How to choose the best home services provider

Hiring providers to work on your home can be an overwhelming task, which is exactly why home services providers exist! Angi, Thumbtack and HomeAdvisor all promise to make the process easier. But do they?

Yes… But Chappy does it better! Join us as we examine each of the platforms in closer detail - laying down common customer complaints and grievances. 

The drawbacks of Angi

There are some serious data protection and privacy issues:

1. Once you have searched for your project, you cannot see the details of the providers in the results list without entering your street, city and postcode. At this early stage it’s unlikely customers will feel ready for providers to know their exact address and full contact info. This is a genuine safety concern for some people; someone looking for newer, safer windows and doors or a locksmith may not wish to announce the location of their currently less-than-secure home to a group of unknown businesses and unfamiliar faces. 

Chappy’s solution - Chappy keeps your info private. We never share your name, phone number, or email until AFTER you accept a bid. 

2. Customers receive emails with quotes or an invitation to contact the providers with more information within a day. Annoyingly, there seem to be a tonne more phone calls than emails: providers leave messages introducing themselves, giving out contact information, and explaining how they quote, schedule, and book. 

Chappy’s solution - Like we said, it’s only once you’ve accepted a bid, that we'll connect you with your provider and pass your information on to them (and only them!)

It’s just way too aggressive:

Angi gets pushy—quickly. At first, you may be surprised that the providers are calling rather than emailing or messaging, but then comes the barrage of emails. Which, to put it frankly, are overwhelming and almost off-putting. Angi makes it particularly difficult to sort through emails that contain actual information from providers that customers have contacted, which is both annoying and counterproductive. Visit the Email Preferences page and you’ll see that the only email you can choose not to receive is the Angi Newsletter. 

Chappy’s solution - We don’t believe in being forceful. At the end of the day, we are here to connect you with the provider who best meets your requirements and budget. Don’t like us after you’ve signed up? No worries! There’s absolutely no obligations and we’ll never sell your data. 

The trouble with Thumbtack 

Search results are unorganized:

It’s hard to tell how the search results are ranked on Thumbtack, which means you may find some lower-rated businesses high on the list and easily overlook other quality options. There have also been reports of homeowners being connected with professionals that don’t offer the service they’re looking for - which is a huge waste of everyone's time! 

Chappy’s solution - Each service request is unique, which is why we have actual people trying to find our customers the best bids. Chappy does the hard work of collecting bids from RELEVANT providers and then we do some fancy math behind the scenes to recommend the one we think is the perfect fit. Customers are welcome to choose our recommendation or pick from any of the bids.

We are absolutely NOT a glorified search engine for home services.

There have been reports of unlicensed providers:

Thumbtack does not do background checks on everyone. Rather, they contact some providers to ask them to submit their information. Unfortunately, there have been reports of unlicensed providers and felons being part of the program. When searching for services on Thumbtack, be sure to look out for a badge displayed on the provider’s profile that indicates that they have passed a background check.

Chappy’s solution - When a provider signs up with Chappy they are vetted first, before they can bid on any service requests. Nobody falls through the net! 

HomeAdvisor hang-ups 

The customer does the hard work:

Home Advisor matches customers’ information and service requests against their list of providers. When a service request is submitted through their website, the customer consents to providing their personal information to whoever their request matches. Naturally, this means customers will be contacted by multiple providers before they can make a decision about who they would like to work with. 

Chappy’s solution - Our team is well-versed in the art of playing phone tag! It's our job to communicate back and forth with the verified providers, so that our users don’t have to. With Chappy, you can receive competitively priced bids, with one single point of contact. It’s completely hassle-free! 

There’s a lack of transparency:

HomeAdvisor customers commonly allege being charged for more than the agreed-upon rate or being up-charged from their prepaid rate. 

Chappy’s solution - Chappy collects the relevant information from the customer from the get go. After all, customization is key. By being transparent with providers about the ins and out of the job, the Chappy team can find reflective bids and eliminate up-charges.

For example, if you are looking for a home cleaner, this is the type of information we’ll ask for. 

https://hellochappy.com/service/22 

How does Chappy outperform the rest?

Join Chappy and you'll get access to an intuitive and easy-to-use method of finding service providers near you. It’s simple, FREE and oh so effective!

• Manage all of your home service providers in one place, for free. 
• Enjoy seamless Uber-like payments and autopay all of your providers with a credit card so you can take advantage of any cashback or rewards your card offers.
• Receive automated email and text appointment reminders for all home service appointments.
• Wave goodbye to long, drawn out games of phonetag. With Chappy, you can request additional services in seconds and receive real bids straight to your inbox.

Get some help with those difficult or tedious things around the house. Browse services near you today.