Services
Rating Services
Consumer Reports | Better Business Bureau | Angie's List | Yelp
There are lots of places to go to for product reviews. See Product Review sites.
Services are more difficult, especially regional services like auto repair, restaurants.
I compared Auto Repair and Restaurants near here in New Jersey.
Auto Repair:
| Service | Found | 2 or more reviews |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 10 | |
| 33 | 7 | |
| 4 | 1 | |
| 4 | 4 |
Comparison of Auto Service Ratings (2013):
Angie's list only had 4 of the more than 20 auto service places near me in Bridgewater NJ.
scr=Score - Yelp: 1-5;
Google: 1-30 (26-30: Extrordinary | 21-25: Very Good to Excellent | 16-20: Good to Very Good | 11-15: Fair to Good | 0-10: poor to Fair
| Name | Addr | Angie's List | Yelp | Google* | BBB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reviews | Overall | Price | # | scr | # | scr | |||
| AAMCO Transmissions | 605 E Main St., Bridgewater | 3 | 2.5 | 21 | 25 | A+ | |||
| Bill Vince's Bridgewater Acura | 1231 Rt 22 W Bridgewater | 4 | 1.5 | ||||||
| Bridgewater Motorworks | 358 Union Ave Bridgewater | 2 | A | A | |||||
| Bridgewater Volvo | 1028 US 22 Somerville | 2 | 3 | ||||||
| Chimney Rock Automotive | 783 E Main St Bridgewater | 4 | A | A | na | ||||
| Foreign Car Werks | 247 W Union Ave Bound Brook, | 2 | 5 | na | |||||
| Jerry's Auto Body | Bound Brook Area | 1 | 5 | ||||||
| Jiffy Lube | 1316 U.S. 22, Bridgewater | 7 | 13 | ||||||
| Lexus Of Bridgewater | 1550 Rte 22 E Bridgewater | 5 | A | C | 21 | 25 | |||
| Meineke Car Care Center | 39 Finderne Avenue, Bridgewater | 7 | 18 | ||||||
| Midas | 1076 US Hwy 22 Somerville | 1 | 4 | 8 | 9 | na | |||
| Mike's Auto Services | 643 East Main Street, Bridgewater | 2 | |||||||
| Millenium Auto Group | 1250 Rt 22 E | na | |||||||
| Nerger's Auto Express | 101 W Main St Bound Brook | 2 | 5 | 47 | 27 | na | |||
| Open Road Mercedes-Benz of Bridgewater | 1250 Rt 22 E, Bridgewater | 3 | 2.5 | ||||||
| Open Road VW of Bridgewater | 355 N Gaston Ave Somerville, | 1 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Pep Boys; 735 Promenade Blvd | 735 Promenade Blvd Bridgewater | 5 | 2.5 | 16 | 15 | ||||
| Royal Chevrolet | 1548 Route 22 E, Bridgewater | 17 | 22 | ||||||
| Somerville Shell | 900 US Hwy 22 Somerville, | 1 | 5 | ||||||
| Swedish Car Svc | 261 W Union Ave Bound Brook | 4 | A | A | na | ||||
| Valvoline Instant Oil Change | 419 West Union Av., Bound Brook | 1 | |||||||
| W & W Maintenance Repair & Speed | 432 Talmadge Avenue, Bound Brook | ||||||||
I've computed scores for some with < 10 by tallying individual ratings.
Consumers Reports
Ratings from their test labs. Mostly products (www.consumerreports.org)
Angie's List
www.angieslist.com/
Angie's list rates local service providers (plumbers, roofers, ...), but you have to pay. Membership prices range from free (in cities where Angie's List is new and needs to add more reviews) to $62.40 a year in its 34 most mature markets. It is $3.50/mo, $29/yr (less 20% for paypal) in Bridgewater, NJ.
You can only search near (within 70 miles) where you live.
When I looked several years ago they didn't have ratings on much around here, but today's NY Times article says they have expanded a lot in the last couple of years and are getting a 75% renewal rate. So I signed up since I may be doing some work on my house to get ready to sell it.
They do several things to avoid fake reviews. An independent venture capital partner commenting on their IPO said, "There are booming businesses overseas that charge you anywhere from $3 to $5 to write a glowingly positive review."
No site can stop all such shenanigans, but forcing people to pay and register with a real name helps. Angie's List also has Evan Hock, who leads a team that uses algorithms and human intervention to sniff out problematic reviews each day."
Unlike Yelp, which is strongest in restaurant listings, bars and the like, Angie's List focuses on what it refers to as "high-cost-of-failure" services, things that could cost you plenty to redo or fix, or at least burn hours of your time if they go awry.
Angies List the reviews are real | NY Times 3/3/2012
Angie's list only had 4 of the more than 20 auto service places near me in Bridgewater NJ.
See Auto Service Ratings below
I looked up muffler shops as a test. Not many had reviews. Midas 6.3 miles. N/A Nearest Midas with a grade (1 report) was in Paramus with an A Of the other muffler shops around Monroe in Hyde Park NY got a D all the rest got A's or B's None had more than 1 report
Restaurants in Summit, NJ
Summit's population was 21,457 in the 2010 census.
It is a well-to-do city in north central NJ with a 30 min. commute to New York City.
Yelp had around 50 restaurants listed. Google had around 100.
Yelp had 1094 reviews of the top 10, google had 245, Trip Advisor had 722.
Scores were fairly similar, with yelp scores slightly lower than google.
Google had a short description and rating comments.
e.g. For Huntley Tavern "Stylish eatery for seasonal American cuisine in a ski-lodge-type space with fireplaces & a patio."
Yelp Had more.
e.g. For Huntley Tavern "A hidden spot in Summit you would never find without a quick google search. Huntley Taverne is an oasis in barren NJ. I saw a cute couple having a first date, there seems to be a great bar.
"The bar area has soaring ceilings with fans and big fire place, the epitomy of rustic chic."
"During the warmer months, try to get a table out on the porch which is the quietest and most enjoyable seating."
Zagat only had a couple of the restaurants rated.
Rating and (# of people who rated)
| Restaurant | yelp | TripAdvisor |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Huntley Tavern - American | 4 (219) | 4.2 (54) | 4 (192) |
| The HAT Tavern - American | 3.5 (107) | 4.4 (15) | 4 (114) |
| Village Trattoria - Italian | 4.5 (84) | 4.2 (33) | 4 (22) |
| Summit Greek Grill | 4 (44) | 4.1 (6) | 4 (16) |
| Taka Sushi Restaurant | 3.5 (87) | 4.0 (22) | 3.5 (29) |
| Fin Raw Bar and Kitchen | 3.5 (54) | 4.0 (7) | 4 (47) |
| Roots Steakhouse | 3.5 (134) | 3.5 (33) | 4.5 (136) |
| Tito's Burritos & Wings | 3.5 (108) | 4.5 (39) | 4 (38) | Summit Diner | 4 (90) | 4.4 (32) | 4 (65) |
| Food | 3.5 (162) | 3.9 (15) | 3.5 (52) |
| Winberie's | 3.5 (95) | 3.8 (21) | 3.5 (76) |
| Fiorino- Italian | 4 (57) | 4.0 (22) | 4.5 (134) |
| Peppercorn - Diner | 4 (26) | 4.0 (5) | 3.5 (6) |
| Marigolds - Salads | 4.5 (25) | 4.5 (4) | |
| Summit Thai | 3 (41) | 3.9 (16) | 4 (18) |
| Sunny Asia Sushi & Asian Cuisine | 4.5 (16) | (2) | 4.5 (3) |
| La Focaccia - Italian | 3.5 (47) | 4.2 (20) | 4 (76) |
| La Pastaria - Italian | 3 (64) | 3.2 (18) | 4 (76) |
| The Bombay Bistro | 3.5 (53) | 3.7 (7) | 4.5 (35) |
| Jenny's (Fujiyama) Restaurant - Japanese | 3.9(8) | 4 (7) | 5 (7)* |
Restaurant rating - Wikipedia
The Michelin Guide , Forbes Travel Guide, and Zagat tend to concentrate on large tourist cities.
See ratings for chain restaurants here.
Angie's List: Is the Service Site Worth Its Membership Fee? | PCWorld concludes:
Customer feedback has been positive in general. Former Angie's List subscriber Gene Heller of San Francisco was pleased with his membership. He discovered a reliable auto-repair service through the site roughly three years ago, and still uses that repair shop to this day.
The Better Business Bureau gives Angie's List an A+ overall ranking, and the service is BBB accredited.
Links:
Angie's List: Is the Service Site Worth Its Membership Fee? | PCWorld
Angies List the reviews are real | NY Times 3/3/2012
The upBoom Blog:
- Why Yelp.com Sucks?
- BBB CEO Resigns after "Pay for Play" scheme revealed
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