The point: The Angie's List "Happiness Guarantee" that was a feature of paid memberships is no longer valid. Instead we get only an offer of arbitration.
The Angie’s List “Happiness Guarantee”
I was a paid Angie’s List subscriber for nearly a decade. I first joined when I bought my first house; I needed a lot of contractors and I didn’t have time to spend deeply researching every one. One of the things that immediately drew me to the Gold Membership was the “Happiness Guarantee” as seen in this screenshot from the old Angie’s List:
When I tried to invoke this, I was told that this was no longer offered. Instead I was offered … arbitration.
We do have a new service we are evaluating to determine if Angi should make it a formal part of our complaint process as a resolution tool. We are currently working with a third-party arbitration vendor, FairClaims, to help resolve matters when they close as Unresolved (Stalemate) through our Complaint Resolution Process. We've had positive experiences and resolutions with this process, and with the vendor. We'd like to offer you the opportunity to participate in this arbitration process at no charge to you, to hopefully resolve your complaint.
Since this is an arbitration process, they do allow you to provide evidence, photos, even witnesses (if you'd like), to make your case. The company would also be able to submit these items if they choose. The arbitrator assigned to your case would be the one to make the judgment at the end, which is legally binding. While we can't force the company to go through the process, we do our best to encourage their participation if you choose to utilize it.
The problem with this is that there is no penalty for Isaiah Armstrong not doing it other than not being on Angi anymore, and the only penalty should Isaiah Armstrong lose and refuse to pay, that he is not on Angi anymore. Those are some pretty toothless penalties and, frankly, not worth my time to go through especially since it involved giving up my right to see legal remedies against Isaiah Armstrong in small claims court.