Class Action lawsuit against HomeAdvisor.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/class-action-lawsuit-alleges-rico-violations-by-iacinteractivecorp-nasdaq-iac-and-homeadvisor-300365169.html

Looks like Home Advisor may be in big trouble with this one.

After they loose I wonder what they’ll change their name to this time?

Next time they call, I can just say “I’m waiting to see how the lawsuit works out before signing up”. lol

One of the most crooked bunch of liars in the business world today.
Amazing they lasted this long.

I feel somewhat sorry for the telemarketers who are forced to solicit contractors and trades persons of all types to extort money for the monitary gain of their corporate company. A sweat shop if I may. Many other HI franchises and other companies operate this way, with money flowing to the pockets of large companies. I bet some even flows to the REA offices and their corporate partners.

REA’s must be careful upon whom they deal with. It is a shame that they do not set the paramiters high for any trades person to work with their clients. They simply do not provide the highest quality trades people to their home buyers. They follow the lead of not only government, but other political orginizations, to make money.

Hello, my name is Ronnie Searcy owner of TOP QUALITY HOME INSPECTIONS. I have been paying for leads through Home Advisor that are bunk. People who are not serious or have found someone else to do the inspection. No fault of my own. Has anyone else been scammed and if so what should I do? I don’t mind paying for a lead that I close but, we shouldn’t have to pay for leads that we do not close. The way Home Advisor works is not fair. It’s a scam that no matter what they are going to charge you for leads.

Class Action Filed Against HomeAdvisor & IAC/Interactive - Chimicles & Tikellis LLP

thanks for posting

I actually did this.

Of course, the homeadvisor sales guy denied all knowledge of any lawsuits.

Contractors sue Home Advisor, say site’s leads are ‘overwhelmingly bogus’

July 2018

Digitalmarketplace HomeAdvisor is being sued by the owners of eight smallhome-improvement companies who say the Golden-based company twisted alead-generation business into a vehicle for greed and abuse.
Theplaintiffs all paid to be members of the site and for sales leads. They accuseHomeAdvisor of misrepresenting its services, and allege that the customer leadsthe company sells are “overwhelmingly bogus.”
Theplaintiffs, who include the owners of Westminster-based B&B Carpentry, areseeking class-action status for the lawsuit, filed July 16 in U.S. DistrictCourt in Denver.
“Theallegations are attacking the fundamental business that HomeAdvisor isoperating,” said Kimberly Donaldson Smith with Chimicles & Tikellis, one ofthe attorneys representing the plaintiffs.
A spokeswomanfor HomeAdvisor, which has agreed to take space in the HUB mixed-usedevelopment being built at 36th and Blake streets in RiNo, said the companydoes not comment on pending litigation.
In additionto Colorado, the plaintiffs own businesses in New Jersey, Illinois, California,Ohio, Florida, New York and Idaho, specializing in services ranging from homeinspections to metal roofing.
Theplaintiffs say they joined HomeAdvisor as a member between August 2014 andAugust 2017.
Brad andLinda McHenry, who own B&B Carpentry, told BusinessDen in an interview thatthey joined HomeAdvisor after a disappointing experience with the company’spredecessor, ServiceMagic, because they were told HomeAdvisor would refund themfor money spent on “bogus” leads. They canceled several months later, havingagain been disappointed with the information provided. They claim they neverreceived a refund.
Brad McHenryestimated they paid HomeAdvisor $3,500.
“I recognizethat it’s not a huge amount, but it’s not chump change either,” he said. “Andthe reality is they robbed me of my time and my talent too.”
The McHenrysand the other plaintiffs are represented by Gordon Netzorg, Mark Williams andCarla Martin of the Denver office of Sherman & Howard, as well DonaldsonSmith and other attorneys at the Haverford, Pennsylvania, and Wilmington,Delaware, offices of Chimicles & Tikellis.
The lawsuitmakes claims about HomeAdvisor that range from the nature of the company’sbusiness model to the culture of its Colorado offices. The allegations include:
• HomeAdvisorwon’t tell companies, or “home improvement professionals,” in advance how muchthey will pay for each customer lead, but the amounts range from roughly $10 to$140.
• The leadssold to the companies are “overwhelmingly bogus” and “illusory” because theyare often “over distributed” or contain, among other things, disconnected phonenumbers, people who are not homeowners or contacts for nonexistent residences.
• HomeAdvisorrepresents that the majority of its leads are generated through its website,when a majority actually are generated by third-party affiliates, whichgenerally result in less-useful leads.
• HomeAdvisorwon’t let members turn off leads permanently, instead forcing those that wantto avoid paying for leads to log in regularly to “freeze” leads.
• Whilemembers can set a budget for how much they want to spend on leads each month,if the budget is altered, it resets for the month, which can result in memberspaying for more leads than they want.
• Whencompanies cancel their HomeAdvisor membership, HomeAdvisor leaves their companyprofile page on its website, and sells the information entered by individualswho attempt to contact the company to other Home Advisor members.
The attorneysrepresenting the plaintiffs are familiar with HomeAdvisor. Two years ago, theyfiled a lawsuit against the company on behalf of Rochester-based Airquip Inc.That case is ongoing.
That lawsuitmakes similar allegations to the one filed last week.

POSTEDIN Retail, Top News About the Author:Thomas Gounley
Thomas coverscommercial real estate, development and law. He is a graduate of the Universityof New Hampshire and previously worked as a business reporter at theSpringfield News-Leader. Email him at thomas@BusinessDen.com.