Well, their email response just pissed me off.
"It is the states job to monitor and punish contractors who are operating illegally, we are not a policing force. If you have evidence or specific examples of companies on our list who are operating as licensed and are not, we will gladly take a look at these companies and take appropriate action."
WTF???? No, they certainly ARE NOT a policing force. They just allow paying members to refer illegal, unlicensed contractors on their web site which is a free and wonderful advertising tool for the illegal, unlicensed contractors!! Lovely!!
Evidence or specific examples??? How about 90% of the entire "Handyman" category which I am sure SOMEONE is in charge of the listings at Angie's List! There's even a little box, put there by Angie's List, to check: Licensed or Unlicensed. Of the one's that were checked "Licensed"; I checked the CA State Contractors Board and more than 1/2 were not actually licensed. They simply put in a number knowing it would not be checked. Nice!!
So, I did respond to Angie's List and it is as follows:
"Thank you for responding to my email. I agree with you statement that it is the states job to monitor and punish illegal contractors. In my limited contact with SWIFT, I do believe they are doing their best to crack down on illegal activity. I also suspect that they will contact you directly due to the fact that your website represents "advertising" for these illegal companies.
The "hands off" approach you refer to in your email would be fine for a service such as "craigslist" which does not charge for postings for services and allows almost anyone to post to the web site. One knows not to expect too much with that sort of advertising web site. However, my issue with Angie's List is that you company is a respected and seemingly honourable company that is paid (by the consumer) and represents free advertising for businesses. If you truly strive to "keep honest companies on your list", I believe that Angie's List should make a point NOT to allow advertising (or recommendations) for unlicensed contractors thereby protecting the consumers who pay for the trust of the recommendations on this web site.
As a legal and licensed contractor, I would certainly be more inclined to refer my clients to your service if I felt that Angie's List was a place where my clients would be protected from unscrupulous contractors. Who knows how many other contractors feel the same way I do? As a customer, I would also be more likely to use your service because I would see that Angie's List is actively protecting me against illegal, unlicensed contractors. Thereby protecting my greatest investment which is my home and not merely providing "lip service" while passing the responsibility on to another entity.
Regards,
Deborah Zsarko
DZsarko and Associates"
Hold on - there's one more round! Angie's List actually responds and it's a good one - Part III coming soon!!!
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Cheryl from Angie's List here.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you didn't get a more complete response when you wrote in to Angei's List, and you can bet that we'll be looking at the hanyman category in LA in the coming weeks. Angies' List has actually launched an effort to toughen our policies on trade licensing. That came after your initial conversation with us, I believe, which may help explain why you weren't alerted to it.
Please take a look at our September magazine (http://magazine.angieslist.com/) which focused on the issue and outlined its complexity. As you may know, licensing laws vary across the country and often from city to city within the same state.
Most states issue licenses for at least some contractors, including plumbers, electricians, heating and cooling specialists, handymen, builders and remodelers. But here's a quick glance at the situation.
15 states have state licensing only
10 states have state licening and registration
9 states have state licensing as well as local licensing.
4 states have state licensing and local registration
2 states have state licensing as well as local licensing and local registration
4 states have state licensing and registration as well as local licensing
1 state has state registration and local licensing
4 states (including Washington DC) have local licensing only.
We know of no entity that has been able to provide quick, reliable checks on license status because of this complexity. But we're trying to develop one, and if you look at the magazine articles, you'll see how, in detail. It will take us some time, but we'll get there. We're calling for more simple laws that can be more easily followed by consumers and contractors alike, but that will also be consistently and adequately enforced.
I encourage you to take a look at the articles and follow what we're trying to do. Thanks for your input.
Cheryl Reed
Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post about Angie's list.
I am the president of the United Contractors Association in Sacramento. We have been fighting the unlicensed in advertising for more than 3 years.
This has been a thorn for some time, along with PennySaver and CraigsList. I will continue to follow your progress.
I would like to get your take on our website:
http://www.gouca.org
Scott
scott@gouca.org