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Angies List - Angie's List Is A Scam.

  • by   Aug 07, 2010
  • Review #: 192837
CompanyAngies List
Location West Palm Beach, Florida
Category Shopping
Views899
 

Angie's List is a scam. After your company gets added they contact you and tell you that your company has been added and reviewed. If you'd like to have an enhanced listing you can pay us for that.

They specifically outlined to one of my vendors that what they would be paying for is good reviews. They achieve this for you in two ways. One is by paying people to write the reviews, the other is by using telemarketers who call current consumer members and pressure them to write good reviews for your company.

So the whole "we are acting in our members best interests" thing is bull! They have one interest in mind: their own.

Angie's List is not honest... you can never know if the reviews you're reading are true or not. 38bcc14

 
 
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Brad Brad
Jun 08  from Hollister, California
I signed up for AL in May 2011 and quickly learned that there were very few actual listings of any value in my area. When I did searches AL was returning service providers 100+ miles away. I could have accepted that. I did after all live in a somewhat rural area. What I could not accept however was the ongoing barrage of emails and phone calls asking me to rate every company which had turned up in a search. Finally one day when an agent called me to ask for references I had enough. I paid money FOR a service, not to PROVIDE a frigging service for AL business. I canceled my membership and didn't even bother asking for a prorated refund. The AMEX card I had used was expiring so I didn't worry about them billing me again. But sure enough one year later in May 2012 they billed me for a renewal. The credit card info they had was expired but the did it anyway!! So I called again, got the charge removed and assumed that would be it. It wasn't. Just now in May 2013 THEY BILLED ME AGAIN. This is infuriating!!! I don't usually post anything like this but I wanted to let others know. ANGIES LIST IS A SCAM AND ALL THEY WANT TO DO IS SEPARATE YOU FROM YOUR MONEY.
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TinyTim TinyTim
May 27  from Troy, Michigan
I was called by a real estate agent the other day about an Estate Sale Company here in Michigan. I was told they were on Angie's List. I told the real estate agent why would they recommended this company without doing any research of their own. Americana was not on my list of recommendations.
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Ron Ron
Apr 01 
I have been contacted by her list for reviews of contractors in my area - I have asked her for payment since I have to pay her to read my own reviews - sounds like a scam to me!
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Linro Linro
May 06  from East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
I would have to agree and have wanted to post about this for a long time now. I am a freelance writer and have been contacted to write several reviews for Angies list and just leave out the name of the company, which would be added later. Plus only companies that pay to be listed are allowed to be reviewed. Sounds like a scam to me too.
Want to save money visit my blog www.survivethecostofliving.com
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Andy Andy
Mar 31  from Lexington, Kentucky
Angie's list is a Complete fraud. It is an advertising program disguised as a review organization. For decades there have been legitimate non profit organizations that track consumer satisfaction, promote Truth in Advertising, and work to resolve disputes. They are know as the BBB Better Business Bureau. They are NON PROFIT organizations that are run by volunteer boards. Angie's list bombards our company with paid advertising requests. Allows complaints from consumers that have never used the product or service of the company in question. Any one affiliated with this organization should have trouble sleeping at night!
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maxxpower maxxpower
Jun 01 
Andy. Do your research. The BBB is all about profit, and sells A+ ratings to businesses all day. Where do you get your information? :eek
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handymanpro handymanpro
Mar 10  from Watertown, Wisconsin
I have had a couple of reviews placed on AL by my customers. My handyman services has never been listed on AL until these reviews were made.
Next thing I know, AL desperate sales person contacts me and wants me to advertise. I have done my home work prior to giving them, "I am not interested" reply. I have asked them to not bother contacting me because I just don't need them as I use FB and word of mouth and stay plenty busy. AL just don't get it and and no less tha 6 different people from AL has contacted within 12 months me since telling me how unfortunate it was that I did not advertise with them. I have read the reviews here and on other blogs and have not found any positive post ( with the exception of AL trolls ) anywhere. If you do a good job with what you do, your customers will be happy and they will certainly let thier family and freinds know about you. Won't cost you a dime.
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Pissed off business owner Pissed off business owner
Feb 02  from Jamestown, New York
I had a review from a consumer about 3 weeks
Ago. The consumer talks negative about our business
For a supposed incident from the year 1999 over
14 years ago. Our company did not sell the product
Or service the consumer claims to talk about negatively
14 years ago. I immediately contacted Angie's list
And forwarded the proof and documentation
Necessary to prove my case. I was told that I would
Get a response within 3 business days. Ten days
Later and still no response so I contacted them
Within an hour I received an e mail stating they
Could not contact the consumer for verification
And because the consumer was a paying customer
The review would stand as it is. They allow
A fake and false review to stand for the dollars
They collect. Apparently money is more important
Then the truth so anyone trusting Angie's list beware.
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effed over effed over
Apr 03  from Sarasota, Florida
I suggest you start litigation for defamation, and possibly contact the FBI as per your are being blackmailed to get your companies reputation restored when you did nothing wrong.
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Junie Junie
Dec 31, 2012  from Knoxville, Tennessee
i was shocked when I found they actually charged for this service and it opened my eyes wide and am shocked at all the suckers they managed to hook and anyone with a brain knows anyone or business can get people to write fake reviews anytime so no, I don't trust them at all and would never pay for info!
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Janet Skinner Janet Skinner
Nov 01, 2012 
I used the last of my sons' membership about 5 mos..I made one complaint.which went to the car dealership Crown Volvo in Greensboro NC..which upon they did nothing more, Angie's list said, 'We will put in in our "penalty box" for other to review"..Then they asked me to give a review on another one of their contractors that I used before Angie's List..well my review was honest and told exactly how bad the contractor was..I thought they would place it anonymously.NO they said.I said, "well don't post it at all .I'm afraid this guy will come back on me and do something to my home when I'm not here"...after that that just kept hounding me for money to renew the subscription..which I had no intentions of every couple of weeks they when send something to email wanted to give discounted rate if I renewed before it expired...twice I told them to stop,then I just deleted them..YELLOW BOOK is free!..tey recently sent me another request to give a review on a list of contractors that I may have used off their list..problem was I never used any one off their list for the first time..I'm glad they have been exposed..she must have been looking for Christmas $$$..FYI..the BBB get money from the business to not post bad reports..
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Angie's list garbage Angie's list garbage
Oct 29, 2012 
Here is the thing people. You never ever want to give a 3rd party company like Angie's list any kind of power. They do absolutely nothing. A company like this is like a leech sucking the blood off the backs of consumers and businesses.
Problem 1. They claim that their reviews are more credible. This may or may not be true. It just means it is more difficult for a company to write reviews for themselves like you see on yahoo local.
Problem 2. Anytime you give a third party like this more power you cause small businesses to have to be on Angie's list as some sort of seal of approval. There are already organizations for this such as your chamber of commerce, better business bureau (which the BBB is a joke too), trade organizations etc. and you can always ask for referrals.
Companies like Angie's list is nothing more than a vampire and no one should pay them a dime.
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guitarick guitarick
Feb 04  from Saint Cloud, Florida
even if the reviews were posted by real consumers (which i never beleived from the first time i saw this ugly wench on tv), why would i trust reviews by the american consumers, as most us citizens are total morons. anyone who would believe for a nanosecond, that this whole business is real, just goes to support p. t. barnums claim: "theres a sucker born every second."
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Reality Reality
Sep 12, 2012 
"Business Can't Pay To Be On Angie's List" Oh yes they can! I worked for a marketing company and this is one of the services they offered. It is simple really, they have 30 consumer accounts with Angie's List - all under the same email and billing address. When a client asks to be on Angie's List, they use one account to add the company to the Angie's List directory and the other 29 to write glowing 5 star reviews. For many categories, this results in a "Super Service Award" for the amount of positive reviews. I laugh when people tell me that they use Angie's List.
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Anthony Anthony
Sep 02, 2012 
It is well documented that companies hire people to pose as "regular consumers" and write good reviews on AL. They pay them whatever amount of $$ per review and they company pays the fee. You see these jobs all the time on Craigslist and the like. They all state something like, "make money writing reviews." Oftentimes, the companies hire third party companies to hire people to write reviews. This is not brain surgery! Why would anyone think that some *** idea like this worth anything? Whatever happened to the tried and true way of talking with friends and neighbors and contacting the BBB? That's worked for years. Why would you pay your money for something like this? ***!
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Rob Rob
Aug 16, 2012 
They are a big scam. Not only do they charge a lot of money for next-to-nothing, they send out these ridiculous, worthless little pamphlets every few weeks (I just drop them in my recycle bin on the way back from my mailbox). Then they conveniently don't save preferences that would override their onsight spamming so that you have to reselect the sorting method each time. Much of the time it is even hard to see the data for all of their annoying coupons, offers, and similar *** spread over the results page.

They should charge perhaps $10 a year for this at the outside, considering they do absolutely nothing themselves but only manage user posts. I subscribe to Washington Consumer Checkbook in this area, and for a 5th the price, it actually goes out and does original research on the businesses and reports on them without spam.

I also just found that I'm paying $80 a year for this trash while new subscribers are paying $35. I look at them as little more than crooks.
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tradewind tradewind
Aug 14, 2012 
They certainly suckered me. No recommendations that actually applied to the things I was seeking out. The areas were common areas a person might want like home project contractors, cabinet makers, tile workers, painters and the like. Nothing, NaDa, but they gladly took my money. What did they do when I complained? They didn't even bother to respond. I wish I had seen this website first.
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Bryanrules0 Bryanrules0
Aug 11, 2012 
Thank you for the input. I was going to sign in today. But nevermind
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Alan Alan
Aug 05, 2012 
Just checked out Angie's List on the BBB. They had 123 complaints in the past three years.
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Alan Alan
Aug 05, 2012 
Here is a good tip for someone looking for a contractor -- especially one involving roofing, plumbing and electrical work. Don't use Angie's List. Get off your butt and do your homework. Check all prospective contractors out at the Better Bureau Business. Everything you need to know about a business is usually right there, is accurate, reliable and on the mark -- even if the business is not a BBB member. Secondly, get references from the contractor and check them out yourself. Simple web searches may reveal bogus references -- such as relatives and even non-existent persons. Also, don't hesitate to ask a contractor's reference if you can see the work in question (roofing, decks, roofing and other easy to see projects.) Finally, if the project involves large sums of money, ask contractors from whom they will be getting their material and ask for permission to contact their suppliers about their credit standing. Remember, if a contractor has a history of failing to pay suppliers or subcontractors, either or all can file a lien against your property. Also, upon completion of the job, get a release of lien from the contractor.
Bottom line: Corporations like Angie's have the demands for profit which tend to promote a reliance on methods of constructive fraud -- i.e., pressing members for bogus reviews and also acting in a way which suggest that if a company isn't on their "list," said company is not reliably "worthy" of your business.
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