Angie's List reports are all checked by live human beings for accuracy and most importantly, to ensure the report is valid. AngiesList members have the opportunity to rate a company on the following factors: price, quality, responsiveness, punctuality, and professionalism. The rating system is just like a grade school report card. Letter grades A-F are given for each of these categories. There's also space on the Angie's List report card for members to give, in their own words, a detailed description of the work performed and their overall impressions. Once the report is given a stamp of approval it's entered in the database for members to see.

Plumbers to pet sitters, roofers to party rentals, Angie's List takes the leg work out of the ask- your- neighbor approach and provides you with thousands of neighbors? opinion that you can access on your computer at www.angieslist.com or by calling an Angie's List neighborhood specialist.

Angie's List Benefits

Angie's List takes the ask-your-neighbor approach to the next level. Instead of the handful of neighbors you may seek advice from; AngiesList connects you with thousands of neighbors who've submitted reports on hundreds of companies ranging from plumbers to bicycle repair shops.

Angie's List membership is around $10 a month and annual memberships are offered for additional savings. Benefits of an Angie's List membership include 24 hour access to the List at www.angieslist.com, ability to talk to a live person by calling our neighborhood specialists, 6 days a week, a monthly subscription to the award-winning magazine, AngiesList and access to the complaint resolution process.

Angie's List for Home Improvement

Angie's List members use the Angies List to find all sorts of home improvement contractors. Whether you're considering a dramatic attic conversion or a small weekend project, Angie's List members have access to over 250 categories on the List ranging from architects to pest control, from reception halls to window repair. Members can access AngiesList by calling a neighborhood specialist or going to the web at www.angieslist.com.

Angie's List members use the List to save time, money and the headache of finding a reliable trustworthy service provider. The AngiesList works like a grade school report card. Members rate their experiences on an A-F scale ? A being ?Excellent,? F being ?Lousy?. The review is broken down into categories: Price, Quality, Responsiveness, Punctuality and Professionalism. The review is then checked by a data verification specialist and posted for other Angie's List members to view. Angie's List members can check the List by phone or via the web at www.angieslist.com.

Angie's List Success History

About AngiesList :

Knowing that the frustrations she and her friends had finding good contractors were not unique, in 1995, Angie Hicks literally set out door-to-door in Columbus, OH, recruiting members and collecting reports from friends and neighbors. Taking the ?ask-your-neighbor? approach to a higher level, Angie used the detailed feedback from members as the basis for providing up-to-date, reliable, unbiased ratings and reviews on local services.

Angie, after the first year, with more than 1,000 members throughout Columbus had laid the foundation for what would become one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S. Over these last 12 years, she has led the List's expansion from a 100 square foot office to an operation that now covers more than 120 major cities across the U.S. and serves more than 500,000 consumers. It was also placed for three years in a row ? 2002, 2003 and 2004 ? among the Inc. 500 by Inc. Angies List magazine, a list of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the nation. All the while, Angie's keen sense of business and common sense have helped Angie's List remain a locally-focused service that members say they wouldn't live without. Over the years, consumers have come to trust Angie to help make the hiring process easier, as well as raise the level of service they can expect from local companies and contractors.

A working mother herself, Angie has ensured Angie's List continues to evolve to meet the ever-changing, dynamic needs of today's families and homeowners. She knows that Angie's List members are challenged each day to fit work, family and at-home time into already busy schedules. With this in mind, Angie's List puts reliable information and resources at the fingertips of its members, so they can access it anytime they need help finding a good contractor or service company ? whether it's for a major home renovation, an emergency car repair, or even find a clown for their kid's birthday party.

With more consumers across the U.S. turning to Angie's List each day, Angie regularly contributes to national and local consumer news stories across the country, including for CNN, The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Redbook, Real Simple, USA Weekend, Parade magazine and the Wall Street Journal.

Angie holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor's degree in economics from DePauw University, in Greencastle, IN.

How Angie's List works

Here's how AngiesList works:

?Get the real scoop. Each month Angies List receives nearly 15,000 reviews on local companies from consumers across the U.S. In their reviews, members describe their project and the work done. Angie's List also grade the company ? A, B, C, D or F, just like a report card ? in six areas: overall experience, price, quality of work, responsiveness, punctuality and professionalism.

?The best part is in the details. What makes Angie's List unique is that not only can members find out which companies were rated highest by other consumers, Angie's List also get the detailed comments and reviews. They'll quickly find out things like whether the contractor cleaned up after themselves, how much the job cost and how they handled the inevitable changes that often come with home improvement.

?It's consumer driven and reliable. Companies can't put themselves on the List, nor can they pay to be put on the List. With more than 15,000 reviews coming in every month from Angie's List members, consumers can get the most current information available on a AngiesList.

?And there's more. Angie's List membership comes with unlimited access to the List and a subscription to AngiesList magazine, which includes stories, tips and information on home and consumer topics. Members also have access to the Angie's List complaint resolution service.

?A leader in data integrity. Because Angie's List relies on its members? experiences, reviews can't be submitted anonymously. This holds the consumers accountable for the reports and makes the List trustworthy. Additionally, members can only report on a specific company once every six months, ensuring no one can ?stack the deck? in favor of or against a company. Since there are always two sides to every story, companies can respond to reviews, helping make sure that members get all the information they need to make a hiring decision. Finally, all reviews submitted by members go through a team of Angie's List staff who look for any irregularities or red flags.