The HVAC company I work for here in Indianapolis has a listing on Angie’s list. We do not pay for the listing; however, if we want a bump to be on the Angie’s Listed top contractors, we better pay advertising fees. The companies who pay for advertising get ads in their booklet and mentions on radio or TV ads depending how big their
advertising dollars.
We do fine being a member if the BBB.
Other Indiana news about Angie’s listhttp://fox59.com/2015/02/23/angies-list-wants-18-5-million-in-taxpayer-money-proposal-goes-before-committee-monday/ (They want $18.5 million of our IN tax dollars).
That is even more disgusting. Rent seeking websites.
“We do fine being a member if the BBB.”
The last time I talked to the local BBB, they insisted that I tell them what my annual revenue was for the last couple years. Then they would tell me what they would charge me to be “certified” by them. I asked them to just send me their rate schedule and I would tell them what category I fit into. They said, “no”, that’s not how they work. I told them that they had no right to know my confidential financial information. A couple years earlier, they had told me I would have to pay $600 per year to be “certified” and I had refused.
The BBB comes off like a shake down racket, in my opinion.
The general consumer public has no idea what the BBB does to coerce money out of small businesses.
But the company is saddled with three prior quarters of deficits so Angie’s List was in the red on the year, reporting a $10.4 million loss to close out 2014.
They damn sure called a MT Juliet, TN Trane dealer. The man was a Vietnam Vet and a real pro. He tore out all the old duct work as I wanted it new. He also put in a couple of new registers with ductwork plus the Trane AC and my choice of thermostats was done professionally. These days it seems HVAC and plumbers show up on time and painters/drywall and others are druggies and/or cannot be on time. If you would like to talk to him or his wife as a fellow pro email me in private reply.