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Old 07-28-2009, 06:30 PM
 
12,270 posts, read 11,275,596 times
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I need a new bathroom.

I heard the ad for Servicemagic.com and would appreciate anyone sharing their experiences. Thanks.
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Old 07-28-2009, 07:41 PM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,701 posts, read 79,356,279 times
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I have used it several times. That should answer oyour questions.


Mostly good experiences. Some bad ones. One time I had a plumber disappear so I went ot service magic to find another. I was referred tothe same plumber using a different company name.

It is great for finding unusual trades like hardwood finsihing contractors, or plasterers or steam heat contractors.
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Old 07-28-2009, 07:50 PM
 
Location: Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
3,037 posts, read 8,319,148 times
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Service Magic makes their money off of the referral fee they charge to the trades person they refer you to, as well as advertising fees on their site. It is a "Pay to Play" referral service with a loose method of checking/verifying trades person's performance, if at all. Essentially it works like this:

1. You request a service directly from the Service Magic WEB site or call it in.

2. They then have a list of "X" number of trade people that perform that service. Supposedly they send it out only to a small number of them and each time it is sent out the trades person pays a referral fee regardless of whether they contact you and secure the job or not. They tell the trades people they only send it out to 3 or 4 of them on a list of maybe 30. The next lead that comes in they are suppose to rotate to the next 3 or 4 trades people.

3. The trades people call you and picth their service or product and hope they bid right for it. Depending on what you need they may require that they come to your location to give a proper estimate.

I've been approached by them many times to sign up for their referral service and see no benefit to it at all. I know others who have tried their service and dropped them like a hot potato because they made nothing from it for the amount they were paying for the referral fee.

About the only thing they are good for is to obtain a variety of estimates for your project, need, etc. There are good trades people that offer their services through them but the rotation method they use guarantees you nothing as far as getting the good service provider. That's a shame as far as the good providers go. You as a user never get to see who is on their list of providers until you request the service.

Personally I would just use other sources to identify people I need and then perform due diligence on checking them out. There are plenty of sites out there to check on a companies history and operating practices. There is also another service out there called Angieslist.com that takes the service magic concept to a better plane. But I have heard stories about them that would concern me as far as selected their providers. But at least they are a step in a better direction than Service Magic.

These are just my opinions and observations and others will hopefully provide their insights.

Last edited by escanlan; 07-28-2009 at 08:54 PM..
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Old 07-28-2009, 08:41 PM
 
Location: sowf jawja
1,941 posts, read 9,213,904 times
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As a contractor, I tried their services briefly. They lied to me about several things, so I cancelled.


It varies by area. If several contractors in your area use the service, it could definitely work out to your benefit.

If there are only a couple, its a waste of time.
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Old 07-28-2009, 08:45 PM
 
24,834 posts, read 37,200,559 times
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The best test to hire a contractors is to ask for references. Ask for three jobs they had to go back on. If they can not give then to you, walk away. They either lack experience or are hiding something.
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Old 07-28-2009, 09:00 PM
 
Location: Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
3,037 posts, read 8,319,148 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Driller1 View Post
The best test to hire a contractors is to ask for references. Ask for three jobs they had to go back on. If they can not give then to you, walk away. They either lack experience or are hiding something.
Driller1,

Not trying to attack you and this is my own opinion. Yes references can be helpful some times. However they should only be one part of a full check of the individual and should not be counted on exclusively. I can attest from personal experience to this and fortunately for me when I finished with a bad contractor he earned a nice felony record for his deceit and actions. I did check his references and other information and still wound up being caught in the beginnings of his actions to deceive many others. As I said that didn't last long!

Depending on the cost of the project you have to make a decision as to how much checking you want to do. Small dollar amounts with no chance of extensive or expensive other damage are not worth heavy background checks.
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Old 07-28-2009, 09:10 PM
 
24,834 posts, read 37,200,559 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by escanlan View Post
Driller1,

Not trying to attack you and this is my own opinion. Yes references can be helpful some times. However they should only be one part of a full check of the individual and should not be counted on exclusively. I can attest from personal experience to this and fortunately for me when I finished with a bad contractor he earned a nice felony record for his deceit and actions. I did check his references and other information and still wound up being caught in the beginnings of his actions to deceive many others. As I said that didn't last long!

Depending on the cost of the project you have to make a decision as to how much checking you want to do. Small dollar amounts with no chance of extensive or expensive other damage are not worth heavy background checks.
I agree!!! That is why I want references where the job DID NOT go well. That is where you really sort things out. When the job was finished and he/she was paid, did they go back???
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Old 07-29-2009, 11:41 AM
 
15,632 posts, read 24,286,602 times
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I found one very good contractor through them -- and I also found two who were absolutely terrible. One did work so badly that I had to pay twice again the amount to have someone else fix his mess.

I'll never use servicemagic.com again. Now I use angieslist.com. Homeowners pay for the subscription and rate the contractors. I've used 10-12 contractors I found on angieslist and have been pleased with all of them.
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Old 07-29-2009, 11:55 AM
 
Location: Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
3,037 posts, read 8,319,148 times
Reputation: 5631
Quote:
Originally Posted by Driller1 View Post
I agree!!! That is why I want references where the job DID NOT go well. That is where you really sort things out. When the job was finished and he/she was paid, did they go back???
Driller1,

You are absolutely correct! I apologize for missing that in your first post. That is an excellent way to ask for references, especially from trades people, auto shops, etc., etc.

I keep all of my clients and their business confidential and do not hand out reference information. In my business we have so many price shoppers it would drive a reference crazy with the calls that don't pan out.
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Old 07-29-2009, 12:08 PM
 
Location: Hudson, OH
681 posts, read 2,349,361 times
Reputation: 1012
I've used Servicemagic on two occasions (and in two different cities) and both were very positive.

The first was for masonry repair this spring (in TX). The first contractor failed to show up, so I had Servicemagic get me in touch with another person. Other than that snafu, the work was done well and at a reasonable cost to me.

The second time was just two weeks ago (in PA), when I was visiting my parents. We discovered that the hot water tank sprung a leak, so we needed to get some quotes asap. Servicemagic forwarded our information on to four different contractors and we got quotes and from that, scheduled for service that afternoon before we finished our breakfast. The contractor that came out was very professional and timely. My parents were so pleased with him that he's coming back this fall to update the humidifier!

But these were for small repairs - under $600. Since you're doing a bathroom, that's a major project and I would try but definitely not restrict myself to Servicemagic mainly because not everyone is associated with their service.
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