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Contractors' e-match

"The idea of using the Internet to get referrals is fine so long as customers have that one-to-one contact and protect themselves with a contract," says Alice Moore of the Attorney General's office.

Any homeowner who has ever tried to get repair or remodeling work done on her house is likely to have enough horror stories about the experience to inspire a new series of Stephen King novels. Between the booming economy and the Big Dig, it has been next to impossible to find a contractor willing to take on new work, let alone one who is reasonably priced, competent, and able to complete the job in any kind of timely manner.

Well, some savvy entrepreneurs saw a need and filled it with a dot-com solution. Today, the Internet provides consumers free, fast, and easy access to contractors. There are several Web sites where you can find workers - from plumbers and electricians to carpenters and excavators - who work in your area and have been prescreened by the listing service for things like licenses, customer satisfaction, and fair price.

There are many Internet sites consumers can find using the search words "home service professional" or "contractor." Once at these sites, potential customers fill out request forms and specify the required work, the price range, and the time frame sought. The companies match consumers with a list of local contractors who are interested in doing the work and, perhaps more important, are available.

Many sites also provide calculators to estimate how much a job might cost as well as tips and how-to information.

ServiceMagic.com, which recently opened an office in Boston, is such a company. Others include Improvenet.com, Contractor.com, Nextdoor.com, Imandi.com, ServiceLane.com, and Home Improvement Professionals & Products On-line (www.wearehippo.com) to name a few.

Make sure the site offers more than just a directory of professionals. The best sites will connect consumers to service people who have passed background checks that cover such issues as whether a contractor is properly licensed, how long a company has been in business, whether an individual or company has filed for bankruptcy within the past few years, and, in some cases, whether any complaints have been filed with the Better Business Bureau. Contractors, who pay the company a fee to be part of the network, get access to serious customers.

"People are moving from city to city more often, and they don't have that network of friends and family they had in the past. So, when you move into a new neighborhood, you don't know which plumber to call," says Jim Goebelbecker, director of business development for ServiceMagic.com.

Most people either go to the Yellow Pages or ask a friend or neighbor for a referral when they are looking for a home contractor, says Goebelbecker. "Typically, they make a decision based on the size of the advertising. But that doesn't tell you anything about the quality of the company," he says. Even when you ask a friend or neighbor for help, he says, "That's only one contact person. . . . That roofer may have been able to do one good job, and that was your neighbor's."

When Susan Mega of Attleboro and her husband bought the 100-year-old, three-family house he grew up in, they knew they would need to renovate 80 percent of the home. So Mega let her fingers do the walking across her computer keyboard.

She checked out referrals from both ServiceMagic.com and Improvenet.com. She needed someone who was familiar with old houses and had been in business a while.

"After that, it comes down to a matter of personality," she says.

Mega chose a Providence general contractor from the ServiceMagic.com list. He began work in the fall and it will take several more months to complete the project. "You hear the horror stories," says Mega. "Everybody has horror stories." But not Mega. She says she loves her contractor.

Improvenet.com was started to help homeowners overcome the fears they have about hiring contractors, says Emily Neuhaus, an Improvenet.com public relations representative. In addition to providing references, Improvenet employs project advisers who follow up with clients. "Someone is holding your hand through the process," says Neuhaus.

ServiceMagic.com, which provides up to three referrals within days of a request, also mediates any disputes and offers a $1,000 satisfaction guarantee.

The Internet does provide faster access than more traditional approaches to looking for a contractor, but consumers still have to be as careful in their selections as they would be if they found a worker through a newspaper ad or the bulletin board at work, says Alice Moore, chief of the public protection bureau at the Massachusetts attorney general's office.

"The idea of using the Internet to get referrals is fine so long as customers have that one-to-one contact and protect themselves with a very clear and concise contract," says Moore. In that contract, include a budget, details of the payment plan, and how changes to the contract would be made, she adds.

Consumers can check out the attorney general's Web site (www.ago.state.ma) for guidance. The Better Business Bureau Web site also is helpful (www.bosbbb.org).

Jeff Shuman, director of entrepreneurial studies at Bentley College, says consumers also have to be aware of privacy issues. Be sure you know what will be done with the information you provide the companies, he says. Also, look for customer testimonials and get some kind of time guarantee.

What Michele Markarian of Cambridge likes about Internet matching services is the speed. In December, she and her husband found they needed to be out of the condo they were living in within three weeks of closing on a new house. However, the heating system in their new digs needed to be changed because of Markarian's asthma.

Although she asked real estate agents and friends for referrals, she couldn't find a contractor brave enough to take on the job until she turned to ServiceMagic.com and got a referral that fit her requirements.

Before receiving a coupon from ServiceMagic, Markarian says, she was more comfortable using phone books than the Internet to find services. "I would have never thought to use the Net," she says, adding that she's glad to have taken the leap, because it worked out so well.

Markarian's advice to consumers using the Net to find home improvement contractors: Don't be afraid to ask for what you want. "I put in an impossible date," she says, "and they came through."