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!!!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Hiring a "Handyman" and Angie's List - Part I
I know I am not the only person in construction that has been a "handyman" in the course of my life. I've had my share of being in between projects/companies and needed the work, so I got by using my knowledge and tools until I was hired by a company to build who knows what.
The difference between what I have done in the past and the ads I am seeing on craigslist and most recently on a website named "Angie's List" is that I did not go out and start an unlicensed, uninsured business. I merely took my knowledge and tools and charged a more than fair rate for my time to be at someone's house repairing something that needed to be repaired. I am the sort of person that had I broken anything or if I had botched a repair, I would have worked for free to make it right or paid for someone else to make it right. Thank goodness that I never needed to do either.
For now, I am only going to write about Angie's List. For those of you who don't know what Angie's List is, it is a website where as a member(yes, you have to pay) are able to find a company and/or contractor based on reviews from people that have used this company and/or contractor in the past. Once a company has several reviews they get a grade and a ranking which is either good or bad depending on the service provided and the written review. In a nut shell: this is free advertising for companies and a way to get repeat and referral business.
So me, being me - I thought to myself, "Cool, this could work for me!" and started to look into the website. What I found immediately was that approx. 90% of their Handyman Service section were company's listed on the site but were not licensed. I know this because some said so and I went onto the Contractor's State License Board of California to check. These were not people "in between" jobs. These were people (and company's) who take visa and mastercard.
Ok, so what's the big deal?? These people probably know what their doing and have the right tools, etc... Well, the most important "Big Deal" is that a self-employed handyman working without a license puts the home owner at risk. Let's say you hire Sam, the Shingle Man to fix a leak in your roof and he is not licensed, or bonded, or insured. You've given him a sizable deposit and Sam is up on your roof fixing the leak. Oh darn, he slips and falls off the roof. Now, for sake of this example he's not dead or even seriously injured but he can't finish the job and you now have a big hole in your roof that will DEFINITELY leak. What do you do?? You have no recourse with Sam. He's long gone with your deposit by now. You could try suing him personally and/or invoke your homeowners liability insurance. The sticky part is: you allowed him on your property, you allowed him to climb up on the roof and by doing so you have just become his employer. You could also be liable for workers comp and even payroll taxes. Worse than all the above, Sam could turn around and sue you for all of his medical bills etc... YIKES!!!
Here are the facts:
"Hello Deborah,
Thank you for your email and sorry for the delayed response. Angie's List is a service for consumers where a person can go on our list and look at other people's past experiences that have had with contractors and decide whether or not they would also like to use them in the future. 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 who are not, we will gladly take a look at these companies and take appropriate action. If SWIFT were to contact us and inform us of companies on our list who are unlicensed and operating illegally we would gladly assist them as well. We strive to keep honest companies on our list, and if a company operating illegally, then they are not a company that we want to offer to our members."
Hmmm...
Check back for Part II where Deborah responds!!
The difference between what I have done in the past and the ads I am seeing on craigslist and most recently on a website named "Angie's List" is that I did not go out and start an unlicensed, uninsured business. I merely took my knowledge and tools and charged a more than fair rate for my time to be at someone's house repairing something that needed to be repaired. I am the sort of person that had I broken anything or if I had botched a repair, I would have worked for free to make it right or paid for someone else to make it right. Thank goodness that I never needed to do either.
For now, I am only going to write about Angie's List. For those of you who don't know what Angie's List is, it is a website where as a member(yes, you have to pay) are able to find a company and/or contractor based on reviews from people that have used this company and/or contractor in the past. Once a company has several reviews they get a grade and a ranking which is either good or bad depending on the service provided and the written review. In a nut shell: this is free advertising for companies and a way to get repeat and referral business.
So me, being me - I thought to myself, "Cool, this could work for me!" and started to look into the website. What I found immediately was that approx. 90% of their Handyman Service section were company's listed on the site but were not licensed. I know this because some said so and I went onto the Contractor's State License Board of California to check. These were not people "in between" jobs. These were people (and company's) who take visa and mastercard.
Ok, so what's the big deal?? These people probably know what their doing and have the right tools, etc... Well, the most important "Big Deal" is that a self-employed handyman working without a license puts the home owner at risk. Let's say you hire Sam, the Shingle Man to fix a leak in your roof and he is not licensed, or bonded, or insured. You've given him a sizable deposit and Sam is up on your roof fixing the leak. Oh darn, he slips and falls off the roof. Now, for sake of this example he's not dead or even seriously injured but he can't finish the job and you now have a big hole in your roof that will DEFINITELY leak. What do you do?? You have no recourse with Sam. He's long gone with your deposit by now. You could try suing him personally and/or invoke your homeowners liability insurance. The sticky part is: you allowed him on your property, you allowed him to climb up on the roof and by doing so you have just become his employer. You could also be liable for workers comp and even payroll taxes. Worse than all the above, Sam could turn around and sue you for all of his medical bills etc... YIKES!!!
Here are the facts:
- It's illegal for an unlicensed person to perform contracting work on any project valued at $500 or more and materials.
- Besides being illegal, unlicensed contractors lack accountability and have a high rate of involvement in construction scams.
- They are also unfair competition for licensed contractors who operate with bonds, insurance and other responsible business practices.
- Organization called SWIFT (StateWide Investigative Fraud Team) that has been set up by the CA State License Board to monitor and combat illegal activity.
"Hello Deborah,
Thank you for your email and sorry for the delayed response. Angie's List is a service for consumers where a person can go on our list and look at other people's past experiences that have had with contractors and decide whether or not they would also like to use them in the future. 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 who are not, we will gladly take a look at these companies and take appropriate action. If SWIFT were to contact us and inform us of companies on our list who are unlicensed and operating illegally we would gladly assist them as well. We strive to keep honest companies on our list, and if a company operating illegally, then they are not a company that we want to offer to our members."
Hmmm...
Check back for Part II where Deborah responds!!
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