Home Advisor

Did you do any preliminary research ? They are part of the same big suit pl ace as Angie's List now, and there are others under the same shell. Founded in 98, changed their name in 012, and now Angie of Angie's list is the big corporation Home Advisor is their subsidiary. The parent is on NASDAQ, net ted $10 mil in 015, Home Advisor reports I think 2,000 employees. The paren t of the parent is IAC, a REALLY big one.

So they are as trustworthy as the phone company...err water works...err the government...err you know,nobody.

I looked to residential alarm services and it came up with nothing and bou nced me into some house cleaning n shit, yeah, that's the same thing, right ? So they got their brain cell trained, to shit in the basement.

They also have some type of "permit pulling" service, you have to give it a zip code before anything. The button next to it says "find a pro", I didn' t hit it.

Now the downside - you got a cold call from them.

If you can spare the money try it but make sure you are not getting into a contract. One year, a buck a day, OK. You get a check, not an automatic pay ment. It expires UNLESS I RENEW IT AT THE END. No extra for extra listings.

And I recommend you record the call.

They advertise heavily in southeastern PA, and they have a habit of cold-ca lling any sort of service contractor to offer their services. Keep in mind that a contractor's number is on no sort of Do Not Call list, so they get a way with it.

I used their website a few years ago when we were pricing a new roof. I did not give them a phone number, e-mail only. When we started getting prices from South Carolina-based companies and based on Google Earth photos I had some concerns. When I started to read the fine print about warranties (manu facturer only), Permits (I had to get it), Insurance (large additional char ge) and local license (I pay), trash removal (tear-off, my dumpster), that was enough. We went with a local licensed, insured roofer with a 30 year re putation, at about the same net cost.

If you are busy and have a good reputation, you do not need them. If you ar e starting out in your trade, they might be useful. But the links they prov ide are no better than they should be.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

On Sunday, October 21, 2018 at 10:13:31 PM UTC-4, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wr ote:

this phone call from a guy at the above company Apparently you sign up with this outfit for 345 dollars a year and they say that they will feed you al l kinds of leads for work. In my case due to my diversity that will be any thing from TV repairs to alarm system installations and both residential an d commercial. I don't like the idea of paying for leads that could very we ll turn into nothing not to mention my fear of this not even being a legiti mate outfit. Does anyone know anything about this company? Thanks Lenny

I could be wrong, but I think they get paid if they refer someone to you an d you don't even get the job. Not sure about Home Advisor, but I do know f or a fact that his happened with other trade service referral services.

For $350, you'd be far better off advertising in your local bulletin type n ewspapers as well as building your own web site.

As a consumer, I tried using them to find a contractor after a semi backed into my house. In a town of 50000 people, they sent no recommendations. I wasn't pleased.

On Sunday, October 21, 2018 at 10:13:31 PM UTC-4, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wr ote:

this phone call from a guy at the above company Apparently you sign up with this outfit for 345 dollars a year and they say that they will feed you al l kinds of leads for work. In my case due to my diversity that will be any thing from TV repairs to alarm system installations and both residential an d commercial. I don't like the idea of paying for leads that could very we ll turn into nothing not to mention my fear of this not even being a legiti mate outfit. Does anyone know anything about this company? Thanks Lenny

I have been contacted as well. In my case, I have restricted the "leads" t o electronics repair only. I have not yet completed a contract with them a s I am trying to have them filter the leads a bit. I don't want to pay for a lead that I can state in 20 seconds will not turn into anything. As an example, I repair flat screen TVs (at the component level), so there is pro fit here. But... If the screen is physically broken, there is no reason t o waste my time or that of the customer. Even if the panel is available, i ts replacement will exceed the cost of a complete replacement TV. I am tryi ng to get HA to pre-screen these leads so as not to waste my time nor to co st me the per-lead charge.

No definitive agreement yet...

Dan

I heard their commercial on the radio. It plays to the tune 'Halleluya", right?