Personally, I have been using them for a couple of months. Here are some of my experiences and thoughts.
You PAY them for a year subscription to be on their website and get listed through them for google, bing, yahoo, etc. searches. The subscription also provides you with "screened" requests which are sent to you and 2-4 other competitors in the area using homeadvisor; you pay for each of these requests that are sent to you whether or not you provide the services.
Services under Computer Repair are so very generalized. You may get requests (which you pay for) for ANYTHING computer repair related including screen repair, printer repair, and requests in the category with NO info.
Ex. I received a request to repair a copier which should have went to a copier reseller/repair company, but I still got the request and was charged for it; since it was used for business, I was charged double for the lead (business leads are double). I called homeadvisor to tell them that we are not a copier repair company, nor do we advertise as one. We never repaired copiers and never will and a computer is NOT the same as a copier. They told me "it was under the correct category, so too bad." I spoke with a supervisor and finally had it credited back to me after a total of 40 min. of my life wasted on the phone. They told me this may happen again since it doesn't fit in any other category besides computer repair.
Leads are paid for whether or not the customer picks up the phone, answers your email, and lack of detail of the job AS LONG AS the category is correct. Since computer repair is the only category for anything relating to IT, you will be charged almost every time.
8/10 to 9/10 leads are nil, zero, none, nada. Reminds me of thumbtack.
I've tried to cancel my subscription twice so far, only to be given the ol' "I'm sorry, here's some free credits" bullsh*t.
Good experience(s): Clients that I managed to nab via homeadvisor were all nice and friendly. They were looking for a solution for their problem and there was always something more to offer them that they missed or were not aware of. You are able to narrow the radius of requests for a more localized structure, which I highly recommend.
Conclusion: Did I get more out of homeadvisor? Yes. It paid for itself for the year subscription and the 8 to 9 out of dead leads. Is it worth having this and always calling them for credit for some weird and bogus lead? Not so much. The wait time and time to speak with their support is excruciating; you will almost always have to speak with a supervisor to get any result.
Try explaining to their support that repairing LCD screens is NOT computer repair and never will be; there is a reason why it is called screen repair and why some shops advertise that they do it or not.
