59% Off One Year Membership to Angie’s List

June 12, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Shopping 

One of today’s Groupon offers for Milwaukee is a one year membership to Angie’s List for $19.  This is a 59% discount off of the $46.40 retail price.

Angie’s List is a website that features quality reviews for more than 500 home and personal services including:

  • Carpet Cleaning
  • Electrical
  • Remodeling
  • Roofing
  • Landscaping
  • Dentists
  • Doctors
  • Auto Service
  • Child Care
  • Massage Therapy

Reviews for each service provider come from members, not anonymous users. Angie’s List checks these reviews in order to prevent businesses from submitting positive reviews for themselves or negative reviews on competitors.  This is an advantage over free sites on the internet where it’s easy for fabricated reviews to be submitted.  Other advantages of Angie’s List include receiving exclusive discounts from businesses that are ranked on Angie’s List as a top-rated business, and access to their free Complaint Resolution Team to help resolve an issue you have with a business.

Important fine print for this offer:

  • Valid only for the Milwaukee area.
  • New members only.
  • Must activate subscription by December 14, 2011.
  • Must provide a credit card number.
  • Membership will auto-renew if not opted out of.

Visit the Groupon website to purchase a one year membership to Angie’s List for $19.

One Year Angie’s List Membership for $12

November 24, 2010 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Contractors 

If you are planning on doing any home improvement projects, or hiring a contractor to do work around the house over the next year, check out this great deal on a membership to Angie’s List.  Today’s Groupon deal of the day in Cincinnati is a 1 year membership to Angie’s List for $12 (regular price = $39).  (Although this deal is being offered on the Cincinnati Groupon page, it can be purchased by anyone, regardless of where you live.) 

We have written about Angie’s List in the past.  Subscribers to Angie’s List receive access to local reviews of area contractors, doctors, mechanics, veterinarians, and more.  With millions of nationwide members, there are reviews in over 500 different categories.  An advantage of Angie’s List is that all reviews are checked in order to prevent businesses that try to submit positive reviews for themselves or negative reviews on competitors.  This is a big advantage over free sites on the internet where fabricated reviews can easily be submitted.  As one commenter noted, using Angie’s List is “like asking your neighbor who they would use for certain services”.  In addition, if you have a bad experience with a contractor, you might be able to utilize their free Complaint Resolution Team to help resolve your issue.

The Angie’s List offer is available today only.  Note that when you activate your memberhsip, you’ll  need to provide a credit card so your membership can renew in 1 year.  You can cancel prior to renewal to avoid the charge.

Tree Removal Needed?

October 27, 2010 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Contractors 

Have the neighbor’s leaves, political yard signs, and flower pots all blown into your yard? Hopefully that is the extent of any of your problems.  It could be worse.  JSOnline is reporting that more than 10,000 residents are without power this afternoon.  Undoubtedly, there are many trees down throughout the Milwaukee area too.

Hopefully you don’t find yourself in the position of needing to call a contractor to take care of a tree that has blown down due to the wind storm we are experiencing.  But if you do, some resources are listed below.  We posted these last December when a big snowstorm hit and damaged a lot of trees and a number of our readers found this information to be valuable.  If you have any other suggestions to help our readers find a contractor that is right for their situation, please feel free to leave a comment.      

Angie’s List – If you subscribe to Angie’s List you’ll receive access to local reviews and live support from their company.  If you have a bad experience with a contractor, you might be able to utilize their free Complaint Resolution Team to help resolve your issue.  An advantage of Angie’s List is that all reviews are checked in order to prevent businesses that try to submit reviews on themselves or negative reviews on competitors.  This is a big advantage over free sites on the internet where fabricated reviews can easily be submitted.

Craigslist – Consult the Milwaukee Skilled Trades page on Craigslist.  Advantages of using Craigslist is it is free and it’s easy to navigate the website to find services for tree removal, tree pruning, etc…  However, the downside is that there aren’t any pre-screened reviews and you may need to take extra care in how you select your contractor.  At the top of the page on Craigslist there are links to articles such as “When does your contractor need a license?”, a reminder to ask for references, and articles on personal safety tips and avoiding scams and fraud.  Be sure to read these if you are selecting contractors using Craigslist.

Service MagicService Magic is a website that provides free matches to pre-screened service professionals, such as arborists.  The Service Magic website also has articles on tree trimming advice, including the best time to trim, basic trimming suggestions, and trimming safety (most important –  you should never trim trees on a ladder.  Instead, you should secure yourself to the tree from at least two points using a harness and ropes).

We also recently asked our Readers Panel for their advice in selecting contractors.

Suzette said “When my husband and I need services around our home, our first line of resources are recommendations from friends, co-workers, or friends of friends. Many times this is through conversations but I have also sent out emails asking for recommendations.”  She finds that on websites one can usually find good and bad information about each contractor, and prefers to dig deeper to ask about contractors, including their personality.  Suzette also wisely states “It just isn’t about price and doing the job. It is about price, time, and quality. They are interelated and usually effect each other.”

Renee responded stating when she needed some work done around the house such as landscaping, she used a free group on Yahoo! called Milwaukee Cafe.  The group is fashioned after the Milwaukee Freecyle group.  Renee stated “I found a great handyman who charges me $8/hour and has done a fabulous job helping me out.”

Resources for Tree Damage Services in Milwaukee

December 11, 2009 by · 5 Comments
Filed under: Contractors 

tree damageThe recent snowstorm we had in the Milwaukee area on December 8th and 9th led to a lot of tree damage, especially evergreens.  In an article on JSOnline reporter Joe Taschler wrote that experts state that it is not a good idea to knock snow and ice off trees that are bent to the ground, as it could cause even more damage.

If you are in need of an arborist or a service to clean up damaged trees, there are several resources you can consult to find the contractor that is right for your situation.  Here are a few ideas:

Angie’s List – If you subscribe to Angie’s List you’ll receive access to local reviews and live support from their company.  If you have a bad experience with a contractor, you might be able to utilize their free Complaint Resolution Team to help resolve your issue.  An advantage of Angie’s List is that all reviews are checked in order to prevent businesses that try to submit reviews on themselves or negative reviews on competitors.  This is a big advantage over free sites on the internet where fabricated reviews can easily be submitted.

Craigslist – Consult the Milwaukee Skilled Trades page on Craigslist.  Advantages of using Craigslist is it is free and it’s easy to navigate the website to find services for tree removal, tree pruning, etc…  However, the downside is that there aren’t any pre-screened reviews and you may need to take extra care in how you select your contractor.  At the top of the page on Craigslist there are links to articles such as “When does your contractor need a license?”, a reminder to ask for references, and articles on personal safety tips and avoiding scams and fraud.  Be sure to read these if you are selecting contractors using Craigslist.

Service MagicService Magic is a website that provides free matches to pre-screened service professionals, such as arborists.  The Service Magic website also has articles on tree trimming advice, including the best time to trim, basic trimming suggestions, and trimming safety (most important –  you should never trim trees on a ladder.  Instead, you should secure yourself to the tree from at least two points using a harness and ropes).

We also recently asked our Readers Panel for their advice in selecting contractors.

Suzette said “When my husband and I need services around our home, our first line of resources are recommendations from friends, co-workers, or friends of friends. Many times this is through conversations but I have also sent out emails asking for recommendations.”  She finds that on websites one can usually find good and bad information about each contractor, and prefers to dig deeper to ask about contractors, including their personality.  Suzette also wisely states “It just isn’t about price and doing the job. It is about price, time, and quality. They are interelated and usually effect each other.”

Renee responded stating when she needed some work done around the house such as landscaping, she used a free group on Yahoo! called Milwaukee Cafe.  The group is fashioned after the Milwaukee Freecyle group.  Renee stated “I found a great handyman who charges me $8/hour and has done a fabulous job helping me out.”

Do you have any suggestions on where our readers can turn if they need a contractor to help them cleanup tree damage from the storm?  If so, please feel free to leave a comment.