I agree. We used a pool plastering company in the Philly area. While the pool looked great afterward, and I had few complaints about the workers, the job was not done on time for my disabled son's 17th birthday party. This was the only reason we hired these guys, because they said they would definitely get the job done on time. Also, they, not us, called a pool water co. we'd never heard of after the job was complete, and these guys tore up our neighbor's yard getting stuck on the driveway down our flag lot. When I called the company's owner to complain & try to get the phone # of these guys, he was extremely rude. Later, I gave his professionalism and responsiveness a "D" grade, while I gave the job itself As and Bs. He later posted a lie-filled paragraph underneath my description of his job, saying that it was us who held up the job (NOT)!, and it was our pool water co. which had a problem (he called them, not us). Two other people had given positive reviews, and that's why we went with this company.
We paid over $7,000.00 for this treatment.
I complained to Angie's list, and they did post a couple of sentences as an update in the same paragraph as my original post. It pales in comparison to the lie-filled rant which followed. Anyone reading this would probably side with him, so this list is kind of a joke. I think I will resign in protest. A better way of doing this list would be like "Checkbook" does it: To have anonymous rating scales, and no verbal descriptions. That way, the contractor can't target you for harassment or just lying about your job.
I'm sorry you had the experience you did. Sometimes I wonder if these contractors don't get their friends to post positive reviews. Nobody would know. I guess the BBB is the only reliable organization for investigating contractors. Otherwise, it's a giant crapshoot.