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Angies list, homeadvisor, etc... Can you remove your business profile and reviews?

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recycledsole

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I am considering getting on these sites to get more clients. 95%+ of my clients are happy, but that 5% are more likely to give a bad review than the content people. Is there a way to remove reviews or the entire account from these websites?
What is your experience with them do you recommend it or no?
Thanks
 
#2 ·
I seriously doubt you can. If I were running a review site I wouldn't - sort of defeats the purpose of having a way to review businesses.


I've read that Angie's List allows you to respond to a bad review and/or submit a complaint if it is not true, but I've not seen a lot of support on their end.

I've experienced this once myself in a minor way with an "F" review given by someone I went to give a mowing estimate to.
Long story short, I spoke to he potential client who had found me on Angie's List and "called because of all the wonderful reviews". I set up a day to go take a look to let her know if I could work her into my schedule and if it was a job I could take on. It turned out I was able to swing by sooner, so I did so in order to get her an answer sooner rather than 3 days later as discussed.
Well it turned out to be a lot much too large for one guy with a push mower (as I was set up at the time), so I called to thank her for the interest, but I would be unable to assist because of the size and severe slope of the property. I did this by voicemail. (mistake)

Never heard back, but a few weeks later I noticed I had a new review.
She claimed that I "made sure to come over when I was not home and he made all kinds of excuses why he didn't want to mow my lawn." She added a few more lies and wrapped up with "He seems sneaky."

Seriously? The woman was obviously unbalanced and has probably been screwed over and turned down many times in the past judging by our phone conversation and what she had stated in her "review".
I was extremely, extremely bothered by her comments initially - especially the lies. I had been at it for 2 years and had never had a complaint ever - from anyone - for any reason, and now this bunch of crap all because I tried to be NICE and get her estimate done sooner than later.

Angies List contacted me for some reason a few weeks later and I mentioned it to them. I expressed my displeasure with having lies posted and asked if there was anything they could do about it.
It was suggested that I call the complaining party and discuss it with them - asking if they would consider updating the review since it was a matter of a misunderstanding.

They would not remove the review. I was not about to contact this nutjob because I know that she would make it worse by claiming I threatened her or something to get her to revise her review. No thanks - I'll let the review stand as is because it's plain to see that it is SO polar opposite from the other 20+ "AAAA" reviews that anyone reading it would simply dismiss it as someone who can never be made happy. Besides, "non-work" reviews don't have an effect on your "actual" rating on Angies List - this was just an estimate that was done.


Also note that you really have no say as to whether you do or do not want to be reviewed on Angies List - if someone you work for is a member and reviews your business - you're there - your input is not required.
 
#4 ·
You can get some work outta Angie's list. You cannot easily remove yourself from the list. Be careful they are snakes and ******s there. Some customers were good ( still have em) , but they seem to attract those worst of the worst customers that mAke you cringe when the phone rings, and are itching to post something bad . Also you will go above and beyond and get no review .
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#5 ·
I have pretty good reviews on home advisor. I did have one gal sign up for service, and after one mowing left a mediocre review.

She left here dog outside in the kennel, then complained in the review that my guys didnt mow inside the kennel. (first time ever mowing property, and no one was home at the time of service). She did this within hours of my guys leaving, and never contacted us about it. I didnt find out till the end of the day, after the review was left.

Very frustrating.
 
#6 ·
Reviews are an inevitable and unavoidable cost of getting business online. Rather than fight it, just work with it.

Most happy clients will not leave a review- so you have to ask them to. Even then only a fairly small percentage will do it.

Most unhappy clients will not leave a review either, so you don't need to spend too much time worrying about it. The two times you will get a negative review are (1) the difficult person who is hard to please and often leaves negative reviews, and (2) the person who feels that you treated them so poorly that you should be punished.

Person 1 is a fact of life, so you just have to make the best of it. Respond in a calm and reasonable way to the review. This shows future potential clients that your reviews are not fake and that you care about your reputation. Studies have shown that people are more likely to trust a body of reviews when 1 or 2 are negative.

Person 2 can mostly be avoided by handling difficult clients, difficult projects, and mistakes in a mature and humble way. We all screw up, but when people feel they have to punish you it's because you were rude, dishonest, etc. Be nice, willing to say sorry, and occasionally eat a little profit and you should be fine.
 
#7 ·
I had a bad review on Yelp due to a Living Social program I ran. It lets me respond to it but not remove it. I thought about how to respond for several days, especially after calming down. I feel my response is well worded and sincere. If a prospective customer were to read both I feel they could make their own determination as to it being an unfortunate circumstance, not bad business on my end. Unfortunately, it is the only review I have on there so if anybody scrolls past without reading they will see 1 star. Its the price of advertising online until I can push more people to review us.
 
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Discussion starter · #8 · (Edited)
Well honestly the person I am concerned about is the unhappy rich type person in , waiting for am outlet for their frustration. That's my concern, based on my experience. Most people aren't like that, but they are lurking out there. I am always polite, and respond positively, but for some people it's never enough- it doesn't have to do with you, it is their mental habit pattern, baggage, etc... I'm not judging these people, but acknowledging they exist and trying to be cautious of their negative impact.
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#9 ·
Over time odds are that you end up with some bad reviews. You simply can not satisfy everyone.
I think most people reading reviews understand that. The thing is, if you have a considerable amount of bad reviews maybe their is a problem with your service.

With today's instant gratification people expect responses in minutes. That increases the pressure to perform to their wants and desires. Anytime you are dealing with leads from some of theses sites,you are under scrutiny from the first contact.
The customer has the review to hold over your head.

Our experience has been that established customers give us great reviews.
The customers that find us through those sites are more critical when they review.

The question becomes is it worth taking a new customer that finds you through a review site?
 
#12 ·
GravelyGuy said:
Does anyone know if there's a way to check if you have reviews on Angie's list without setting up an account?
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Click to expand...
You could try Googling your business name with "Angie's List" and see if anything pops up.

I've done that and an Angie's List page is one of the results. It shows all my company info, business description, service area... all the stuff I had entered in my profile. It's probably the same as what members see except the ratings all have a "padlock" graphic and it says "JOIN NOW TO READ RATINGS AND REVIEWS!"

I never looked before I submitted my profile info though, so I can't be sure anything would have shown up back then when I only had one or two initial reviews.

I've had people tell me that they found me by Googling "lawn service" and they saw my Angie's List page in the results, but since they weren't members couldn't see the reviews. I guess they just assumed the best and took a chance. LOL
 
#13 ·
Oh yes, they used to call all the time until I blocked their numbers lol. I just talked to my sis in law and she added my location to her account for $7.50. The cost is based on your location I guess. I only have 2 reviews, both are A's though! Can't complain but Angie and her expensive list can still go F off lol.
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#15 ·
recycledsole said:
I am considering getting on these sites to get more clients. 95%+ of my clients are happy, but that 5% are more likely to give a bad review than the content people. Is there a way to remove reviews or the entire account from these websites?
What is your experience with them do you recommend it or no?
Thanks
Click to expand...
My experience with angie is terrible I will never work with Angi
 
#16 ·
You realize you are responding to an 8 year old post eh?
 
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#17 ·
GravelyGuy said:
Oh yes, they used to call all the time until I blocked their numbers lol. I just talked to my sis in law and she added my location to her account for $7.50. The cost is based on your location I guess. I only have 2 reviews, both are A's though! Can't complain but Angie and her expensive list can still go F off lol.
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Click to expand...
8 years later, THIS still holds true!
 
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OakNut
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