From another thread…
However, that brings up the question of how to choose a doctor, lawyer, mechanic, etc. if you have little knowledge of the service being provided. I.e. how can you tell a good provider from a poor or overpriced one?
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In my small town, we ask for recommendations. My husband says that to stay in business here, you have to be pretty good or everyone would know.
When we lived in a larger city, it was hit or miss
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Honestly many choose doctors by who is in network, has availability, and accepts their insurance.
Mechanics - for many, a dealership. You don’t know who you’re getting typically.
Of course recommendations are always a good thing and today there are on line reviews too
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Recommendations from people we know. Do this for just about everything mentioned in the OP. Personal reference from a friend…usually works out.
We also have family members who are doctors, lawyers, insurance execs, and just about anything else imaginable (big family). If we get really confused, we ask them for some sage advice.
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Our neighborhood has a Facebook group, and people often post for recommendations for tradespeople on the group. We found a fantastic electrician that way. We found our roofer through my brothers, who have used him for their business. Our financial planner is someone several of H’s coworkers recommended. When we needed a lawyer, H asked his fraternity brother, also a lawyer, for a recommendation for someone with that particular specialty. We rely on our PCP and our dentist for recommendations for specialists. So far, we’ve been pleased.
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I too have relied on friends and local FB pages for recommendations, and overall, this approach has served us well.
Having just gone through this as a result of a service provider’s retirement, I worry that friends, for example, will recommend a dentist for the friendliness of the office and painless treatment (both important) without realizing that they are doing unnecessary or substandard work. Another dentist might recognize this problem, but not a lay person. In the meantime, you could have dozens of very happy patients making referrals!
Still trying to figure that out!
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One more vote for “ask for recommendations”. Online reviews in many cases are unreliable, though worth peeking at.
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Around here you ask, Facebook makes it easier but we have enough friends and most “know a guy.” A high school friend who moved away a bit had to sell her mom’s home here in town, asked me for some recommendations for junk removal, cleaning, painting etc., she actually sent me a thank you gift.
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Me too! I made an appointment with an ortho doc because of hip pain. In-network and nearby, found via hospital network. His office called to tell me that he’s a knee guy, not a hip guy. I have an appointment with the hip guy in the new year.
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Yes, that can be an issue when getting recommendations and referrals from other people who are not knowledgeable on the service provided.
If your friends and family are knowledgeable on the service, then their recommendations and referrals, or advice on what to look for, can be more valuable.
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So true! This happens in medicine too. Terrific bedside manner is not the same as terrific clinical skill, unfortunately.
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NextDoor has been useful. I think we found our lawn/yard guys that way.
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Most of my family lives elsewhere, & many of my friends are in similar occupations, so I typically need to rely on neighbors & local FB pages for referrals outside of that expertise. When I do that, I try to find names with more than 3 recommendations.
Once upon a time, when it was new, Angie’s list was helpful, but no longer.
My experience is reviews on Yelp, Nextdoor, and elsewhere can be helpful; but more so for flagging providers with high risk of problems than finding providers who I will like. This can relate to using the provider for different services and/or prioritizing different criteria than others.
For example, I was looking for a new dentist, so I recently tried a nearby dentist that had outstanding reviews everywhere, including among neighbors. My insurance offers 100% coverage on regular cleaning, so I expected little financial risk to shopping around. I was wrong. I found that my expected bill for a regular cleaning with 100% insurance coverage was close to $1000. The cleaning emphasized several different services that were not covered by my insurance – lasers, something with resin, something involving water pic, … I asked if we could get the bill down to $300 this time. Eventually they reluctantly agreed to not use lasers, and did the quickest and I suspect most incomplete cleaning I have ever had in my life. They also recommended that I schedule $10k in additional things that no other dentist has ever recommended or mentioned to me as issues (pulling healthy teeth to increase space, …). I did not return.
I can see why certain neighbors might like this particular dentist. I expect they do a quality job, using newer, advanced techniques that other dentists might not use. And they may recommend fixing minor things that other dentists may not, which appeals to many. However, it was clearly not for me.
Instead I found a different dentist who I really like. This dentist also has great reviews, but seems much less popular and seems unknown among my neighborhood/Nextdoor. While I checked reviews, I initially found the office by walking around a nearby neighborhood when waiting for smog inspection. I checked out the office, spoke with the receptionists, asked a few questions, then came back later for a cleaning.
The dentist I like uses standard techniques that are 100% covered by my insurance. He seems skilled and knowledgeable, and we seem more on the same page about treatments. I also trust him and feel surprising comfortable. Time seems to fly by while mixing dental cleaning with casual conversation. He also seems to go out of his way when I have a concern, including shifting schedule so I can be seen in same day. He’s a good fit for what I prioritize in a dentist, but I suspect most of my neighbors would prefer the first one I didn’t like.
It’s a similar idea for most other services. It can take some trial and error to find someone I like, and who I most like often differs from neighbors, Yelp reviews, or similar; for a variety of reasons.
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Never heard of a dentist like that. Not sure how we found the current but it was like 18 years ago. I’m sure my wife found him.
Never heard of any co workers paying. We all get 2 free. I get a third. It’s like $85 I pay. No mouth issues.
I just had to redo retainers for my daughter. No insurance as she’s beyond the lifetime max. $320.
Never heard of what you are describing. Will look it up. Seems a sham.
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So funny you mention this dentist experience-- so uncannily similar to a recent one of mine. I’m still trying to work out whether my just retired dentist had gotten a little lax, whether some of these procedures are particularly effective at prevention, etc. My suspicions were raised when they required payment from me then submitted to insurance – I’m still waiting to see what’s covered. I want to take good care of my teeth AND I feel like anything but necessary care is a set-up for problems down the road.
At the same time, rave reviews from patients (and friends.) As our whole family is in the market (owing to the retirement), I am not recommending this one to any of them. In my gut, it just feels like overkill. The jury is still out…
That sounds like a typical example of a service provider recommending excessive services of dubious value at high prices. Such providers could still get satisfied customers who have lots of money but little idea of what services are necessary or what they should cost. Then these customers recommend them to others.
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There are a bunch of ways. For physicians, if I have at least one I like, I ask their recommendations. That tends to work pretty well for me.
For other service providers, I ask my huge extended family, my realtor (she’s an excellent source and she asks her fellow realtors if she needs more names), my property manager, and next door. Often I will double-check Yelp or other websites for reviews if referrals. So far i’ve been pretty satisfied.
Dentist here. Agree your experience sounds like unnecessary upselling. Re: the extensive positive reviews, note that some providers pay for positive reviews on certain sites. Take all online reviews with a grain of salt. Experiences from those you know or asking other providers for their recs is usually best. Sounds like you trusted your gut which was the right call!
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