Angie's List Failed Me In NC

[earlybird]

I was trying to find recommendations/reviews on Angie's List for attorneys in my area. AL doesn't do attorney reviews. Who knew? Attorneys are valuable service providers and should be listed on AL, IMO. Is there anyone in the RDU area of NC who can recommend a local Wills & Estates/Tax Attorney and also a Criminal Defense Attorney? I don't have need of either at the moment but you just never know. I like to be prepared.

[Dicey]

Why is this an Angie's List fail? Did they promise you something they did not deliver? Did someone you hired through them fail to complete work as promised?
I have no connection to Angie's List, but I can't see why you're posting negative stuff about a service they don't even provide. What am I missing here? How have they "harmed" you so you think it's fair to bash them here?

[red7]

I think the OP called this a fail because Angie's List advertises itself as a one-stop shop for service providers. In its advertisements, and even on its front page, it does not say anything about having restrictions on the categories of services.

I didn't even realize that so many categories weren't included until I started digging around the FAQs after reading this post. If the OP is already a member, I can see how they probably wouldn't have thought to check there.

Also, I think calling this a Fail hardly qualifies as "bashing." It's not that serious

For someone with no affiliation, you sure jumped on the OP hard and fast for using a popular way to say "darn, my expectations weren't met/were wrong".

[earlybird]

red7 is absolutely correct! Attorneys are service providers but aren't included on AL. Definitely not "bashing" them. I've been a member for quite a while now. I will say though that I've utilized recommendations on AL and was very disappointed in the quality of work I received from the service provider. Overall, I think it's a good service that was helpful when I first moved to this area and didn't know anyone. Most likely I will not renew my subscription. But, I still would like attorney recommendations!

[geekette]

I'll PM a recommendation that Zamboni gave me a while back for a lawyer for wills.   He's in Chapel Hill, and we exchanged a lot of info via email, but he met us in Brier Creek to do the signing.  Flat $150 per person for a will, HCPA, living will, and answers to all the questions we had.

[earlybird]

Thanks, geekette! Appreciate it!

[Dicey]

I think the OP called this a fail because Angie's List advertises itself as a one-stop shop for service providers. In its advertisements, and even on its front page, it does not say anything about having restrictions on the categories of services.

I didn't even realize that so many categories weren't included until I started digging around the FAQs after reading this post. If the OP is already a member, I can see how they probably wouldn't have thought to check there.

Also, I think calling this a Fail hardly qualifies as "bashing." It's not that serious

For someone with no affiliation, you sure jumped on the OP hard and fast for using a popular way to say "darn, my expectations weren't met/were wrong".

I think I'll stand by my original comment. For one thing, buying into AL (or anything) without knowing what you're getting isn't exactly Mustachian. Two, the fault is the OP's not Angie's List. To publicly call them out instead of saying, 'Wow, I could have researched that better before I sent my green soldiers into battle." is pointing fingers in the wrong direction. If the OP had titled this post "earlybird Fail" it would have been a lot more accurate, albeit not as catchy.

[red7]

If the OP had titled this post "earlybird Fail" it would have been a lot more accurate, albeit not as catchy.

I agree. I just think you took her wording way more seriously than intended, and responded more severely than the post warranted. That's why I responded, because I thought your response may have come out of a misunderstanding. When I first read it, it felt like quite an attack, that didn't really seem to be necessary.

I also still think that, having already signed up for services which WERE covered by AL, Earlybird just expected this new service she needs to be there as well. Obviously, the world now has yet another example of why we shouldn't just assume things (or trust advertising).

It appears we both had very different interpretations of the original post. Earlybird has since changed it and the title, I'm guessing to make sure no one misunderstands her intentions.

So we can agree to disagree on the original, and others can benefit from the clarifications. Maybe someone can even offer another comment that actually answers earlybird's question :)

[Dicey]

Geekette provided what looks like a great answer. (Love her handle, btw, for reasons I'll never publicly disclose.)

And thank you, early bird for adjusting your title. More accurate is better, but you are still pointing your finger in the wrong direction. Had Angie's List promised you legal references, they would be in the wrong, but that does not appear to be the case.

red7, on this blog, in which the facepunch is celebrated, my aim was simply to be matter-of-fact. Call it tough love, if you will, but it was no facepunch. When anyone buys anything without reading the fine print and expects it to be something it's not, they can not truly blame the provider and/or expect to get a lot of sympathy here. Bashing AL for his/her own error is not cool. Doing so in a public forum is worse.  And attempting to use "But I believed their advertising..." as an excuse is a sure-fire way to get drummed out of mustachian boot camp for being a complainypants.

Why a "mustachian" would pay a third party for research they could do themselves is a whole other topic.