Example of Why I Don’t Like Home Advisor

June 16, 2021 Update

Last week, we had standing water in our upstairs bathtub.

I thought we had a clogged drain so I poured Drano into the tub. But it didn’t work.

I’m not at all handy so I quickly realized I needed a plumber to to diagnose the problem and fix it.

I texted and called three plumbers that I’ve used in the past, but didn’t get an immediate response and decided this would be a great time to try Home Advisor (owned by ANGI) again.

Within 15 minutes I booked a plumber to come to my house and fix the clogged drain for a fixed price of $307 (I got a discount for signing up for ANGI’s annual membership plan – the set price was $381).

 

 

This price seemed reasonable (plumbers are expensive).

The only problem was the booking wasn’t for 5 days. I noticed the standing water on Saturday, and the earliest I could book the ANGI plumber was Weds.

I figured, no problem, at least I have someone booked.

But then one of the three plumbers that I had originally texted got back to me and said that they were available to come out on Sunday (the next day).

So he came and quickly replaced the tub drain.

He charged my $170.

I cancelled my ANGI/Home Advisor reservation with no hassle which was great.

But this is another example of how Home Advisor/ANGI doesn’t work for me.

They have a marketplace which can be incredibly valuable, but the marketplace generally doesn’t work for me because: 1) I have existing home repair specialists that I can use 2) the wait time is too long.

I want to like ANGI (the stock), but my experience with the service keeps me from getting too excited about it.