Frequently Asked Questions

Of course there's a real Angie. Angie Hicks founded the List in 1995 with 1,000 members in Columbus, Ohio. Since then our modest list of homeowners has spread across the nation with more than one million members. While Angie remains the keeper of the List, our members are the ones who submit reports to build the List and keep it current. As Chief Marketing Officer, Angie now focuses on promoting the company, opening new markets and assuring that all of the reports are up-to-date and helpful. She is a mother of three and lives a very busy and happy life with her husband in Indianapolis.

We understand that trade licensing requirements can be confusing, and differ through state and local levels. Angie's List is in favor of more uniform trade licensing standards at a state level and has made an appeal to state and local governments across the country to help raise awareness of this issue.

We understand not every company on the List is required to obtain trade licenses, but we are asking everyone to confirm their licensure status, either via e-mail or by talking with a representative of Angie's List on or before November 1, 2009. We want to give our members a quick and reliable way to determine the trade license status before they hire

After November 1, 2009, companies who have not confirmed their trade licensure status, or who are found to be non-compliant with state and local trade license laws, will have their presentation on the List impacted and any advertising or Super Service Award eligibility will be revoked. We are auditing (and will continue to audit) a random selection of companies to ensure that the self-reported information we're collecting is accurate.

For more information, please contact your state or local government.

Yes, your company may elect to participate in the free report notification program. Angie's List will send your company an email letting you know a report has been posted online or updated based upon your selected preferences. Your company may receive an email each time a report is submitted or a single email each week if we receive one or more reports for your company.

You will be asked to sign up for the report notification program when you register your company on CompanyConnect. If you have already registered your company, you may elect to participate, change your preferences or discontinue participation by clicking on "Email Preferences" once you have logged in.

• Work was actually performed
• The member would hire the company again
• The member gave the company A's in every category
• The member's remarks were especially glowing

Nominations are collected throughout the month and a few are randomly selected for the magazine. When a service company receives a nomination for the POH, a comment in green text appears above the excellent grades on our website that says "Page of Happiness Nominee." You'll know when a POH report has appeared in our monthly magazine because the text above the report grades is purple and changes to say "Featured in the Page of Happiness." The grades on that report are also titled "Page of Happiness" and mention the month that the report was printed in our magazine.

• Maintain an “A” Total Overall grade (average of all reports since start date on the List)
• Maintain an “A” Current Grade in the category in which they are eligible (Current Grade is the average of all reports in a specific category within the past 3 years)
• Maintain an “A” during the reporting period 11/1-10/31 with the minimum # of reports in the category in which they are eligible (View report requirements here)
• Must be in good standing with Angie’s List (good standing with Angie’s List means a company is not in the Penalty Box, and has not engaged in any activity that would affect availability on the list, e.g. self reporting)

• Business cards
• Invoices
• Vehicles
• Awnings
• Employee shirts/uniforms
• Windows at your place of business
• Signs at your place of business
• Company website
• Home shows (Super Service Award plaque only)

• Phone books or directories
• Newspaper advertisements
• Radio advertisements
• Television advertisements
• Coupon books, mailers or flyers
• Print and online classifieds
• Billboards
• Yard signs
• Direct mail

No. Anyone can report on the service companies and doctors they've interacted with. There is a difference in the way non-member reports are displayed, however. Non-member reports do not display grades, nor do they impact the current or overall grades of the company or doctor. Only the comments and description of work fields will be visible. Non-member reports will always appear after member reports and will be denoted with a special icon so you know upfront whose perspective you're getting.

No, they do not. When non-member reports are displayed on the website, only the comments and description of work fields will be visible. Grades will not appear with these comments, nor will they be factored into your company's ratings.