You may recall this lyric from a Rolling Stones song:
♪♪ …you can’t say we’re satisfied,
Angie, Angie ♪♪
Change the spelling of the name to “Angi” and you will have the perfect anthem for my recent experience with the ubiquitous referral service. And I’m not alone.
First, a bit of history. Angie’s List and Home Advisor were competing referral services through which consumers could find home repair & improvement professionals. The ownership of the two companies was recently merged, with Angie’s List continuing as Angi, and Home Advisor keeping its name with the addition of “powered by Angi.”
The Consumer Gal and I recently received delivery of a five-foot wide, 60-pound, LED-illuminated mirror. Our regular electrician wasn’t available, so against my better judgment I checked out Angi.com. The incessant TV ads must have seeped into my cerebral cortex. I signed up for a referral to an electrician. In a few short minutes an electrician, I’ll call him Rodney, called.
We made an appointment for the next day. He showed up and went to work. Did he ever! First, he drilled anchor holes for the mirror bracket where the bottom of the mirror should go. Call me naïve, but never in my life had I ever heard of hanging a mirror from the bottom.
To his embarrassment, I pointed this out. Once he installed the mounting bracket in its correct location three feet higher than the original holes, he removed the mirror from its shipping carton in our garage and with his assistant, brought it up to our bath dressing room.
When they finished hanging the mirror, he told me that a corner of the mirror was cracked when it came out of the box. Funny that he didn’t point that out when he first picked up the mirror. Add to that, the original mislocated holes were glaringly apparent. Then I noticed the opposite corner of the mirror suffered from a maze of cracks as well. I knew then that Rodney and his assistant had done the damage. I asked them to bring the mirror back down to the garage. They did so, placing it back in the open carton and taking off without asking to be paid. Hmmm.
Six of the nine holes mistakenly drilled below the mirror.
Inspection revealed no glass pieces in the shipping carton, but plenty of shards on the dressing room floor.
The next day the Consumer Gal called Rodney and asked him to reimburse us $979 for the broken mirror. He became irate and refused. Well, we concluded, Angi will have to make good on this debacle. After all, its website declares:
“Big or small, we’ll help you get the job done right, guaranteed.” (How Does Angi Work | Angi).
I emailed Angi and explained the predicament. They offered me mediation. I declined. I insisted they make good on their guarantee. Angi declined.
So off I trotted to small claims court. Several weeks after I filed suit. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department served Angi’s agent in Southern California (Angi is headquartered in Indiana) I received a call from Angi’s representative.
He offered to pay the claim, but only if I would sign a release that precluded my disclosing this epic saga on any forum (as I am doing with this blogpost). But there were two catches. First, I would have to send proof that I had withdrawn my lawsuit. And second, I would then have to wait two weeks for Angi to send reimbursement.
I refused. What would be my recourse if I were to cancel the suit and sign the agreement only to learn that Angi was snookering me; remember their unrealized satisfaction guarantee?
There was an additional reason I would not trust Angi. They claim to check out their contractors’ credentials. I had made Rodney a codefendant in the lawsuit. But when the sheriff attempted to serve Rodney with a summons, it turned out that he no longer did business at the address posted on the California Contractors State License Board website. Angi had failed to keep track of where their electrician is located. In fact, this is Angi’s policy: “Angi also verifies state-level licensing and requires that each business attests that it carries local licensing.” In other words, it doesn’t necessarily check up on the accuracy of the license information.
Angi countered with an adjusted offer. I counter-countered with what I felt was a satisfactory offer that would guarantee my canceling the suit and Angi sending my payment upfront. No dice.
The day of the big trial arrived. Angi, as expected, did not show. I presented my case to the judge. I showed her the shards of glass and photos of the myriad holes in the wall, the cracks in the mirror and what our replacement mirror looked like when installed by a legit electrician.
“Judgment for the plaintiff.”
A few weeks later I received a check from Angi for $979.
I understand that a service like Angi cannot 100-percent guarantee that a contractor won’t screw up. But there is no excuse for not keeping track better about contractors’ performance and not living up to Angi’s guarantee: “Big or small, we’ll help you get the job done right, guaranteed.”