actually landscaping a yard.

I'm getting ready to cancel my subscription. For one, I'm more than a bit suspicious about the offers they send me. I worry that they're out to accept just about any business as long as they agree to advertise in the monthly AL brochures sent out. Does that really qualify them for the best of the best in their fields or just bankable advertisers? These days there are a number of places online where you can check reviews on a business. It's never a sure thing, but along with good recommendations from people you know might be a better option IMO.
Lynn

I think it may be worth it if you are going to be doing a couple of fairly large projects and don't have word-of-mouth sources or need more than one estimate and want to get various opinions.

I unfortunately had the worst experience ever with two people who came who came glowingly recommended. One was a well-known historic plaster restorer for whom the job wasn't interesting enough so he subbed it out, fired the sub and abandoned everything on site. Between that and the GC on the same job I had no kitchen for Four years. (I had to find a GC And another historic plaster restorer who were willing to take over someone else's mess.

So word of mouth can be good, but there is nothing the matter with backing it up with other resources like Angies list where you can at least see some feedback from random strangers over a period of several years.

I've used it several times with good success. Make sure you use a contractor with recent reviews and has at lest several in the past few months.....

stinky-gardener,
When we were doing lots of remodel work we usually found qualified contractors by asking for referrals from their suppliers. If you want a carpenter, walk into a lumber yard and ask for at least 3 referrals. It's the same for a plumber or masonry work. When I say 'supplier' I'm not talking about HD or Lowes but a storefront that specializes in the product.

Never used AL but one time I talked to a repairman that I found when I called what I thought was his website. Turns out the site name had 'servicemagic' in it and I was talking to them, not the office of the repairman. When he called I learned that he didn't do the type work I needed and he wasn't happy ServiceMagic didn't get the correct info. He said everytime they called him with a referral he was charged a fee........so he was going to have to make another call to them to try to avoid the charge.

I should have said that the people I had problems with came glowingly recommended by word-of-mouth.

That's why I think Angie's list is worth it if you want to get several bids or need a job done that no one you know has needed.

lkplatow, that is very interesting regarding your experiences.

We have a contractor friend from our neighborhood association. He is usually great for referrals for things he doesn't do. I also know a RE agent who has a very long list of contractors he's worked with. That worked out for us when the contractor friend didn't have a brickmason referral. So, don't forget about RE agents if you know one.

Thanks, Annz! I'll try that. Sounds like a smart idea!

Tomorrow I'm interviewing a guy with all "A's" on...Angie's List! Today I also finally received an estimate via e-mail from the carpenter who worked on my bathroom remodel last Fall. He's competent, capable, I'd even say he's talented...but reliable? He has this way of falling off the face of the earth whenever it suits him, which never suits me. That's the only reason I hesitate to hire him again. We'll see. I'll have to trust my intuition tomorrow. And, Ann, I'll have to start hanging out at lumber yards and such, lol!

Thanks everyone, for all the enlightening information! It can be so difficult finding a good contractor or handyman so I thought of using AL but wasn't sure of how valid the reviews would be. She certainly is making $ because I see TV commercials all the time which aren't cheap! So I know it's been good for Angie :) When you've been burned by a contractor you get gun shy and I guess that's where I am now, but the to-do list is growing so I need to start somewhere!

Once you find one or two good trades people, you can also ask them to recommend others. That has worked well for us.

We joined Angie's list recently because we were going to do a pool remodel. My husband handled that so I don't know if he found it worthwhile, but there was one creepy aspect to Angie's list. A few months after joining, we got a phone call from them soliciting reviews on areas where they need more reviews - the list of what they were looking for started with neurologist, went through a bunch of medical specialties. Quite personal information to ask someone to reveal - I told him that after he had asked about the first few that I wasn't going answer questions about which medical specialists I've used and so he moved on reading the list. The next category wasn't any better and I told him that if I had a review I wanted to post, I'd go to their website and put it in, but I didn't care to spend any more time on the phone with him and didn't want to be quizzed about what services I use.

Arapaho, there is a Facebook page created by someone in my community. People who need a contractor or anything else post questions there and others in the community respond. I realize this is not foolproof but you do know the identity of the other members. It is a closed and monitored group and so far seems to function pretty well -- no fighting or flaming. You must request to join. I just got some suggestions there for someone to repair my chimney. I then checked out the reports on Angie's List for those contractors, where they got good ratings, too. Maybe there is something similar for your community.