There is a site called RATE YOUR BUILDER
http://www.rateyourbuilder.info and it has been good, but was recently
sold to someone who is hiding his or her real identity behind "Domains
by Proxy." It bears watching because of its past track record for
being unbiased and uncensored, but I have a feeling the new owner isn't
going to keep it as nice. For now though, there are a lot of good
ratings there and you can ADD a builder and see if anyone rates it too.

Otherwise, a true rating is lacking in pretty much every locale. If
there is regulation the regulatory agencies may not publish complaints.
I have found out as have many people now that Better Business Bureaus
can be very lame. Don't count on them. Look at some consumer sites,
too. Not sure if http://www.complaints.com is still around but it used
to have info on local contractors I think. Also
http://www.ripoffreport.com Though they deal mainly with home
builders, not repair contractors, the sites http://www.hadd.com and
http://www.hobb.org may also be of help.




50 SOMETHING GAL wrote:
I'm looking for websites and/or forums where I can research licensed
and/or independent HANDYMEN and CONTRACTORS (eg. plumber, roofer,
electrician etc.) --LOCALLY.

I have visited the site CONTRACTORS.COM but I'm a bit put off by what
appears to be a highly-commercial website. I guess I inherently
distrust a site that claims to "screen" all of its contractors. This
service cannot possibly be performed free of charge -- the contractor
obviously must pay money to the site to be "screened" and therein lies
the conflict of interest. I don't blame this site for their model
(indeed I don't see how they could do it any other way) but I would so
much prefer a Public, Open, Free, consumer-interactive FORUM that
allows individuals to rate ANYONE -- and post to a searchable database
BY LOCALITY on such factors as the type of job done, quality of work,
estimate vs. final cost, licensed vs. unlicensed, and credit cards
welcomed, to name a few.

There is a model in place for just this -- the Forums on CRAIGS LIST --
but to my surprise CL has not one forum dedicated to this
urgently-needed resource. Even LOCAL.COM doesn't have Forums.

The best resource for hiring (almost anyone for almost anything) is a
personal referral. But I don't have that luxury, and need a more
publicly-accessible resource. Thanks in advance for pointing out any
sites you may know of.

50-sumpin'