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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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 susand143
California
1 review
0 helpful votes
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August 3rd, 2016

Sam And Toni of S & T Home Improvement did a great job painting our rental house
They were flexible with hours and did a nice job sanding and patching cracks and holes. They painted walls, ceilings, doors, baseboards and door trim. They were priced very reasonably and cleaned up the mess.

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Value

Date of experience: August 2, 2016

Thumbnail of user brucew557
New Mexico
1 review
0 helpful votes
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August 27th, 2021

Very poor customer service.
They didn't like my review because I asked them why I couldn't find the company I wanted as he had 5 stars and the company that was first only had 4 stars I think they might own the first company on there list lol

Date of experience: August 27, 2021

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

Hi Bruce, thanks for reaching out. We're sorry to hear you weren't able to find the pro you were looking for. Customers have the opportunity to review pros they've interacted or worked with, if you have questions about reviews check out this link: https://help.thumbtack.com/customers/topic-messaging-and-reviewing-pros-customers/subtopic-reviewing-pros-customer. We'd be happy to provide further support, please reach out to us directly if there's anything we can do to help.

Thumbnail of user cherylr10
Illinois
1 review
1 helpful vote
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November 22nd, 2014

DJ philly phil, is a outstanding DJ very strong with old school music with a excellent list of jazz while we were eating our dinner, keep the floor moving again overall was a excellent choice in chosen him, very detailed with us

Date of experience: November 22, 2014

Thumbnail of user dh391
Texas
1 review
3 helpful votes
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July 18th, 2019

Finding out that as you pay for Thumbtack to promote you they charge you for every single lead automatically and they never tell you what the charges are. They will range from $10 to $60 for one lead you may not even get. Even if you are promoted, they promote other professionals that are also paying for the auto lead so they are getting paid from who knows how many professionals. If you do not use the promotion auto charge you can submit a quote to the customer but your bid is basically hidden in an email still promoting the other professionals. So in other words, Thumbtacks is in it for themselves, not the customers, not the professionals, for themselves! The only one making any money here is Thumbtacks. By the time you pay for their "leads" you have spent $300 to make $400 on a job. You are better off spending your money on an ad in the newspaper. Your odds are better!

Date of experience: July 18, 2019

Thumbnail of user kellyt477
Tennessee
1 review
2 helpful votes
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February 23rd, 2020

Do not use this service! They are not reliable and do NOT screen their contractors. We spent over $1K to have a shower kit installed. It was done incorrectly and we now have to take it out and fix it. He did not follow instructions that were provided for back wall support and used liquid nails and sheet-rocked over the flange. We have not been able to reach him and we cannot even install our new shower door because he did not square and true the wall. Measurements are 55 inches at bottom and 56 at the top. The name of the contractor is Oliver Construction. I am disappointed that Thumbtack did not screen this unbonded and unlicensed contractor.

Date of experience: February 23, 2020

Thumbnail of user danah50
Texas
1 review
0 helpful votes
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January 1st, 2017

Marti Dryk has worked with me on my dissertation for several weeks. She provides on target knowledge and skills to assist me with the completion of this daunting task. She is fun to work with, patient and uplifting.

Date of experience: December 31, 2016

Thumbnail of user aprilt36
Georgia
1 review
6 helpful votes
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May 12th, 2017

I used Thumbtack.com to find a mover, that turned out to be a company from hell (Toda Moving & Storage in Atlanta, GA - DO NOT do business with this mover). I subsequently wrote a candid review about the company... and Thumbtack.com DEACTIVATED my account! They claimed it was deactivated for "unprofessional behavior"... whatever that means. I hired a shady, inefficient company through your website and I can't even post a review about my AWFUL experience!?!? Their leads are substandard and unqualified businesses, they allow those businesses to post their own FAKE REVIEWS... but they censor and deactivate customer accounts that leave legitimate correspondence! I'm considering a negligence lawsuit as we speak... but in the meantime, stay away from Thumbtack.com!

Date of experience: May 12, 2017

Thumbnail of user candym39
New York
1 review
5 helpful votes
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March 6th, 2019
• Updated review

Dont TRUST thumbtack to follow your lead and travel specifications. They Send u customers from 5 states away and call it a LEAD... What a joke. I have emails stating most jobs are between 3 and $8 and no lead will ever be over $24. Then they send me leads and what me to pay $78.05! DONT TRUST THEM!

Date of experience: March 5, 2019

New Platform Terrible! Price per lead skyrocketed, no longer matters if lead never replies!
February 19th, 2019
• Previous review

Thumbtack changed their platform in November of 2018, Their price per lead skyrocketed for $3-8 per lead to $15-50. They no longer sent out auto quotes and they no longer gave u credit if a lead didnt reply within 48 hours. Now u paid no matter if a lead responded or not. Didnt matter if u never got a valid phone number or address. They charged u for every single person who view your profile or asked a question. Even with no info to give an estimate. The site was much better than home advisor when i joined in 2017, but they refuse to refund me for 2 leads that are both out of my requested area and out of my scope of work. I am also not licensed in the other county and it was 20 miles out of my requested travel area. STILL they would not refund my money. If there is a lawsuit I want to be a part of it.

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Date of experience: February 19, 2019

Thumbnail of user paulan13
California
1 review
1 helpful vote
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April 17th, 2016

Beyond Clean is a company that I would highly recommend for cleaning your carpet. The best choice package is worth the value. Daryl is very professiona, courteous, outstanding at what he does. He worked quickly and did a wonderful job on my carpet. His work was thorough and detailed. My carpet was a mess with stains, on stairs and landings and high traffic areas. I am well pleases their work and would recommend Beyond Clean to all my friends and family. KUDO's to to your staff and your efforts to go the extra mile. Outstanding job! 5 STARS for you!

Date of experience: April 16, 2016

Thumbnail of user annag310
Illinois
1 review
2 helpful votes
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February 15th, 2020

Do not trust Thumbtack rep when they tell you that they need pros like you in your area. They'll take $300 to sign you up and in return they'll give you zero leads!
Btw. The $300 NOT REFUNDABLE!
They won't just let you about it!
Do not trust Alicia Elliot and Jacob Rasmussen! They'll say anything to get you to sign up!

Date of experience: February 15, 2020

Thumbnail of user mf492
Florida
1 review
0 helpful votes
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November 17th, 2023

Booked a photographer thru Thumbtack. The session was cancelled due to force majeur. Rebooked the session. Few days later he did not reply to the emails or the texts. Days later he replied he was out of country. He did not refund us the money. Called thumbtack they said they are third party and they cant do anything. Then why are we booking thru you! A rip off!

Date of experience: November 17, 2023

Thumbnail of user amyb162
Georgia
2 reviews
6 helpful votes
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February 25th, 2017

I have been with Thumbtack since the end of 2013. I have had multiple issues with this company since they had no idea how to handle entertainers vs plumbers etc. Many hours on the phone explaining to them what was needed to help the client (me) to make them money and therefore to make me money. Things have shifted and now to the detriment of me. Apparently they have now decided to charge randomly whatever they want vs the 2 credits that they had before. Most importantly they didn't inform me of this and had no idea that this was going on for at least the last couple of months. I find this to be very scammy as they will make their money back no matter what, despite how they claimed to want the professional to succeed. I'm very upset and will not be working with them again.

Date of experience: February 25, 2017

Thumbnail of user azadm1
New York
1 review
2 helpful votes
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May 5th, 2019

Thumbtack is a big time scam. I was with them for four years. I left my well paying job and started my own business with Thumbtack it worked well for a while and I had 187 five stars reviews. I was providing for my family with the jobs I was getting from thumbtack. Then they changed everything overnight. They got greedy. They started to raise their price for the fake leads. Before each lead was priced around $3 to $7 but over night they raised the price to $30 and in some cases to $85. Most of the leads are fake and not only that thumbtack sends fake texts and emails to the consumers asking them if they are willing to take on a certain projects without any one present. I have numerous emails and leads like that from thumbtack in my archive. I gave up on sending quotes for the fake leads and I didn't send anything For two, three months then I realized that this scammers had charged me $380 for the quotes that I hadn't even looked at! IF THIS IS NOT A SCAM THEN WHAT IS?

Date of experience: May 5, 2019

Thumbnail of user sabrinac42
Massachusetts
2 reviews
6 helpful votes
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January 27th, 2018

Im a pro on thumbtack and very disappointed how things works in this site, they made this instant match saying its more easy for us to send quotes for us for free, and we got charge everytime we get a message for customers, but the thing is they send 10 quotes from 10 pros and they let the customer send it message for everyone so even when i got message saying your price is highly or i choose another pro i have to pay for them to $10 a $20 just to get this messages, so they got money from everyone but just one get the job... but they dont wanna fix this because is so good for them to get money for every pro... i really hope they change the things on their site start to charge only if we get hired because its not fair customer sended message to everyone and we have to pay without get the job...

Date of experience: January 27, 2018

Thumbnail of user samanthac583
California
1 review
1 helpful vote
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September 26th, 2021

Charges for leads have doubled for me in the past year. What use to be $4-6 for a lead soon became $8-10. I thought it was because I moved to LA. That was for a $85 service. I later offered a $20 and they charged me $12 for the lead. The next lead for my $85 I am charged over $14. You cannot get ahold of a real person in customer service. Begging for specific help they only messaged me with copy/paste responses. You go through the trouble of figuring out how to call them and over the phone it only leaves you with an option to text. They do not value their pros and are probably price gauging because the business itself is tanking. You don't get credits anymore even and you get charged for ‘direct' leads even though a customer will contact over several pros at once! It doesn't make sense to me anymore. Extremely disappointed and frustrated with their platform.

Date of experience: September 26, 2021

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

Hi Samantha, thanks for taking the time to share your concerns. We definitely hear your feedback and understand how this can be a frustrating experience for your business. We're really sorry you didn't get the support you were looking for when you called our team, this is discouraging to hear. Our intention is not to redirect you to the Help Center, but we did want to share our spending guide, because it address some of your feedback: https://help.thumbtack.com/article/spending-guide. We'd always be happy to take a deeper dive into your account and provide personalized support, you're welcome to reach out to our team on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or any other social media channel. We do hope to hear from you, and hope we can turn your experience around. Thanks again for the feedback.

Thumbnail of user jakem491
Illinois
1 review
0 helpful votes
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July 13th, 2021

Was a pro member of TT years ago in the ealry 2014. Rejoined the service and within 2 hours I was billed $24.00 for 1 lead. I deactivaded the lead situation in 3 categories and they billed me for category that I could not deactivate. The so called lead are nothing other than a person fishing and it's send out to multiple people. At 24.00 a piece I could imaging. My issue is I did not authorize lead for the 4th category. Attempt to reach them are futile. Had to delete my creidt cad from their account to ensure I dont get rip off anymore. They need to be class actioned sued.

Tip for consumers:
DONT

Service
Value
Returns
Quality

Date of experience: July 13, 2021

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

Jake, we apologize for any confusion that may have happened as you tried to adjust which leads you wanted us to send you. We'd be happy to take some time to look into this with you and work to help you see success on Thumbtack. It's important to us that you see a great return on your investment and we can provide tips to help. We're also open to any feedback you can provide about pricing for your specific category. Please feel free to reach out to us via one of our social media channels and we'll see what we can do for you. We hope to hear from you soon.

Thumbnail of user kimberlyg457
Ohio
2 reviews
11 helpful votes
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November 22nd, 2020

I use to use Thumbtack when I first started my business. Generated a lot of leads for me at a REASONABLE price! Note the REASONABLE price part in that sentence!
Now they are charging upwards of $30 if someone even responds to a quote. You may not get the job, may not even hear from the people again, but still are charge an exorbitant amount. And the manner in which they do the billing and setup is shady.

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Value
Returns
Quality

Date of experience: November 22, 2020

Thumbnail of user elizabethc2793
New Jersey
1 review
1 helpful vote
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February 17th, 2023

Although I wasn't taking damage in the app, I was enjoying it. Until I went to the app and said that my account was deleted. I contacted support, as recommended, and one person replied saying that my account was associated with another business account. The answer is very shallow, they don't say the exact reason. Who could I be associated with if I don't know anyone here in this country. Now I'm the one who doesn't want to go back. You can even pay me, I don't want to

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Returns
Quality

Date of experience: February 17, 2023

Thumbnail of user tomt1051
Texas
1 review
2 helpful votes
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November 29th, 2022

Thumbtack has become an oversaturation of fake/scamming businesses that change their name after thumbtack bans them and the cycle starts all over. Then Thumbtack charges me for duplicate leads of the same request. Thumbtack has become a money-hungry lead-generating company that does not value legit pros and allows anyone on the platform! Beware of anyone you hire from Thumbtack because thumbtack says that they background check them but it is most likely a lie! I can show 3 companies on hand that is not legit run by a person who is a scammer and yet their profile is still active on Thumbtack! I am done being a victim of thumbtacks poor management skills and money-hungry ways! As for the person who took my call, I had to deal with her baby crying in the background! Customer service speaks loudly of how the platform is managed!

Tip for consumers:
Stay Away from any lead generating site they are over saturated with fake businesses and scammers

Products used:
Beware of the platform many fake businesses

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality

Date of experience: November 29, 2022

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

Hi Tom, we're incredibly sorry to hear about your experience. It's disappointing to hear that you weren't able to get the support you needed, and we'd like to get in touch to resolve any outstanding concerns you have. For a quick response, you're welcome to send us a direct message via social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) so that we can address these points for you. The information you shared about potential scams and illegitimate accounts is concerning to us, we'd like to gather more details from you so that we can investigate and take appropriate action. Please provide more information here: https://help.thumbtack.com/report-a-concern. For more information about our background check process, please see our Help Center: https://help.thumbtack.com/article/background-checks. We hope to get in touch soon and improve your experience.

Thumbnail of user nancyb1053
Georgia
2 reviews
1 helpful vote
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February 14th, 2020

My compliments to CHAILA who works for Americans chimney, gutters and roofing.

Very personable and knowledgeable. Very hard worker. Pays attention to detail. Made suggestions to replacement and the best way to stack my gas logs for best flow.

Thanks CHAILA. 2 thumbs up

Date of experience: February 14, 2020

Thumbnail of user tomp1132
New Jersey
1 review
0 helpful votes
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March 22nd, 2022

I used Thumbtack a couple years ago and they kept charging me despite pausing the leads so I deleted the account.
I opened up a new business and decided to give it a shot again. Created a new account for the new business, paid a deposit to generate leads, and called it a day.
The next morning I went to login and my account was deactivated by thumbtack. I reached out to support and all they could tell me was that my account was deactivated for "violating terms of use." I read through the terms and found nothing that I could have violated in the 6 hours the account had been active. Now they are refusing to refund my money. Absolute scum. Stay far away.

Tip for consumers:
Go to a reputable source. Screw this site.

Products used:
Lead generation

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality

Date of experience: March 22, 2022

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

We're sorry to hear this, that's a frustrating experience. While we don't have enough information from this review to locate your account, we want to look further into this for you. Please either send us a DM via social media, or email our team: support@thumbtack.com, so that we can help.

Thumbnail of user cynthiaw181
Ohio
1 review
0 helpful votes
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October 1st, 2018

Mary Stimmel was excellent, not only did she do a great job on my resume, but she went the extra mile. My computer was acting up, I asked her if she would send my resume because I had a deadline and she did. I felt comfortable with her and she was patient kind trustworthy and always professional. I would recommend her in a heart beat, she's the best I ever had, and I have more work and wouldn't trust anyone else but Mary Stimmel. Believe me, you won't go anywhere once you experience working with Mary.

Date of experience: October 1, 2018

Thumbnail of user lisal196
Pennsylvania
1 review
1 helpful vote
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August 6th, 2016

Mark Schultz did an amazing job at our wedding reception on July 29,2016 at the Bavarian! Every one kept asking who was the DJ? Mark worked with us from the very beginning and gave us a lot of good suggestions! We couldn't be happier with the job Matk did! Thank you Mark for making our reception a success!

Date of experience: August 5, 2016

Thumbnail of user mayrad55
California
1 review
5 helpful votes
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August 29th, 2023

They do not reinburse you when not hired. I disputed a transaction with my bank and they sent this term and condition: -"Profesionals pay thumbtack for leads to connect them with individuals who are shopping for their services. By accepting the terms of service at sign up, professionals agree to make payments for therlse leads (although they are not guaranteed to be hired after connecting with a particular individual) and that lead purchase are NON-REFUNDABLE."- This is unacceptable. They took money from me 2 times.

Products used:
Service for leads

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality

Date of experience: August 29, 2023

Thumbnail of user bettyv7
Texas
1 review
1 helpful vote
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June 9th, 2016

I recently had water damage in my home due to my water heater. My repair consisted of drying the water and floor repair. I located the water damage restoration professional through Thumb Tack. I used Fast Action Restoration, owner Joe Donovan. He was very prompt in replying to my need and his work as well as his advice was exceptional. I recommend Fast Action Restoration. Betty Vaden

Date of experience: June 9, 2016

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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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Thumbnail of user thumbtackt
Thumbtack-Support -.
Typically does not respond to reviews

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