SAN ANTONIO – Angi bills itself as an online company that connects service professionals with homeowners looking to get projects in their home completed.
Users answer a few simple prompts about the work they are looking to get done and are then provided a list of companies that can do the work or are even contacted by the contractors themselves.
But a months-long probe from KSAT Investigates found these work arrangements have sometimes fallen apart in recent years, with consumers and at times even the contractors themselves contacting law enforcement, alleging that criminal conduct has taken place.
‘It just ruined pretty much everything’
Jesse Aranda used Angi, formerly Angie’s List, to find a contractor to build a custom pool in the backyard of his Southwest Side home.
“I wanted to try and put something up that we could enjoy before my kids became adults and moved out,” Aranda said.
After securing financing for the $83,000 project, Aranda gave the builder a $13,000 down payment.
But, according to San Antonio police records, the project never got started, other than a few digital renderings that were sent to Aranda.
Aranda told KSAT he spent months trying to get the builder to return his down payment before eventually contacting Angi’s arbitration department.
“Tried to get them to help. They reached out to him, left him voicemails. They said ‘Hey, you know, we’ve done everything that we can do. This is now your problem to figure out on your own,’” Aranda said.
Aranda filed a felony theft report against the builder in late September 2022 and said that was the catalyst behind the contractor returning his down payment.
“It just ruined pretty much everything. I’ve never used them again. I’ve never been back to their website. I won’t use them,” said Aranda, when asked if he had used Angi to find contractors since the pool incident.
In late 2021, a West San Antonio resident contacted SAPD after a housecleaner recommended to her by Angi stole jewelry from her home.
The housecleaner arrived late and after being walked through what needed to be cleaned, “left the house in haste and had a very nervous look about her,” SAPD records show.
The homeowner eventually discovered some of her jewelry, including a necklace and a ring, had been stolen from her cosmetic bag.
The suspect was eventually arrested by SAPD and ordered to pay restitution for items that were not recovered by police.
In a separate incident, a woman who hired a housecleaner off of Angi reported that the worker stole her debit card and made more than $6,100 in unauthorized transactions over three weeks, SAPD records show.
Another San Antonio homeowner filed a burglary of building report with SAPD in the summer of 2022 after three men removed wood and screws to enter a home she was having refurbished, leading to a confrontation inside the residence.
The victim told KSAT she had contacted Angi to get an estimate to repair the back fence of the property and had not given consent for anyone to enter the home.
The men, who told the victim they worked for a local handyman company, then took off in a light grey Chevrolet Suburban, SAPD records show.
A San Antonio woman hired a contractor through Angi to repair six rare antique wicker chairs worth around $1,000 each.
The man failed to return the property and eventually stopped communicating with the victim, according to SAPD records.
SAPD property crimes detective offers vetting tips
Detective Ronald Rocha, a 30-year veteran of SAPD, said consumers should do their own independent vetting and take their time when hiring someone to complete a home improvement project.
Rocha, a property crimes detective, offered the following tips when hiring someone to do work inside of your home:
- Do not leave valuables lying around
- Look at Better Business Bureau reviews of a company
- Get a contract in writing
- Find a contractor who has the capital to not require a down payment
- Ask to make a copy of the worker’s identification
- Meet face to face before the project begins
Rocha said if the contractor declines to have a copy made of his or her identification, “I would possibly think about finding another contractor.”
Contractors also said they were ripped off after using home service websites
San Antonio consumers were not the only individuals who filed criminal complaints after using home service websites like Angi, SAPD records show.
After a contractor was hired through Angi to paint a San Antonio home, he was sent a business check for $7,420, SAPD records show.
After depositing the check, the contractor was contacted by the consumer and instructed to send back most of the money so that the previous homeowner would hand over the keys and allow the painting project to begin, records show.
The victim ended up sending back to the consumer a total of $5,000 using money orders and Apple Pay, according to records.
The suspect then asked for the remaining $2,420 due to personal issues in his life, records show.
The suspect told the victim he would press charges against him if the $2,420 was not returned, according to records.
Investigators inspected the business check provided to the contractor and determined it was missing several security features and did not appear to be authentic, an SAPD incident report states.
Last year, a separate contractor who provided moving services for a family after being booked through the site Thumbtack filed an SAPD report claiming a theft of service.
After providing the moving services, the person received a digital payment of $545, records show.
The family that hired the mover then disputed the transaction and the payment did not go through, according to records.
Thumbtack representatives did not respond to multiple emails from KSAT seeking comment for this story.
Angi defends vetting process
An inspection of Angi’s website reveals that background checks are only performed on a featured company’s owner or principal, not its employees.
The site also reveals that information on whether a contractor is licensed, bonded and insured is self-reported by the company.
“Since this information is self-reported, we strongly encourage you to check with the provider and regulatory agencies in your area for their most up-to-date information,” the site states.
Reached for comment for this story, a spokeswoman for Angi responded that customers who have had a bad experience after using the site can reach out to them.
“We are always disheartened to hear when a homeowner has an issue with a pro, however, this is a rare situation that we work hard to avoid. In San Antonio, Angi helps thousands of homeowners each year connect with independent pros and only a very small number result in any type of problem. To help make sure homeowners have the best experience, we conduct background checks on the owner or principal of the business and make sure pros in our network maintain high reviews. If for some reason a pro no longer meets our standard, we will remove them from our platform. We encourage homeowners to reach out to us whenever a problem occurs so we can help to find a resolution,” the spokeswoman said via email.
She then shared some of the same tips Rocha provided and added that homeowners should keep receipts and documentation for any forms of payment and not pay service professionals in cash.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.