What R you doing today?

[sour_grapes]

I had the joy of calling Angi, which was formerly Angie's List. For those not familiar, Angie's List was a service that acted as a go-between for end customers such as myself and a wide variety of service providers, including plumbers, electricians, etc. Customers could rate the providers and could use ratings to choose who to hire. We joined about 15 years ago and for a small annual fee, it provided good value. Up until now, every provider we hired through Angie's List did a good job for us.

Last year (or so?) the original owner sold out and the new owners renamed it Angi. New name, same service.

One difference is that Angi has its own stable of service providers. This is presented up front instead of the usual list of service providers.

Two weeks ago our well pump died. Switch and pressure tank seemed fine, but the pump wasn't pumping. I hit the Angi site and was asked to use their in-house provider. Being naïve, I did it and had an appointment for Sunday @ 8 AM. Two days without water is unhappy, but it could be worse.

To make a very long story short, the guy showed 3 hours late and apparently had to be contacted by Angi to get him to show. He brought his dog with him (seriously!). He didn't know what a pressure tank was, and left after 30 minutes, saying he couldn't help us and he'd contact Angi for a replacement.

Right ... first thing Monday morning I called a local plumber we had used before, who pointed us to a local well service. I called him, 1 hour later 3 guys were on-site, and 2 hours + $$$$ later we had water!

This afternoon it occurred to me that Angi probably charged us for the service. Sure enough, they did.

I got on the phone with their service center, and after a teeth-pullingly painful walk through the script the young woman with the thick Spanish accent was required to walk through, they accepted that no service had been performed.

The young woman said, "we will schedule you a new 'pro' (Angi term for service provider) to come ..."

I cut her off. "No. I had to hire a local service to fix our problem. I need a full refund."

She reacted well, and promised a 100% refund. I'm supposed to get an email within 24 hours and a refund on the credit card in 5 business days.

My advice?

I'll not use Angi's providers again, as they do not vet them. My wife and I was discussing dropping the subscription.

The owner of the well service and I discussed the situation. He recently subscribed to Angi from the opposite side of the coin. When I told him that Angi pushed their stable of "pros" before listing professional subscribers, his eyes opened wide. I doubt he'll be re-upping with Angi next year ...

Angie's List used to be a great resource when it was funded by ad revenue and subscriptions from contractors. It was very useful to be able to search for what you needed, find LOCAL resources, read reviews, then contact a few for more details/estimates. Once they put the pay wall up I stopped going. I looked at it not too long ago and when they started me down the path of "give us all your information and a 'pro' will be in touch", I ran as fast as I could.

It's funny that this is coming up today. My experience is similar to Bryan's: I had been a subscriber for many years, but didn't use it much in the last few years. I am in the middle of selling my house and moving to a new one, so I started tapping Angi again. It became clear to me that in the meantime the model had changed.

My experience is not exactly like Bryan described. It was just that I was not able to browse reviews, and that I was pushed towards 4 or 5 preferred vendors. It seemed obvious that my subscription was not was has been paying their bills! Now I am the product they are selling to contractgors. I think I will keep them until I get settled in the new house and then get rid of it.

 

[cmason1957]

Today, I am sitting around not doing much, except for exercising on a bike about 5 times a day. Yesterday, I had my right knee replaced. Interestingly, that is now an outpatient procedure. Into the surgery center at 830 out heading for home at 2. Absolutely amazing to me. My ex-wife had one done about 13 years ago and was in the hospital for 2 days. Here I am doing my exercises. The machine does 12 minutes of passive motion and the I have to pedal for 2 minutes.that can be changed by the docs office at all.

 

[winemaker81]

Today, I am sitting around not doing much, except for exercising on a bike about 5 times a day. Yesterday, I had my right knee replaced. Interestingly, that is now an outpatient procedure. Into the surgery center at 830 out heading for home at 2. Absolutely amazing to me. My ex-wife had one done about 13 years ago and was in the hospital for 2 days. Here I am doing my exercises. The machine does 12 minutes of passive motion and the I have to pedal for 2 minutes.that can be changed by the docs office at all.

My wife is a PTA and she rehabs folks with various joint replacements. I'll ask her about this. She has said the surgeries have gotten better of the years.

Good luck!

 

[winemaker81]

Just finished mowing the lawn and cleaning the yard tractor. Ours is a John Deere that has a hose fitting on the top of the mower deck. With the blades off, I stop the tractor on the concrete driveway and lower the deck all the way, attach the hose to the fitting, and turn the water on. Then I cycle the blades on and off for a minute or two, and the blades drive the water to remove gunk. This is FAR better than driving the tractor onto ramps and reaching under with a putty knife.

 

[sour_grapes]

My wife is a PTA

I beg your pardon!?

 

[cmason1957]

I beg your pardon!?

Usually that is me with the horrible auto unintelligible.

 

[winemaker81]

I beg your pardon!?

This is what I get for not proof reading. I've corrected my post.

My wife is a Physical Therapist Assistant. It's a lower degree than PTs have, so she does all the treatments, but does not do evaluations.

 

[vinny]

My wife is a PTA and she rehabs folks with various joint replacements. I'll ask her about this. She has said the surgeries have gotten better of the years.

Good luck!

Oh that was funny. I read that as my wife is a PITA...

I thought, WHAT? Bryan!

Still chuckling.

Edit.. I see it was actually quite funny to begin with. Some typo's can really get you in trouble.

 

[BarrelMonkey]

Over the past few days I've been gradually getting my vegetable starts in the ground, after a week of hardening off. So far, 22 tomatoes (10 different kinds) and 15 peppers (10 different kinds), though there are at least 6 more 'must have' pepper plants to go in. Plus tomatillos, eggplant, swiss chard, kale (Tuscan and Russian Red), and some cabbages and lettuces. It's turned a bit too hot for the cabbages and lettuces but with a little shading they seem to be pulling through. Had to replace 3 tomatoes though as some animal dug them up... I suspect that the bonemeal/bloodmeal in the planting hole might have suggested to them that there was something more tasty buried underneath...

 

[winemaker81]

Oh that was funny. I read that as my wife is a PITA...

I thought, WHAT? Bryan!

Still chuckling.

Edit.. I see it was actually quite funny to begin with. Some typo's can really get you in trouble.

Until I edited the post, it did read "PITA", which was a typo. Yeah, in hindsight it was funny. Thankfully Mrs. WM81 does not read this forum!

 

[sour_grapes]

This is what I get for not proof reading. I've corrected my post.

Which is why I quoted it to make sure the incriminating evidence does not disappear!

 

[winemaker81]

Which is why I quoted it to make sure the incriminating evidence does not disappear!

Reality is mutable ....

 

[ibglowin]

Good morning from SoCal!

 

[sour_grapes]

Which is why I quoted it to make sure the incriminating evidence does not disappear!

Reality is mutable ....

Oh, you and your dagnabbit Super Moderator Powers!

 

[ibglowin]

Good Morning Paso Robles! You can't drink all day unless you start in the morning!

 

[ibglowin]

Heading home tomorrow AM! 4 cases of wine, 1 case of Pliny the Elder, 1 case of Alagash Belgian White and a boatload of memories of time spent with good friends, family and of course a few bear sightings as well!

 

[ibglowin]

Some of the wine related pics from Paso!

 

[ibglowin]

 

[Kraffty]

@ibglowin ,your pictures make me miss so cal a little.... ok I'm over it now..... looks like a great time though.

 

[Sage]

Had little time today and got out my oldest rifle. 1932 Winchester model 52, 22lr. 25 shots 50 yds