Web.com has teamed up with home improvement expert and pitchman Bob Villa to deliver leads to contractors. From the press release:
Under this exclusive arrangement, Bob Vila and Web.com will offer homeowners access to contractors to suit their specific home repair needs under RenovationExperts.com, Leads.com, BobVilaContractors.com, and other websites. For contractors, this service provides them with a powerful lead generation solution to attract new customers in their local area.
The home improvement vertical is very competitive and so any edge is helpful. ServiceMagic is the incumbent in the space. But will Bob V’s “brand” help gain traction for this new effort?
Screenwerk 
October 31, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Renovation experts is of no real help to contractors. I tried to use this service ,only to find myself getting more frustrated. I purchased a 10 lead program and was told that if a lead had a wrong number,no anwere,or had already hired a contracter before I bought the lead ,I would be given a credit . I purchased several leads only to find that 75% of them were not interested,did not answere, did not have the name listed,and or already had hired someone else. I was able to make contact with 5 leads which I would assume left 5 to go. Reno tells me I only 2 and that I used up the credits. I will not use thier service and strongly advise all my friends not to use this service. Your name is also at stake!
November 2, 2008 at 2:00 am
@Chuck Keller: Did any of the leads you made contact with convert into jobs? If they did, did the job(s) cover the cost of the 10 lead package? What did Renovation Experts say about the three leads that are in dispute after you cantacted them. Thanks for the info if you can help me out!
November 17, 2008 at 2:30 am
We have been trying to partner with Renovations Experts, Service Magic, Reliable Remodeler and a few others. MyOnlineToolbox.com is geared towards the more tech savvy contractor. MyOnlineToolbox believes that contractors paying for leads is coming to an end, but we can clearly see contractors paying more for quality jobs. The best way to compare is eBay where the seller pays a percentage based on what occurs, not what may occur. The search engines have many reasons why they do not believe this would work, including trusting the contractor after a job is completed. Anyone think this is a good idea? If so, contact me. We just won a DELL TOP 10 INNOVATION AWARD for mobile contractors and simply need for anyone in the search business to be thinking for contractors of the years 2010 and beyond, not from 2000. We welcome hearing from anyone thinking this way. Just call.
December 27, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I left renovation experts earlier this year due to the same problem, contacting clients no answers no return calls and recently came back the service due to the economy trying to stay above water. Now I am finding no return calls no appts, JOBS already done, completed and a few weeks ago, not recently completed yet they sold us the lead, I asked for purchase as needed they told me they don’t do that , but I just read on line they do! Now they signed me up for $340.00 a month and none have become a customer yet. We take pride in our work, and contact leads immediately, I think this group is as bad as Serivce Magic which is a terrible lead source. $340.0 a month is a lot of money, especially when the leads are jobs done before you get them and I feel 85% are false. This is sad when you want to do a great service and your getting ripped off by lead groups. Now Bob Villa’s name is attached how does he feel? I would investigate before I offer my name out here!
August 7, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Personally I have had a wonderful experience with BobVilaContractors.com. I own a small painting company in a HUGE city and find my advertising pretty ineffective as all the attention goes to the bigger companies. The lead service gives me the advantage as the clients who submit info for a quote are actually looking for me, not me putting my money into an ad that no one acts on. I only purchase the leads that are the closest to my business office. I have had 99% success reaching the client on the contact info provided, the one exception was handled when I called the customer service hotline and they replaced the bad lead with another. I love the service, I love being able to choose among the available jobs. I dont mind paying for the service because the way I look at it, when I finish just one project from the lead service that I wouldnt have booked otherwise, it pays for itself. Dont understand all the negativity…must have changed their program since last year..
September 3, 2009 at 8:46 pm
I set an immediate appointment with the first lead I purchased. Tons of jobs to choose from where I am (Florida). Recommend this service to anyone
October 26, 2009 at 12:24 am
They are a bunch of crooks and treat their employees like scum. Use your marketing money for anything other than this program. Why did they change their name from leads.com if they were so great?
Total rip off.
January 6, 2010 at 10:53 pm
I am looking for lead help with my busines, but after reading this, I am undecided which one to use. I tried service magic and that was a tragedy, I don,t know which way to turn
February 4, 2010 at 8:19 pm
Try the American Apartment Owners Association. They have about 30,000 apartment owners nationwide and these people have a lot more jobs than homeowners. Plus it only costs about $100 – $200 per year.
May 11, 2010 at 12:58 am
Really great discussion here. I agree with the frustration that many commentors have on this forum. The fact is, marketing has changed so much in the last few years. Dis-intermediation of leads from lead generation companies (read Service Magic and others) is not fun or profitable. And traditional media does not perform like it used to. Reason, your customers research online before buying any product or service.
Heres the good news! The search engines have begun to realize how important local search is for users, and are focused on being very relevant by highlighting local businesses. If you know how to play the game, you can beat the lead gen companies at their own game and land on top of the search heap….and get a consistant stream of leads that you own.