**Update: This giveaway is now closed. Thank you for entering and getting the scoop on Club Local!**
The washing machine was leaking.
The refrigerator stopped in the middle of the night.
The A/C wasn’t turning on.
The front porch light broke.
In every single one of these situations — which all happened in our house in the last year — fear and panic set in. Sure, they could be fixed, but would the repair person be reliable? Over charge? Show up on time? What. A. Pain.
Well, this summer I was introduced to a new company/app that’s now servicing Dallas and the San Francisco Bay Area: Club Local. This company knows all of the pain points in home repairs, and is doing everything in their power to make the process seamless and simple. Sounds impossible right? Maybe not…
Since, at the time, I didn’t have any panic-worthy incidents going on around the house, I decided to try Club Local to get Pink’s bedroom rug, our family room rug, and sofa cleaned. (Ok, in Lenny’s eyes these were certainly at panic-inducing levels of ick.) The previous time we had all of our rugs and sofa cleaned, it was an absolute disaster. Our rugs were wet for days — they even had to come back to see if they could do something to speed up the drying process for fear that our hardwood floors would be damaged. We fought, we tore our hair out, and we vowed never to believe online rating systems again.
This time, with Club Local, my experience couldn’t have been more different. I opened up the simple-to-use app, put in my address, selected “Carpet Cleaning”, chose a two-hour time slot the following day, and booked the appointment. The next day, I got an alert when the service provider was on his way, and I could watch his progress on the app. It literally showed him moving along on the map toward my house, and included an estimated time until arrival. As you can imagine, this was my kids’ favorite part of the app, and as someone who’s waited for what seems like lifetimes for service providers along the way, I couldn’t have agreed more.
The gentleman who came had been pre-screened and accepted into the Club Local program because of his great reputation. It proved to have been hard earned. He worked extremely thoroughly, and explained what he was doing and why all along the way. The rugs ended up looking great, and our sofa was almost as good as new. (We even banned chocolate milk and popcorn on the couch…for a few weeks.)
In a way, it seemed too good to be true. But that’s how it should be, right?
*GIVEAWAY*- Club Local’s service categories include: auto detailing, heating and A/C, handyman, electrical, carpet cleaning, appliance repair, and plumbing. You know, all the things that make people like me freak out. If you’re in Dallas or the San Francisco Bay Area (SF through South Bay — coming soon to the East Bay), leave a comment by Monday, October 7, 2013 at 11:59 PT about what home project you’d tackle for the chance to win a $250 credit to Club Local.
Disclosure: I attended a blogger event hosted by Club Local and received a Club Local credit for trial purposes. I was not required to write about my experience and all opinions are my own.
We have carpet that’s been torn up by my cats that I’ve been meaning to get fixed for awhile now. Not to mention that we could use some carpet cleaning in general! Club Local looks like a great option!
Do they do insulation? Because my husband will NOT stop talking about how we need better insulation! Ok, so our heating bills almost exceed our mortgage in the winter. I guess he may be on to something. I will check it out!
And if they don’t do insulation, it woudl definitely be inspecting and repairing our air conditioning unit.
I’d sound-proof my bedroom! I’m not sure how this would work, but I would love to not be woken up by the roomie at 4am.. I’m sure Club Local has the answer!
Congratulations, Jaquilyn! Random.org chose 3 and since you are the #3 commenter, you’ve won the giveaway. It sounds like you’ll be looking for one creative, industrial handyman.
I read your blog a few days ago and said “oh that service sounds cool” Since then our microwave has gone out, a pocket door came off it’s hinges and a raccoon dug up our front lawn so I decided I should enter this drawing!!
I love it! We were just saying last weekend how desperately our cream (now dark brown) carpets need to be cleaned! We do not have a “go to” service, so will for sure try Club Local given your great experience. Thank you for the recommendation, Amy!