IN one terrible 10-day period recently, a leak damaged the walls and floors of Terry Snyder's Westside home. He found someone to install new flooring, but his favorite painter wasn't available to restore the walls. Then there was an electrical problem and his computer crashed. Who should he call?
Fortunately for Snyder, a teacher who is picky about who works on his home of 34 years, he found what he was looking for on www.angieslist.com, a website directory of home and garden services. The site lists 26,000 Southern California providers, from air-duct cleaners to wrought-iron fence installers, who have been recommended by clients, then evaluated by the company's staff.
Angie's List, which debuted in Los Angeles last fall and in San Diego a year earlier, is part of a growing number of directories that bring the Zagat approach to the home improvement industry. These directories blend the contact information of a telephone book with frank consumer reviews. Businesses can not nominate themselves, pay to be included or advertise.
The Franklin Report, which released the second edition of its printed Los Angeles guidebook in October, is another review service group that relies strictly on customer referrals and not deep-pocket advertisers. The company publishes other editions in New York, Connecticut and Chicago.
These companies make money through subscriptions (Angie's List is $5.95 a month) or selling their printed directories (Franklin Report's 396-page paperback is $22.50). Vendors who have been recommended by clients, reviewed by Franklin Report researchers and included in the book can elect to pay a $375 production fee to have their portfolio posted on www.franklinreport.com.
Other home-service source books, especially those in which design showrooms and other businesses that work only with trade professionals pay to be included, have pretty pictures and contact information, but no critical reviews by clients. They also aren't readily available. The Franklin Report is sold at major bookstore chains and on Amazon.com. Anyone with Internet access can go to www.angieslist.com.
Angie's List staffers take consumer empowerment one step further: They will contact a business if there is a dispute and will try to resolve it. But most of the power of the list is in the hands of customers who need something as major as a home contractor or as minor as a locksmith to change a deadbolt.
