Small contractors versus big company contractors

[IIOY]

Have you ever found a pattern in terms of the estimates you get from contractors and the types of contractors they are? I'm getting estimates for work now and so far the larger, "established" companies seem to be giving me much higher estimates. (One trade-off, it seems, is that they actually show up for appointments). Is there a general school of thought on this?

[simpsongal]

I noticed that too. The big names were about 10-15% higher than smaller guys. I think big name contractors can charge more b/c they have so many good Angie's List reviews, and people will just default to them to avoid a little-guy hassle.

I try to do a mix of small, medium, and big (always backed up with good reviews, regardless). There are a couple big companies I just won't use b/c I know their prices are inflated.