Home Conniver?

[Red Badger]

So, we’ve got a laundry list of odd jobs that we want to knock out at the wrong time of year. As part of my divide and complete strategy, I hand some larger ones off to Lowe’s. Then, I try Home Advisor (first time) for some electrical and plumbing jobs that I prefer not to do. So I download the app and set up two separate appointments for the aforementioned services.

Then the fun begins. Home Adviser provides appointments, name of contractor, cost estimates etc. I accept the proposed HA offer.

Electrical - Monday at 3PM - result - no call & no show.

Plumbing - Today at 1PM - result - no call & no show.

For the most part, I’m a huge proponent of the on-demand economy with Uber, Airbnb, DoorDash, et al. However, I think where a skilled trade is involved, I shall stay in the realm of B&M providers.

No harm done. Just some rescheduling at an inconvenient time. I am grateful that these were small “shoe shine” jobs. Icing on the cake was some schmuck with HA wanting me to call him and find other “highly qualified” providers. Sooo not going to happen. My mom drowned all her dumb kids…..

 

[aja8888]

Home Advisor is a disaster. Tried it several times looking for a yard crew and no one ever called. Oh wait, one guy called a week later.

 

[REWahoo]

Don't blame Home Adviser, blame the economy - it's too good, at least around here. Wait till we have the next recession and those folks will be johnny-on-the-spot when you need them.

 

[Winemaker]

I called HA to do some drywall work that I despise doing. A contractor came out, gave estimate, I approved. He came out next day, and cut and screwed in pieces, put 1st coat of mud and joint tape. Never saw him again. Multiple phone calls to see when he'd come back to finish, or get paid. Never answered, so I put the last 2 finish coats on and painted. I'll certainly call them again!

 

[davebarnes]

Blame HomeLiar.
They only show positive reviews because they only featured companies who have paid to play.
NextDoor is so much better.
Yelp is better.

 

[JoeWras]

Well done, Red Badger. I'm now singing a little tune in my head to the words: Hoooome Con-I-ver.

 

[JoeWras]

I thought the more "uber-like" services were Takl or TaskRabbit. I thought HA was more of a referral service.

TaskRabbit is just like Uber, from what I understand. Connect via App, rate each other, etc. Don't show up a few times and the tasker will drop to the bottom or off.

I considered doing this (becoming a tasker) as a very part time gig, but then I had nightmares of having to deal with people and their expectations and decided to forget about it.

 

[MichaelB]

Don't blame Home Adviser, blame the economy - it's too good, at least around here. Wait till we have the next recession and those folks will be johnny-on-the-spot when you need them.

Yup.

 

[RetireBy90]

Used HA for painter last year, perhaps not as busy as others have found. I used the painter to stain deck after I had cleaned. Then we had a pipe leak and had to replace some sheetrock and paint. Called them back for that and they performed very well at reasonable price. However, I'll be a bit more cautious after reading some comments here. Thanks

 

[EastWest Gal]

Never tried Home Advisor. Used Angie’s List and NextDoor. In general, really good results from both.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We tried home advisor, never again!

1) All quotes were ~double what I ended up getting locally.
2) No responding contractors were really LOCAL. All were from a big city, (Up to 120 miles away)
3) They distribute your email to everyone and we kept getting calls and emails for up to 9 months after original request.

Never again!

 

[davebarnes]

Never tried Home Advisor. Used Angie’s List...

Which is HomeAdvisor under different branding.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Which is HomeAdvisor under different branding.

+1 All the same, selling YOUR info to contractors for a fee!

The best way to get a reliable local contractor (Other than Word of Mouth & neighbor recommendations), we have found, I will use Painting as an example. We go to the local reputable paint store (Not home Depot or Lowes, typically they cannot recommend), I will use Sherwin Williams in this example, and ask them to recommend a contractor or 2. Then call them and get quotes. The advantage is they will be Local (I am a stickler for supporting local business').

 

[jollystomper]

I have had mixed results with Home Advisor. I did find a great gutter cleaning service who were priced well within our budget and did exactly when we wanted and them some. I have also had a project for which I received calls/email for 4 contractors, scheduled appointments, and all failed to show up.

For me the best way to find folks is asking neighbors and friends. When we redid our driveway I did Home Advisor, but the contacts I received just were not professional. Then I noticed a neighbor having the same work done and it looked great. I contacted the same contractor, he showed on time (in fact early to do some measurements), gave me a quote, said that I would find cheaper but he priced for doing a quality job and not the bare minimum. I went with him and scheduling was a breeze. The work was great and twice over the next near he contacted me to send folks to come out to look over the job and to take care of any potential issues they might find.

 

[Ducati52]

Don't blame Home Adviser, blame the economy - it's too good, at least around here. Wait till we have the next recession and those folks will be johnny-on-the-spot when you need them.

This. Plus, Home Adviser gets a cut on these jobs, so if a contractor has a full schedule of non-Home Adviser jobs, he's not even going to respond to a Home Adviser referral where he has to pay a fee if he takes the job.

Also, I have a friend who is a very good finish carpenter and said he started getting "jobs" sent to him from HA, even though he never signed up for the service (he's generally booked months in advance). On further investigation, they apparently will add contractors/tradespeople to their system without their knowledge, with the idea that they'll officially join once HA sends them a few job referrals.

It's hard to beat word-of-mouth for these types of referrals. HOA or neighborhood Facebook pages are another option, and Yelp can help (although Yelp reviews are often bought and paid for through Yelp . . . )

 

[Amethyst]

Property managers can be a resource. We couldn't move into our Florida home for about 6 weeks, so I convinced (by email) a local property manager to take over the place for 6 weeks @ $50 a week. Money well spent; on weekly inspection visits, they found, and arranged to have fixed, several issues the "inspector" had overlooked, including one that would have prevented the insurance company from finalizing our HO Insurance. Also, the manager was able to recommend several local tradespeople that she trusted.

+1 All the same, selling YOUR info to contractors for a fee!

The best way to get a reliable local contractor, we have found, I will use Painting as an example. We go to the local reputable paint store (Not home Depot or Lowes, typically they cannot recommend), I will use Sherwin Williams in this example, and ask them to recommend a contractor or 2. Then call them and get quotes. The advantage is they will be Local (I am a stickler for supporting local business').

 

[ERD50]

Property managers can be a resource. ....

Would a Real Estate agent be a good resource as well? Anyone have experience with that? I imagine they advise people on getting some various repairs/upgrades done on their homes prior to the sale? Or for changes on the buyer's side?


-ERD50

 

[gwraigty]

I watched a video of a contractor's POV of Home Advisor. It made me feel sorry for what they have to go through. He got 15 leads from Home Advisor, for which he was charged money for each one. About half of the leads claimed not to have heard of Home Advisor and most definitely weren't in the market for his services. Some of the leads had submitted their requests about 3 weeks earlier and had already found a contractor via other means. And so on...

I've worked with 4 contractors this year. I found all by doing a Google search (roofers/window installers, etc.) near me. I read the Google reviews, which were quite helpful. After the work was done, I returned the favor by leaving my own reviews.

 

[Red Badger]

Well done, Red Badger. I'm now singing a little tune in my head to the words: Hoooome Con-I-ver.

 

[Palmtree]

Our HomeAdviser referal was a big success. We needed some concrete work done. We needed a driveway and parking pad poured. It was not a "normal" pour as the driveway and pad had some very specific grading requirements. To avoid serious groundwater problems to our finished basement, we need to shed rain water away and on to two different dry creek beds. The first two contractors that I called just didn't want the job or wanted to charge way too much. I tried HomeAdvisor. The guy that responded was prompt, courtious, professional and kept us apprised of the job every step of the way. The results were perfect and he's price was at least 20% less than the competitors.