Review of Thumbtack: Thumbtack Generates FAKE Accounts to Send FALSE Leads; Will Not Refund
Thumbnail of user km435
New Jersey
4 reviews
24 helpful votes
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July 14th, 2023

Thumbtack generates numerous accounts to send false leads (potential customers) to the "pros." With each generated account, they send one "lead" to five pros. Each pro is charged $30 or more for each "lead," which I have experienced and observed, multiple times, every day I was a member of the platform. Shameful, deceptive and unethical practices. Customer service is poor, nearly non-existent. And, don't expect any refunds...you won't get any.

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Quality

Date of experience: July 14, 2023

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    Thumbtack

Thumbtack

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Overview

Thumbtack has a rating of 1.6 stars from 1,566 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Thumbtack most frequently mention customer service, credit card, and phone number problems. Thumbtack ranks 99th among Local Reviews sites.

  • Service
    293
  • Value
    285
  • Shipping
    118
  • Returns
    163
  • Quality
    255

This company does not typically respond to reviews

Positive reviews (last 12 months): 2.4%
Positive
1
Neutral
1
Negative
39
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How would you rate Thumbtack?
Top Positive Review

“Totally cleaned up my Yard~.”

Cynthia H.
3/13/24

Cut the grass, pulled weeds, finished with mulch all in 30 min! Did a fantastic job! Thank you Roberto Lopez from Lopez Landscaping and tree Services. *******226

Date of experience: 3/13/24
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Top Critical Review

“100% scam”

Barry G.
12/1/24

Don't bother working with them! They are useless and using bots and not qualified leads that request a job and want to pay 50 bucks while some projects are minimum $500-750. No customer service total bs and you will lose loads of money on "leads" as they call them but it's just fake accounts that show some sort of activity.

Date of experience: 12/1/24
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Reviews (1,566)

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customer service (157) phone number (58) credit card (53) business model (30) home advisor (23)
Thumbnail of user nicolem2477
Oregon
1 review
1 helpful vote
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July 23rd, 2023

They stopped providing refunds about 2 years ago. Today, I received notification from them that they reviewed my request for a refund and it is not eligible. The lead they gave me last week was a fake telephone number. There is no way for me to be able to contact the customer, and the customer didn't reach out to me. They didn't tell me that they were able to verify that person exists or provide me with the correct phone number. If that isn't eligible for a refund, then what is?

Service
Value

Date of experience: July 23, 2023

Thumbnail of user emanuelj17
Bangladesh
1 review
1 helpful vote
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January 24th, 2023

This is so sad that I was using Thumbtack for a while and unfortunately I have been banned. No one could explain why they did so. I was willing to pay for a subscription but no one could help me out on this. I really don't know how are you going to keep your business like this.

Service

Date of experience: January 24, 2023

Thumbnail of user bishs
New Jersey
1 review
2 helpful votes
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November 26th, 2016

I have been using such services from quite some time. Thumbtack is worst of all. The type of Handyman they suggest are very low quality. Go for other online services. I have used many of them with different level of satisfaction but this one is worst of all. Never try

Date of experience: November 26, 2016

Thumbnail of user deborahb46
Texas
1 review
8 helpful votes
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January 4th, 2016

Hired Pedro Alvarez(New Braunfels, Tx) in November, he insisted on large down payment "for supplies". Never worked more than 4 hours for a couple of days, then disappeared. I threatened to call the police and he came back, again worked an hour or two, then disappeared permanently. Hired him on Nov 11 to paint my house, was to take no more than 2 weeks. It is now January 4, haven't seen him in weeks. He took $5,250 from me and did not do the job. I am a senior whose husband died last year. I guess he figured I was an easy mark. I guess he was right.

Date of experience: January 4, 2016

Thumbnail of user kennyc35
Pennsylvania
2 reviews
2 helpful votes
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December 28th, 2017

They scam you out of money and don't screen there pros are customers and my husband got stabbed from a last off this site who facing a hate crime and thumbtack will harass you and discriminate you do to your race and disability and as a veteran of the military

Date of experience: December 28, 2017

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Ron B.
New York
1 review
0 helpful votes
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July 26th, 2016

I contacted Thumbtack when I was looking for someone to power wash my house etc.
I was contact by four or five companies.I went with Elite Property Services Group, Gary Harvey. I found Mr.Harvey to be an outstanding individual and their work was outstanding.
I would not hesitate to contact them again and would high recommend them.

Date of experience: July 26, 2016

Thumbnail of user georgea416
Georgia
1 review
1 helpful vote
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March 31st, 2020

Don't ever let any contractor recommend buy thumbtack.
They don't do any real screening and the contractors that come to your house have fake reviews with out real experience.
Buyer be ware if you don't have to go through the nightmare we had to through and lost lots of money.

Date of experience: March 31, 2020

Thumbnail of user gingerb16
Texas
1 review
2 helpful votes
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June 16th, 2017

I do not believe Thumbtack actually checks out their so called professionals. We hired Multi tasking June to do a move out clean of our home. She left the job after I left to run an errand, she stole everything we had remaining in the home, including a check which she forged and deposited to her account. It cleared our bank before we realized. No help from Thumbtack - there response: handle it with June yourself. Shocking! We gave the police involved, had to close our account to protect our funds in the future. We gave filed charges. Very stressful at the time of a move. Beware! Do not use Thumbtack!

Date of experience: June 16, 2017

Thumbnail of user christinek1353
Connecticut
1 review
0 helpful votes
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March 14th, 2023
Verified purchase

I did use thumbtack for quite a few projects and then I posted for a handy man to hang some shelves, medicine cabinet and hookup a dishwasher. I spoke with one contractor and arranged a day and time. I did provide with a family members number since they may have gotten there before me and asked about methods of payment. Then shortly before the appointment I receive a notice saying that due to my handyman post my service was deactivated. When I checked my account was deactivated. I did respond asking for clarification and well demanding a reason or how I violated terms of use….all I received was "your account was deactivated due to violations of terms of use and will not be reconsidered." So I do NOT recommend Thumbtack. You cannot count on them to be professional or protect the consumer. Clearly they do not have our backs.

Service
Value

Date of experience: March 14, 2023

Thumbnail of user bruceh84
Illinois
1 review
0 helpful votes
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February 22nd, 2017

Mike & Heather have painted our master bedroom & bath and living room. Mike also changed out all electrical outlets and switches to better match the new color. He has also replaced a closet door and stained it to match the existing trim. All work has been outstanding and they are very prompt. The work prices are quite reasonable.

Date of experience: February 22, 2017

Thumbnail of user alin90
Illinois
1 review
1 helpful vote
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March 6th, 2020

I have paid more than $200 and I have had not a single customer. I tried them, and I decided to go on my old fashioned way. It's better and I'm not wasting my time and money.
Unless you're very CHEAP. You can get some clients. But then my customer retention is high and I care about my client.

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Value
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Quality

Date of experience: March 6, 2020

Thumbnail of user tishah8
Florida
1 review
1 helpful vote
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April 18th, 2020

I have used thumbtack for several months and for months i was never given my refunds for things they say they give refunds for so i finally sent a email after spending and wasting hundreds and hundreds of dollars with this disgusting company. After finally sending this email and showing pics of where it said i should get these refunds i was finally issued something called courtesy credits for 66 dollars worth of leads so they obviously were not going to say they were wrong but at first i was happy overall with that but then i realized once i went to start bidding on jobs again every single job was priced to the exact amount they credited my account for which was 66 dollars like please tell me how terrible that is and better yet im a cleaner and the coronavirus has been a thing for over a month now so way to go thumbtack way to go you and your company disgust me

Date of experience: April 18, 2020

Thumbnail of user karinar5
California
1 review
6 helpful votes
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January 14th, 2016

I am an experienced writing professional and thought I would try to generate some side business via Thumbtack. If you don't respond to requests within a minute, you are blocked from submitting a quote. This is not personalized service, but simply who can respond the fastest. I just read other comments on the internet that suggest Thumbtack generates fake requests to defraud service providers. I have never received a response to any request I was able to respond to, nor have I received a quote for any request I posted. I think Thumbtack is a waste of time and money.

Date of experience: January 14, 2016

Thumbnail of user davidb200
Arizona
8 reviews
24 helpful votes
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July 10th, 2018

I have been with Thumbtack for over 5 years. Initially the cost to quote was reasonable. The charge was by a credit. Then they slowly raised the rates for the credits. Then they raised the number of credits required to send a quote. Now they have gone to this practice of the vendor having no idea what the cost will be. They will not tell you up front. They continually say it is a complicated process, varies by quote. However, if you receive any type of contact with the potential customer, you are charged immediately. Why can they not say what the cost is if they can bill immediately? They have become too big and now the vendors who helped get them there are being squeezed. In addition to the raising of the cost to quote, they have also tripled the number of vendors who can quote on a project. They say this is what the vendor asked for. Really? I doubt that very much. Be very careful if you decide to go with them.

Date of experience: July 10, 2018

Thumbnail of user stellam27
New York
1 review
10 helpful votes
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August 22nd, 2016

I am a professional caterer. I started my business recently. I had no idea how to get jobs and I 'd seen the Thumbtack commercial in Facebook. I signed in and finished my profile with tons of pictures I bought credits many times and got hired only once because I had to put the price down of my service ridiculously just in order to get hired and have a review.
After that never again. I had many people asking me questions and sent pictures and estimates over and over and the clients just don; t follow up or they just changed their minds,,, The clients don't care because we are the ones who pay to get jobs. And that is not fair. How do we know these clients are for real and they are not just fooling around? The clients get five estimates for services and they have the luxury to choose from these five service providers. But we get nothing. THUMBTACK A RIP OFF.

Date of experience: August 22, 2016

Thumbnail of user carolinah
North Carolina
12 reviews
55 helpful votes
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August 7th, 2017

If you just click because you are interested, then you get charged $14 or more. Then to make matters worse, I have had people who had sent me an email - and the email is not there until about four or five days later - and they don't even send me a notice in my email box. I got so used to people just going on there to check prices of contrators, when they were not serious, that I didn't check every day on the site - so the lack of alerts makes me wonder if they were pushing some other contractor to get the job first?

Date of experience: August 7, 2017

Thumbnail of user johna922
Florida
2 reviews
16 helpful votes
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May 7th, 2017

The leads are NOT qualified leads at all. Anyone can fill out a quote request and have you waste your time and money sending a quote. This site just takes your money like it's going out of style!
I even get the impression that they have people filling out quote requests and engage you in a conversation just to keep you interested. That's the impression I get based on my experience. The very first day I signed up I had 2 people respond to my quote only to tell me later that they hired someone else. After the first day I got no responses at all and I know that I gave excellent prices and I have some good reviews.
I feel TOTALLY ripped off!

Tip for consumers:
Don't waste your money. I don't recommend this site at all for Pros.

Service
Value
Quality

Date of experience: May 7, 2017

Thumbnail of user ramif6
Illinois
3 reviews
12 helpful votes
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June 13th, 2022
Verified purchase

As a business owner, this service is crap. Their system is full of flaws, which cause them to charge you mistakenly; they say that you can appeal it - but in the appeal they either don't have a living being review it, or this being doesn't speak English. I wish I read the online reviews on many other websites for them before I paid stupidly a bunch of $$$ for leads that never arrived.

More than that: as a photographer, almost all the jobs offered around here are of super super cheap clients, eg - want a WEDDING photographer for LESS than $200-250.

Tip for consumers:
Don’t waste your $

Value
Quality

Date of experience: June 13, 2022

Thumbnail of user thumbtackt
Thumbtack-Support -. – Thumbtack Rep

Hi Rami, we're sorry to learn of your experience on the platform this way. You're welcome to review our Refund Policy: https://help.thumbtack.com/article/refund-policy, as we do issue refunds in these instances that are listed. We appreciate you taking the time to share feedback and want to wish you well as you move forward.

Thumbnail of user siobhanf2
Florida
1 review
0 helpful votes
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May 24th, 2016

First of all; let me just say that words don't come close to describing how valuable these guys have been for us. Their design and development teams are phenomenal and so creative, they're an absolute pleasure to work with and incredibly professional throughout the entire process. I was ready to give up on my website after countless just awful experiences with other companies. I was inspired by Siesta Marketing Group to give it another chance and I am so glad that I did. I couldn't be happier with the results and would recommend them to anyone I know looking for help with an e-commerce site. To sum it up; I trust them 100% with all of my online projects and the peace of mind I get is invaluable. The knowledge that my online business is secure and growing is all down to the guys at Siesta Marketing Group.

Date of experience: May 24, 2016

Thumbnail of user ja569
Florida
1 review
0 helpful votes
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May 10th, 2022

I'm a pro and if you're considering being a Pro on this site. Don't do it. Save yourself money and aggravation of scammers on this site with no untent of hiring you but want your personal info. And the all the money you pay for direct leads that never pan out nor do they ever respond or read your email. Then when you ask for a refund from thumbtack they respond that it meet their guidelines for a refund. I believe most of these leads are generated bots by thumbtack to charge your account. I've been using this site for 6 month have responded to 12 lead and have 1 job from this site. I'm losing money because these leads are expensive. Trust me. STAY AWAY!

Service
Value

Date of experience: May 10, 2022

Thumbnail of user thumbtackt
Thumbtack-Support -. – Thumbtack Rep

We're sorry to hear you didn't find the platform helpful to your business, that's disappointing to hear for us. If you have questions about what qualifies for a refund, check out our full Refund Policy here: https://help.thumbtack.com/article/refund-policy. We work hard to ensure leads are legitimate, but if you come across something concerning, please report it to our team: https://help.thumbtack.com/report-a-concern. If you change your mind, we have specialists that can help improve your profile and better set you up for success on the platform, just contact us directly. We want to wish you well moving forward.

Thumbnail of user jodit94
New York
1 review
0 helpful votes
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August 3rd, 2023

I needed someone to put together cabinets I bought. I tried Angis list and they require you to pay for membership. Thumbtack sent me several handymen with quotes. I picked one and he was quick, reasonable and friendly.

Products used:
Thumbtack. Com

Service
Value
Quality

Date of experience: August 2, 2023

Thumbnail of user thomast89
Ohio
1 review
7 helpful votes
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June 6th, 2017

I had absolutely zero success with Thumbtack. I purchased $120 worth of credits and did not receive one job opportunity. The contact from the jobs I bid on was 7%. In other words of all of the jobs I bid on only 7% of the customers actually contacted me. I only bid on jobs that were within 10 miles of my business. I have an A+ rating with the BBB, I have been in business for 16-years. I used that info when bidding on a job and it did not help. Thumbtack is a complete WASTE of money. All I got after 3-months was a flooded inbox that buried some important emails. DON'T be drawn into this scam you will be throwing good money into a bad product.

Date of experience: June 6, 2017

Thumbnail of user lindam419
Rhode Island
1 review
0 helpful votes
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June 28th, 2017

I hired Mike Remington of Johnston, RI for my bathroom redue. After reviewing the job Mike gave me several options and prices. Once I decided on what fit my budget and I bought the tile Mike started the job within a few days. He was easy to work with and made suggestions along the way. He made sure everything was put up to my satisfaction and even did a few things we originally did not talk about without hesitation. He is a perfectionist and very fussy about everything he does. Mike cleaned up daily and got rid of anything I did not want or need. I will be hiring Mike for any future projects. Highly recommend.

Date of experience: June 27, 2017

Thumbnail of user nathans170
Washington
1 review
3 helpful votes
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September 11th, 2018

I've started a business in bookkeeping that helps clients organize their books, I don't however prepare their taxes. Thumbtack knew this because I stated in my profile that I did not do taxes. They, however proceed to send me tax clients and I accidentally sent a quote to one. This mistake was obvious and I clearly wanted to keep using their service. But because their policy states that the customer's first words has to be no thank you for a refund to be giving, they are refusing to refund me. The customer also made a mistake in responding is embarrassed because of the whole ordeal and won't talk to me. All I really wanted was this mess to be cleaned up, but they continue to refuse because it's against policy. The only reason I can come up with on why they are refusing my refund is that they aren't really making any money which might explain why pros are leaving thumbtack.

Date of experience: September 11, 2018

Thumbnail of user franky3813
Florida
3 reviews
0 helpful votes
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July 30th, 2023

They allow Unlicensed Florida Private Investigators on their site. Thumbtack says they do a background but do not check for a license. They say it is up to the consumer to do so. Your case will not be valid in court.

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Date of experience: July 30, 2023

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From the business

Thumbtack is a technology leader building the modern home management platform. Through the Thumbtack app, people can effortlessly care for their homes — confidently knowing what to do, when to do it, and who to hire. Bringing the $500 billion home services industry online, Thumbtack empowers millions of people to fix, maintain, and improve their most valuable asset. The company’s investors include Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, Javelin Venture Partners, Baillie Gifford, and Capital G, among others.

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Thumbtack-Support -.
Typically does not respond to reviews

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