HomeAdvisor Reviews
After a comprehensive screening process, HomeAdvisor connects you with professional contractors in your area for almost any type of home improvement project.
About HomeAdvisor
Used by 30+ million homeowners, HomeAdvisor can help you find and connect with home improvement professionals across dozens of categories; everything from appliances and siding, to carpentry and lawncare.
But HomeAdvisor understands that choosing a contractor is never an easy task, so they’ve implemented one of the industry's most comprehensive screening processes in order to help give you peace of mind. And when combined with more than 5 million submitted reviews on HomeAdvisor.com, they can help you find a professional you can trust.
On top of this, HomeAdvisor’s Resource Center features articles and advice, project guides, design and video galleries, and more, and their iDevice and Android apps make finding the right professional in the go a breeze.
Remember the old days of searching through the Yellow Pages, blindly calling around to find your next contractor? Modern technology sure has changed the process for the better, but does this mean that HomeAdvisor is your best choice? We’ll explore several different angles in this review, starting with HomeAdvisor’s features.
How Can HomeAdvisor Help You?
Overall, HomeAdvisor provides those looking for professional contractors with three core services.
HomeAdvisor’s ProFinder
This is the name for HomeAdvisor’s search engine, which “makes it easy to find local pros who specialize in exactly the type of work you need done.”
To do this, just type or select the service your need from the category list on HomeAdvisor.com’s home page (such as carpentry), choose the project type (e.g. cabinets and countertops), and indicate what you need done (installation, refacing, refinishing, etc.).
Next, you’ll enter your zip code and based on your choices, you may be asked for additional information (e.g. cabinet material, any problems you’re having, etc.).
Then, you’ll need to indicate if you’re actively hiring or just looking for quotes, approximately when you need the work completed, as well as a short description of the project. Finally, to see HomeAdvisor’s list of professionals, you’ll need to enter your name, address, and contact information.
After doing all of this, you’ll “receive information for up to four pre-screened, local home improvement pros” who are available right now and who will contact you to discuss your project.
HomeAdvisor.com’s LiveDirectory
Not quite ready to use ProFinder and hand over your information? If so, you can manually search HomeAdvisor’s database; just enter the type of service you’re interested in and your zip code.
From there, you’ll receive a list of professionals that match your criteria, which can be sorted by best match, ratings, those offering a deal, and more. On the list, you’ll see each business’s name, their rating and number of verified reviews, contact information, and brief details. If you click on the name, you’ll be able to view the business’s achievement, services, service areas, credentials, website, photos, customer ratings, and more.
HomeAdvisor True Cost Guides
By taking information from over 1 million home projects across the country (members shared who they hired, how long it took, and exactly how much it cost) and compiling it into one database, HomeAdvisor’s True Cost Guides can provide local and national cost data for 500+ types of jobs—from routine maintenance to major remodels. In fact, the company calls it the nation’s largest database of real project cost information.
What for? This way, you’ll be able to find out what other people in your area paid for their projects, which can help give you an idea what you should pay for yours.
Given all these features, how much will you pay to use HomeAdvisor?
Is HomeAdvisor’s Guidance Expensive?
As a homeowner, HomeAdvisor’s basic services are completely free to use. The company also offers HomeAdvisor Premium, which assigns you a dedicated home expert who will manage all the details of your project. This includes finding a professional, fielding bids, negotiating price, scheduling appointments, and more. Unfortunately, no costs were listed at the time of our research.
On the other hand, if you’re a contractor, each lead you receive from HomeAdvisor can vary in cost, based on the type and the location of the request. However, we did find one Google Play review that mentioned each lead costs $30, although we weren’t able to verify the accuracy of this statement.
Considering the fact that it’s free (for the most part), what’s everyone saying about HomeAdvisor?
HomeAdvisor’s Client Feedback
Overall, it seems that HomeAdvisor comes with mostly positive online customer feedback.
Based on nearly 3,000 individual reviews, HomeAdvisor had an average rating of 4.7 stars on Consumer Affairs. Most seemed to appreciate the fact that it’s free (unlike some of the competition—more in a second), easy to use, and puts you in contact with quality professionals.
Although HomeAdvisor’s reviews weren’t nearly as positive on ComplaintsList.com (by its very nature), the company did try to reach out to some of those who complained in order to find a resolution. It’s also important to note that many of the complaints there referenced contractors hired through HomeAdvisor, and not the company itself.
HomeAdvisor’s mobile apps seem to fare equally well with customers. iTunes users gave it 4 stars based on 443 reviews, and nearly 900 Google Play reviewers gave it a similar 4.1-star rating. Most claimed it’s simple to use and that it gives you access to quality contractors (many claimed they found one within minutes).
From a company perspective, HomeAdvisor is based out of Lakewood, CO and has been in business since 1999. They had an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, based on nearly 800 closed complaints (as of 3/15/16). These appeared to reference a wide range of concerns, from billing problems and poor quality work performed by professionals listed on the site.
Speaking of the company, exactly how does HomeAdvisor screen their contractors, and how much protection will they provide if something goes wrong?
How HomeAdvisor Protects Customers
What exactly does HomeAdvisor mean when claiming to utilize “one of the industry's most comprehensive screening processes”? According to their Terms & Conditions, their professional screening process involves verifying licensing and checking state business filings, criminal records, sex offender registrations, searching for civil judgments, and verifying their identity (social security number).
There’s are two important caveats, though:
First, after their original application, these professionals aren’t screened again, regardless of how long they’re listed on HomeAdvisor.com. What’s this mean? Outside of the negative feedback poor business practices like these would generate, if something occurs after the professional is accepted as a member (such as a civil judgment), it won’t be reflected on their profile.
Second, although the company seems to have a mostly positive online reputation, after HomeAdvisor connects you with a contractor, they basically wash their hands of the transaction. In other words, if something goes wrong in your project, it’s between you and the contractor. Should this situation occur, HomeAdvisor claims that they might offer dispute resolution services, although there’s zero obligation on their part.
Taking both of these into consideration, there’s been some criticism of HomeAdvisor in the past, based on loopholes that could allow unscrupulous contractors to sneak through the screening process:
“For example, one case in Austin involved a HomeAdvisor trusted contractor that left unfinished home improvement work after taking a deposit in 2014. It was later found the contractor had been sued 17 times since 2002. A company spokesperson said the website only screens for lawsuits from the day contractors sign up for its service. The screening only goes back one year for civil judgments and it never re-screens contractors again.”
So, should you use HomeAdvisor?
What’s the Advice for HomeAdvisor?
While there’s a ton of great information out there that can help you learn how to choose a contractor, the pickings are slim if you’re looking to locate one in the first place. In fact, the big (or only) three in this space are HomeAdvisor, Angie’s List, and Houzz.
Like any other business, each of these comes with their own unique specializations, as well as their own pros and cons. For example, Angie’s List seems to focus more on protecting clients with their Complaint Resolution Team, although you’ll have to pay a membership fee. Like HomeAdvisor, Houzz is completely free (and you can gather design ideas and purchase items, too), but they don’t seem to place a lot of emphasis (at least on their website) about the vetting process.
Which of these is right for you? Ultimately, that’s a decision only you can make. But when it comes to HomeAdvisor, it’s hard to beat free, so you might as well try signing up for an account, browsing contractors in your area, and using their ProFinder when you’re ready. Then, after you’re finished, be sure to come back here and tell us about your HomeAdvisor experience!
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1 out 2 people found this review helpful
Legal ripoff
HomeAdvisor is a paid service for lousy contractors used to get new victims.
Don’t be fooled by there massive advertising blitz. It’s just to get exposure! A good contractor does not need an ad agency to solicit jobs for them!
It’s virtually impossible to leave a bad review on a HomeAdvisor contractor!
This company helps promote lousy contractors and is a way for terrible contractors to get jobs and good recommendations when they actually stink and can’t find new customers to rip off!
BUYER BEWARE!
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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2 out 2 people found this review helpful
Homeowner is NOT HomeAdvisor's customer
HomeAdvisor will not publish reviews of the contractors that stood you up because you do not hire them. They will make recommendations, and even if you don't request a quote, they will sell your request/contact information to the contractor as a lead. Then the contractor will solicit and contact you anyway. If they stand you up, they won't publish your review of them because you didn't hire the contractor. HomeAdvisor could care less that other homeowners know about missed appointments in the reviews or homeowners taking off of work and waiting because none of these other homeowners are customers of HomeAdvisor either - the CONTRACTOR is their customer!This feels like a scam. Yelp is better.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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1 out 1 people found this review helpful
Do NOT join HomeAdvisor as an advertiser!
I joined only two weeks ago. They took my $348 for membership, and after another week, they started sending me "leads." In five days time, I received six leads at an average of $80 per lead. Only one of those leads was I actually able to contact and estimate a job. Of the remaining five, three of them I could not make any contact at all (did not answer phones or emails and did not return calls). One of them was given to me completely outside the scope of work I do, and one could not do the job at all due to an electrical junction box location. I used their request credit link and was given a credit for two of them. Great! Right? I gave it a few days to see if any of the other three would call back, they never did. One of these "customers" had an address less than 2 miles from me, so I drove over there to find it was a dilapidated trailer park and the lot number the "customer" listed was a vacant lot!
I called my rep at HomeAdivsor to be told that the gist of it is if the phone number for the "customer" is real then they charge for the lead. That is NOT a lead! It is not a lead if you NEVER EVER get to communicate with the customer at all. Further, I looked at my directory listing, the only thing you get for your $348 per year, and they had a phone number listed, which isn't even my number! I called the number to see that the call goes to HomeAdvisor (in care of my company). They do this so that when I am lucky enough to get someone to look me up and find me directly, they still get ran through the HomeAdvisor system so that I can be charged for a lead fee! You got that? You get to pay twice for those customers! Of course, as soon as I sent my HomeAdvisor "rep" an email about this, they immediately put my real phone number there.
When you call them and complain they let you know that it clearly states in their umpteen pages of terms and conditions that I agreed to pay for any garbage they throw at me. Here's the real question though - how many other contractors received those same garbage leads that I did? Just exactly how much did HomeAdvisor make from these jobs that were never going to materialize for anyone? Their business model is awful and predatory, and they don't care one bit. On to the next poor contractor to pilfer his advertising budget. Shame on these chiselers!
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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2 out 2 people found this review helpful
HomeAdvisor is a huge scam!
HomeAdvisor takes advantage of their contractors with BS fabricated leads and charging their credit card even if all the lead information is bogus. When I requested to quit they told me that there were no refunds even though they sold this service to me under the pretenses that they would supply me with leads for the business model that I service and once you are signed up they send you leads for services that I never requested. They told me that they would terminate the service but continued to keep it running and charging my card.
I resolved that issue by disputing the charges with my credit card company that after several weeks of investigating without cooperation from HomeAdvisor found in my favor and refunded me the money. I am now finding that HomeAdvisor thinks that they are putting me in collections and sending me threatening emails and phone calls. I would love for them to serve me just so I can stand in front of a judge and show them the credit card dispute and the emails that told me that the service was canceled and later emails showing that they kept it open.
A word of warning to people who rely on they web presents. If you take action against them, they will destroy your search engine rankings. Lucky for me that most of my business it from word of mouth. I wish I could give them NO STARS!
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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2 out 2 people found this review helpful
No show, not even a call!
I had a scheduled appointment with Tony from Lewis Contract Services today. I rearranged my schedule and drove an hour to meet him at 1 PM at my new home in Durham, North Carolina. He never showed, nor did he return my calls. I waited several hours and wasted a complete afternoon waiting for him. I have now hired someone else to complete the job!
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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2 out 2 people found this review helpful
HomeAdvisor CANNOT be trusted
I hired Jeff Nickell of JSN Restoration & Remodeling to perform construction work related to the safety of my family based upon a 5-star rating from HomeAdvisor. HomeAdvisor recommended JSN Restoration & Remodeling for my work project.
Jeff Nickell and I agreed upon a work proposal that he presented to me. I had to wait for a month before he could start the job, he told me. The day before the job was scheduled to be done, Jeff Nickell called me up and canceled the job. He told me he was going out of town on family business and would get back to me the following week. He also told me that he would have his subcontractors call me to schedule the work he agreed to perform.
Jeff Nickell never contacted me again, his subcontractors never contacted me, and I was left holding the bag with a viga beam that supported my roof cracking and in jeopardy of collapsing, potentially causing injury or worse to my family and anyone visiting my home.
I submitted a review to HomeAdvisor reflecting these facts and HomeAdvisor removed it from their site because I hadn't given Jeff Nickell any money yet. How could I give him money when he never showed up to do the job? HomeAdvisor is a self-serving business that has total disregard for the welfare of the gullible public that relies upon their advice for their hiring decisions. HomeAdvisor CANNOT BE TRUSTED.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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2 out 2 people found this review helpful
HomeAdvisor is biased
HomeAdvisor essentially pushed Hiller on me for my electric project, even though others were rated higher. HomeAdvisor called me and connected me to Hiller. Hiller tech was almost two hours late and charged a lot for the job. I would never consult HomeAdvisor again or use Hiller.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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1 out 1 people found this review helpful
HomeAdvisor wants you money!
Do NOT use HomeAdvisor PRO. They lie and help themselves to your money. We signed up for this service in February. We were sold by a girl named Olivia; we were under the impression we would be working directly with her.
We were surprised when we were directed to an 800-number where we were on hold for an HOUR and fifteen minutes before talking to a person about the charges on our account. Olivia had told us we would only receive leads from verified homeowners and the cost was normally $60 dependant on the service.
We set up our account, and the leads we received were not real. We had numbers that were wrong, services we didn't offer, and locations we didn't reach. We even had a lead, that when Googled, was DEAD. The leads were also $100+!
We tried to cancel after a month, and the guy said he'd give us a refund and give us five free leads. He told us they were starting a new "opportunity" service where we only accept the leads we're interested in and are charged when the homeowner accepts the match. We thought it sounded a bit better, so we stuck it out.
We just discovered our card has been charged for leads we didn't even get! I called customer service and this "lovely" gal named Brandi Prett told us she was the supervisor and as high as we could go. She kept interrupting me and wouldn't listen to a thing I said when I tried to explain that we shouldn't have had our card charged. She kept saying they don't refund leads and they don't guarantee them and we should know that. She told us if we didn't want to be charged we should turn our leads off. They have been off for months! She refused to do anything even when we said we wanted to close our account.
We've started disputes with our credit card company and will be looking into all avenues to prevent this corrupt business from stealing from any other small business owners.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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3 out 3 people found this review helpful
Pain in the butt company
I gave HomeAdvisor a shot and did use one of the companies through their website. The guy I hired did a good job. The problem was with HomeAdvisor constantly calling me afterward. I explained that I don't want a call as I'm busy. If they want a review, email me, don't keep calling. I finally got angry at one lady who told me " it's in our terms of service" so we call you. I told her that's good to know because I'm never using HomeAdvisor again.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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2 out 2 people found this review helpful
False leads
I have been in the constructions business for over 20 years. I signed up as a pro on home advisors. Unfortunately, 85% of the leads are false or just inquiries. Customers are not interested in doing the construction of renovation. Most of the customers don't even pick up the phone or return your call or email. Why am I being charged for a lead I didn't even talk to? I feel home advisor creates fake prospects. They not only charged me a fee for the false lead, but charged multiple contractors for the same false lead.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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1 out 1 people found this review helpful
Highway robbery
I am a contractor and joined them in 2017. They were ok in 2017, but not like they were charging me the leads.
In 2018 I spent a lot of money because they increased the leads cast but didn’t get any job because of the monopoly.
They try to offer me a couple of time like asking more money on a monthly base, but I refuse them and stick with leads based. But then they start sending me the fake leads where the customer never answers the calls, or if they answer, they said we never requested it and we were just searching online to get some idea, but we never requested to hire the contractor.
So my suggestion is for users, please stay away from scammers.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
