I'm willing to pay for quality word of mouth recommendations. I just received a note from Angie's List, one of the country's leading customer review websites of service providers with approximately 600,000 members across 124 U.S. cities, informing me that the free subscription that I've enjoyed for more than a year is ending. If I want to continue using the service, it'll cost me $27/year if I use the promo code LTRPROMO when I signup online or by phone.
I blogged positively about Angie's List last year while I had a free subscription. However, I'm frugal when it comes for paying for online subscriptions since there is so much free information available. Yet, I have been unable to find a free or paid service like Angie's List with such comprehensive listings. More importantly, I've used Angie's List to find a variety of service providers such as electricians, handymen, painters, chimney sweeps, HVAC experts, plumbers, etc. Every single highly-rated service provider that I discovered on Angie's List provided quality service at a fair price. This leads me to believe that Angie's List invests a lot effort in making sure that reviewers are non-biased "real people." I would be curious to know how they do this since I imagine that is tempting for service providers to "stuff the ballot box."
Angie's List has also given me the means to obtain an informed second opinion when friends recommend service providers. It's not like I don't trust people but I enjoy getting an opinion beyond a sample size of one.
What customer review websites with paid or unpaid access do you like? I'm always open to new services and curious to see what else is out there.
