If the site itself let you down, say a request that never seemed to arrive, details that were mishandled or an error on one of its pages, send word through the contact form. Give your name, the town the home is in, about when the request went out and what went wrong, and the matter will be reviewed and you will get a reply.

Because the site is never a party to a basement contract, it has no power to settle disagreements over a job. Your first step in a quarrel about the job, its cost or its papers is a written message to the contractor; keep a copy.

When that fails, public offices handle complaints. The Ohio Attorney General's Consumer Protection Section receives consumer complaints. To find out whether a contractor doing permitted work at an Akron address is registered with the City, ask the Plans & Permits Center, 330-375-2010. Permit concerns belong with Summit County Building Standards, (330) 630-7280, which issues building permits for Akron and the five nearby cities, or, for City sewer work in Akron, with the Plans & Permits Center.

The site would also like to hear about any contractor that treated you badly after receiving your request through it. A report of that kind can't force a refund or decide a dispute, though it counts when deciding whether that business may keep advertising here.

This complaints policy is governed by Ohio law.