On Wednesday, Angie’s List Inc. was met with a class action lawsuit which stated that the review site deceitfully convinces local service providers and their companies to pay fees in order to gain access to ratings, search rankings, and reviews which are unfiltered. Allegedly, the company receives profits in exchange for the manipulated features.
A member of Angie’s List stated she has been deceived by rankings and believes these manipulating tactics violate Pennsylvania Consumer Protection and the Federal Trade Commission regulation because consumers are given false promises. Therefore, Angie’s List violates the trust of consumers. She continued, stating the company does not actually provide fair and honest information regarding service providers. She stated that, instead, the company displays information according to which service providers pay the most amount of money to Angie’s List, regardless of the service providers’ true and unbiased reviews.
According to the woman’s complaint, a heating and air company located in Richmond, Virginia had the best reviews than any of its competitors in the area. However, the company appeared below 11 other heating and air companies because they did not pay the amount that would allow them to move up higher on the list. Additionally, the complaint alleges that Angie’s List agrees to remove poor reviews through what they call a “complaint resolution process.”
The complaint states that these unfair tactics distort the integrity of search results when consumers search for reliable service providers. As a result, consumers are unable to trust whether the reviews are actually true, unbiased, and properly displayed.
The lawsuit aims to make Angie’s List compensate subscribers throughout the United States for breaching consumer agreements and forming unfair memberships by being deceitful about what Angie’s List’s services promise. In addition, the lawsuit seeks to make Angie’s List compensate its members throughout Pennsylvania for violating the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.
The woman will be represented by the following lawyers from Golomb Legal, P.C.:
- Richard M. Golomb
- Kenneth J. Grunfeld
- David J. Stanoch.