defending yourself on Angies list

[huggytree]

Got a call from Angies List today....someone gave me an F

it was from a project i did 1 year ago and the description says kitchen and bath when the project was a Bath ONLY

he did not describe the problem...just gave me a bad rating

how do you defend yourself when the customer never contacted me, the prime contractor or even described what the issue was????

there was a issue on this job with reusing his old toilet...when i reinstalled it it leaked....i ordered parts for it and was going to charge my min charge to rebuild it...he called 2 days before the appointment to cancel...i was stuck with a $20 part(which i still have in my shop)....if anything i should be giving HIM a bad review....i assume this was the issue, but who knows

should i describe what the issue may have been????? i figure not....just respond by saying

"its hard to defend yourself when the customer has not told anyone what the problem is. the job went well and turned out beautifully..at no time did the homeowner contact me or the prime contractor about any issues. i have recently contacted the prime contractor to verify that there were no issues or complaints'

short and sweet

i have (2) Straight A ratings, so 1 F doesnt kill me....but it doesnt help either

Angies list has a dispute section too...where they act as a go-between...I will go that route too...maybe i can get them to take it off completely...

[greenoak]

would there be any point in talking to the guy? maybe someone else blamed you for some part that wasnt you....

[phanio]

What is the proceedure on angie's list. Do they have a way for you to dispute or counter?

[huggytree]

i can counter and also go into 'negotiations to resolve the problem'

how do you counter when they just give you an F w/o explaining the issue? how do you argue against a blank complaint (they actually graded me pretty good in 3 out of the 5 catagories, but gave a final grade of F)

my position is you dont....you just point out they are complaining on angies list w/o letting me or anyone else know about the complaint...it says something about the person and hopefully other onlookers will gloss over it because their complaint is blank...

you have to respond to all complaints and i feel the best way is to make the complainer look like a 'complainer type'....kinda how politics works...you blame the messenger....by not leaving any written complaint it makes my job pretty simple

they gave me a D in communication which makes me think they are mixing me up with someone else....if anything im a pest...i over communicate....i also showed up on time down to the minute and they gave me a B for on-time....if you say your going to be there at 7am and you show up at 6:58am doesnt that equal an A?...im late for appointments maybe 2percent of the time...im always on time....80-90percent of the time im early

it is possible since they said i remodeled their Kitchen and i didnt that they are mixing me up, but they have the service date correct....strange it took them 1 year to complain

[DeniseTaylor]

Huggytree -


"its hard to defend yourself when the customer has not told anyone what the problem is. the job went well and turned out beautifully..at no time did the homeowner contact me or the prime contractor about any issues. i have recently contacted the prime contractor to verify that there were no issues or complaints'

What you have here is perfect.

Anybody can say anything about anyone online. It doesn't have to be true. How you respond is probably more important than the bad mark.

At no time do you want to be rude or inflammatory. Stating the facts and being willing to address issues is a good way to neutralize them. If they do come back with particulars, calmly clarify what occurred and if you did mess up, make it right. But then make sure to post what you did to make it right so readers will know that you did.

That will outshine your bad mark and possibly turn it to an advantage.

[huggytree]

Here's his response and mine...what do you think??????????? did i go too far and say too much?....im happy, but think i may have been too wordy






He was very unprofessional. I won’t use their services again.


Transcribed from a telephone interview


Company Response:

It is very hard to defend yourself when the customer doesn't give exact details of what the problem was!.

This job was done over a year ago and at no time did the customer contact me about a problem or issue.

I was subcontracted by a remodeler(not the homeowner) and at no time did the homeowner discuss a problem with the remodeler either. I still work for the remodeler on a steady basis

I had very limited contact with the homeowner during the project. I was in the room with them for 10-15 minutes during the whole remodel. I took my orders from the remodeler who was in charge of the project.

I wish the member would have contacted me a year ago to discuss any issues instead of being angry over whatever it was for 12 months before reporting it to Angies List.

It was a Master Bath gut/redo and the project turned out beautifully. I believe whatever the issue is/was is probably a misunderstanding of some sort.






Overall

F



Price

B



Quality

C



Responsiveness

D



Punctuality

B



Professionalism

F






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Report Date: January 31, 2011

[KristineS]

I think you responded well and I'd just leave it at that. One bad review won't sink your ship and now your side of the story has been heard. I'd just chalk it up to some people are trolls and move on.

[huggytree]

I think you responded well and I'd just leave it at that. One bad review won't sink your ship and now your side of the story has been heard. I'd just chalk it up to some people are trolls and move on.

1 bad review doesnt hurt you, but when you only have 3 it does....if i had 20 reviews and 1 was bad id say 'oh well'.....but having 2 straight A reviews and now a F give me a rating of B

B doesnt work with the Angies List crowd....i was about to pay to advertise w/ them too...now im letting it go

[seolman]

I think it's worth having a talk to the guy and trying to straighten things out. From everything you've said it sounds like just a misunderstanding of what really occurred. Hopefully it's a person who will realize they may have misjudged you and revise their rating.

[huggytree]

he is from a foreign country and hard to understand/communicate with...he may be russian or ukranian

do you really think anyone who has held their hatred of the job i did for 12 months enough to complain can have their mind changed? he also phoned it in....i think it takes alot more effort to phone a complaint in instead of quickly typing it on the internet.....noooo i dont think anything will change whatever he thinks

[Spider]

Dave, Does one have to be a member or subscriber of Angie's List? I went to the site and couldn't see anything about anybody because I am not a member and could not log in. But does that mean people can post reviews about non-members? - "behind closed doors," so to speak? Might there be reviews - good and bad - about people without them being aware of it?

[seolman]

Well, sorry to hear that. Every now and then no matter how hard we try there are some people it's just impossible to please. As an alternative strategy, why not approach a few clients you know have been satisfied with your work and ask them to give you a rating on Angie's list. This will certainly could bring the overall grade back up and limit the damage.

[huggytree]

company.angieslist.com

i believe thats the web address for companies to check and create their own business info page

you can check your own business review for free there....if you get a review typically angies list will call you and let you know...then they advise you to make your own page there....

it costs $$ to get a real angies list membership, but checking your own page is free

[huggytree]

Dave, Does one have to be a member or subscriber of Angie's List? I went to the site and couldn't see anything about anybody because I am not a member and could not log in. But does that mean people can post reviews about non-members? - "behind closed doors," so to speak? Might there be reviews - good and bad - about people without them being aware of it?

Angies list typically calls when you get a review by someone....i got calls for 2 out of the 3 i got....they want you to PAY to advertise with them and be listed AHEAD of the normal listing...its a scam to some degree...ive considered paying and seeing what happens for 6 months, but now that i have a neg. thats all thrown out the window

[fsbo]

Can you post a response on Angie's List? I know the BBB will acknowledge if the customer doesn't respond. I would make the effort to contact the customer. That way you have a response for future customers. Either way, I would forget so that you aren't getting angry every time it is brought up. I wouldn't blame Angie's List because that is exactly what they do.

[LynnV]

I use Angie's list frequently for my home improvement needs. I used an Angie's List Boston Plumber a few weeks ago and wrote a review. He called me to respond to my review. He told me he couldn't respond on the website. Does that answer your question?

[huggytree]

yes you can respond and i did

the problem with Angies list and the BBB is it doesnt filter out the occasional 'crazy' customer.....Im not even sure this complaint was about my company...some of his details were off and he didnt even say what i did wrong...they should not post something lacking details....if the customer cant even say what is wrong how can they complain....i do occasionally get business off Angies List and because of 1 goofy customer i probably wont get any more