Angie's List is a web site that helps homeowners pre-screen contractors such as plumbers, masons, painters, and other tradesmen. The site helped me find a mason (though we have not signed him, yet). So why do I hate Angie's List so very, very much?

First: Angie's List charges users to subscribe to their services. I cannot stand having to pay for information on the internet. A majority of the foundation of the internet was conceived on the idea that it would help facilitate the exchange of knowledge without cost.

This is what Angie's List has to say about their fee:

Consumer support means it's honest: Companies don't pay to be on Angie's List. Only Angie's List members report on the companies they've hired. View the list of services rated in your area. Additionally, members make sure the ratings are clean and honest by supporting Angie's List. They pay a MEMBERSHIP FEE because we work for them (not the contractors) to keep the list growing with the most accurate information about the companies in their area.

There is little alternative to Angie's List for me in the Boston area, so I ponied up the $5.95 to join on a monthly basis. Then I found out there's a $10 joining fee. I paid that, too. In the end, the list provided me with a list of the most impressive masons in the Boston area for a large, pending job I have on my home.

So, I got over my first gripe. Insert gripe two.

Second: I am paying for the recommendations of other users who are themselves paying to populate a database that is owned by Angie's List. What this means is that subscribers are effectively paying Angie's List to create content for Angie's List which then resells it (genius on the part of Angie's List). The writer is paying Angie's List to take their work! If there is one thing that infuriates me, it is doing someone's work for them.

But I can learn to accept that.



Third, the web site is poorly implemented. I can find the information I want, but feedback tools are few and far between. If another user has submitted a questionable post, it is difficult to contact Angie's list staff. I submitted correction requests for some obviously incorrect entries, and received only a cookie-cutter response.

Not a big deal, I'm not paying for support, I'm paying for the opinions of other Boston citizens.

Which brings me to my final gripe: I am limited to the Boston area. My brother-in-law asked me if I could find a painter for him in New Jersey. I cannot. While I understand that Angie's list does not want any single account to be opened and abused for nationwide use, the restriction is just another downside that compounds my dissatisfaction with the service.

So I'm paying a fee for great content via a poorly implemented service that asks me to do all the work. I think I will be visiting web sites that are more customer-friendly. I will update after the work on my house is completed.