Is Angie's List a Scam???

Responding to their promotions on National Public Radio (NPR), I
recently signed-up for a membership on Angie's List. What a good
idea, I thought: a database of local service provider reports,
submitted by people in my local community, and supported by our
membership fees.

I was wrong. If Angie's List isn't a scam, in my opinion they
misrepresent the services they provide. Here's what I experienced:

(1) Sign-up and Ease of Use

It cost me $10 to sign-up plus a $6.95 monthly recurring fee. The
website was easy to navigate, although there were some
inconsistencies. For example, Angie's List claims to have a "Penalty
Box" for service providers; I could never find it.

(2) Provider Reports

Reports for most providers in my local community were sparse; in some
cases non-existent. There weren't more than two or three reports in
most categories. Not enough to see a trend.

(3) Submitting Reports

I submitted four reports based on service providers I had recently
used (one plumber, two roofers and one mortuary). Two of the reports
were "glowing" and two of the reports were negative. All of the
reports were clearly written, honest and used no profanity.

Angie's List claims that it takes two business days for reports to be
posted. After about a week, with nothing posted, I sent an inquiry to
their customer service department. I received a timely reply advising
me that it was taking them longer to review reports because they were
receiving "over 1000 reports a week." I didn't know that Angie's List
"reviewed" reports.

After several more communications, over the next couple of weeks, I
learned that Angie's List would not post three of my reports because
they made reference to alternate service providers. I was not aware
that Angie's List "edited" or "censored" reports.

(4) Reports Credibility

I have no confidence in Angie's List reports. Here's why:

First of all, I immediately noticed that reports for some providers
were suspiciously similar. If there are only two reports for a
provider, and both reports have almost identical wording, one wonders
about the credibility of those reports.

In some categories, Angie's List has service providers which offer
coupons. Coupons! Does this mean that Angie's List has marketing
agreements which some providers? This would hardly enhance the
credibility of a provider.

Clearly reports cannot be credible if Angie's List "edits" or
"censors" the reports. From my own experience in submitting reports,
I know that Angie's List does precisely that.

Finally, how would Angie's List report on a company with a known bad
reputation? In our community, Whittier Home Roofing has just such a
bad reputation. But Whittier Home Roofing didn't show up on their
list for Roofers. I then searched by company name. Sure enough,
Whittier Home Roofing showed up as a service provider. However, when
I clicked to see the reports, Angie's List displayed the message:
"We're sorry, but Angie's List is not sharing information about this
company currently."

So that's it, Angie's List gladly publishes glowing reports about
service providers, but "edits" or "censors" reports which are
negative.

(5) Customer Service

Communication with Angie's List customer service was always timely. I
was prepared to file a complaint against Angie's List with our state
department of consumer affairs, however, Angie's List agreed to refund
my sign-up and membership fees and terminate my membership. So, I
can't call them a "scam." However, Angie's List is, in my opinion,
disreputable.