"Stay away! Judging from recent marketing and advertising blitz along with the company's downward spiral in stock price, Angie's list is in trouble. I joined and after not using Angie's list for a couple of months, decided to use it to do some research. Well, guess what? They locked me out of my account for excessive use! The customer service rep although sympathetic could only offer "Sorry, there's nothing I can do. You have to wait 24 hours for an email after the help (help? that's hilarious) department verifies that the activity on the account is legitimate." WHAT? I'm being locked out of my account that I PAID for??? Because you don't trust what I'm doing??? POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE.

The site is slow when paging because the site is constantly waiting for an external ad server. Additionally I find the ratings to be suspect. Normally, some of the best contractors are local ones who are referred by word of mouth. These contractors are not on Angie's List because they don't have to be and their customers are not members of Angie's List. Many of the highly rated contractors on Angie's List are national or local franchises. This in itself may not be bad, but you have to decide. Also many of the highly rated contractors offer discounts and coupons. From my experience, good contractors do not have to offer coupons and discounts because they have all the business they can handle through word of mouth referrals, NOT ANGIE'S LIST. Coupons and discounts are part of a scheme to try to UPSELL you. Can't wait till this company go out of business and Angie's fat ugly face stop appearing on all those annoying commercials."

"BEWARE! Auto renewals are a SCAM!
I originally signed up 2 years ago for $32. My renewal date came up and they automatically pulled $80 out of my paypal account for ONE year renewal!
Even if they dont honor their original price structure that I signed up under like any reputable business would, the 1 year rate as listed on their website is $26, NOT $80. Customer service was dismissive and just told me that costs of business have gone up and they have added a medical service (which is extra!)

As for the reviews themselves, they are not trustworthy in my experience. I have hired 3 very highly rated contractors and all 3 have ranged from sub par to downright damaging my house and not fixing it. I get much better service for much cheaper on craigslist!

They are also not 'on your side' like they claim. They allow the contractors to reply to any review and have final word. So if you make a justifiable negative review, the contractor can come in and respond to your review and completely lie and misrepresent you if they want to! Ive read quite a few reviews where the contractor comes back and deliberately makes the customer look stupid and crazy to minimize impact of their review.

I dont believe for a SECOND that angies list doesnt collect money from the contractors for this privilege. (they also allow them to post coupons, special deals etc etc - thats not free)

Ignore the commercials and STAY AWAY from this shady service."

"The reviews on Angie's List are ok, but I would have just avoided this company had I known what I know now. I too hate some of the "features" that others have mentioned here, such as the automatic renewal, and the fact that you must pay a separate fee for each locale you wish to use. Also, there are some notorious, shady companies that get good reviews on Angie's List from unsuspecting customers. They way they operate is to overcharge for and oversell their services, such as repairs not really needed, or bills that are waaaaaay out of line. But they act nice and pretend to be good guys, so few customers realize they've been duped. I know of 2 such disreputable companies in my city that have good reviews here nonetheless. Worst of all, Angie's list lets companies advertise to their readers with "special offers." For example, a garage door company offers a $59 door "tune up." Of course, when they arrive, they immediately find things that need to be fixed. Expensive things. Angie's List can justify it by saying, "well, it's an "A" rated company," which is true. But that's only because so few people have wised up to the scam. The point is, Angie's List shouldn't have a profit relationship with companies and subscribers at the same time. They'll claim they're doing a service, but I think it's a conflict of interest."

"I know the providers in my home town. I need information while I am traveling but Angie's List requires you join & pay for each town you search which would quickly run into big money. This is not revealed before you join. Also held back is the required questionaire and automatic renewal. This type of operation is usually associated with seedy operators not those that have the best interest of consumers at heart. I don't understand why Angie's List is recommended by the TV networks. Something just doesn't seem to fit. "

"I signed up with this site to check out some roofers I might use. The review system is ok, but not significantly better than you can find on other free sites. I was slightly disappointed as I'd heard really great things about the site.

I have a problem with the site its-self though. when you sign up for a month, they automatically renew you each month and there is NO WAY to cancel your account on the website. You can email them and hope for a response (but a quick google search says they don't always respond) or you can call and try to get a rep to answer so you can cancel. As I write this I've been on hold for 16 minutes at 10:42am on a Thursday.. not exactly what I'd expect to be a "high call volume time".

On other sites where customers have complained about the same issue, angies list reps have attacked the complainer and posted the terms and conditions which apparently has some buried info explaining that it will be difficult to cancel.

The site it-self is ok, but BEWARE that it's hard to get angies list to stop billing you!"

"Watch out! This service uses Paypal, and it may cost you more than you think if you use it. Also, Angieslist seems to know more about me than they should--more information than I gave them! I'm bailing on this outfit before they learn any more!

There is a signup fee ($10) to join in addition to the monthly fee ($4.25). If you select annual payment ($39), though, there is no signup fee.

I took a look at the service (email address required to just look) and decided to pass. After a couple weeks, I received an offer of 40% off, so I decided to try it. Going through Paypal, I find that with the 40% off deal, the signup fee even applies to annual membership, so you don't get 40% off the $39, but rather off of $49. I aborted the order and cancelled my Paypal account.

I went back without using Paypal, and the 40% off worked as advertised. However, when I put in my credit card info, my address and phone automatically filled in the form--but not with the information the credit card company has. Instead the info was at least eight months old. This outfit is just plain scary. Watch out!"