Thumbtack

I hired 2 pro from this website and I had a horrible experience with each; the first ruined my apartment carpet and burn my bedroom carpet and the second insulted me in a private message and didn't do what we agreed to although we have been settled all in the same conversation! When tried to contact customer support, they didn't get back to me for 4 workings days and until I contacted them again. After that, They replied to my email with typical sentences to calm any customer not one his whole carpet ruined! After a thread of emails, they asked me if I want to move forward with the dispute for carpet and they will see. I really lost a lot of money just because I trust them. They didn't save my back with the pro they are dealing with and there is no guarantee for the service you take from them. It took 2 months with back and forth and a lot of humiliation and lies claims from an unprofessional pro with nothing in return. They told me they will not do anything else for me (they already did nothing) and I have to deal with pro by myself!

Thumbtack has unlicensed individuals and they do not check for licenses. Their background check is not sufficient. After months of communication they refuse to remove unlicensed persons or companies.

The experience with this company was the complete worst and LIFE THREATENING! They are total scam artists and they thrive on poor consumers to get their needs met by supplying PROS I mean CONS and they have a smile on their face while doing so. I was robbed at gunpoint by their so called PROS. Police were called and now im filing a Lawsuit! Thanks Thumbtack!

I have spent a lot of $$$ on quotes and if the customer views it but does not hire you, you are on the hook 8-10 DOLLARS FOR EACH BID. Do not start a profile on Thumbtack. I do not believe the leads are real! I believe this is a scam company set out to get hard-earned $$$ from small business. DO NOT GO HERE AND OPEN A PROFILE! DO YOUR OWN MARKETING, THUMBTACK IS USELESS

I have been disappointed by thumbtack in the last several years. As one of the first businesses to subscribe to this service I was thrilled when I got my first lead which lead to a successful short sale for the client that contacted and hired me. Unfortunately, that was the first and only lead that I have gotten from them. In the last few months I have spent an average of $16 to send out a quote to a variety of potential home buyer and sellers - only to not only be hired but just giving the money to thumbtack for "viewing" my quote. There is no checks or balances on this software. As far as I can tell these clients may or may not exist... no way to find out since the information is not provided to see if this is a real lead or just made up. Too tired of giving money to companies that don't provide any real value... would be very careful with this business and providing your information... who knows what they are doing with it... selling it to other companies to send more advertising? Who knows!

Good bye Thumbtack!

I hired this company once for a wallpaper hanger, no problems. Late to arrive, but no problems. The second time? Nightmare. Not only was scheduling blown off for a week of back and forth, but the day of the job they cancelled, blaming another client for wanting more work done (doesn't that sound like THAT client's time issue and not mine?) So they didn't show up, said they would be there at 8am the next morning. Against my better judgment, I said ok. Still didn't show up the next day, and didn't respond to any messages. This is a wallpaper gig. So I moved everything out of the room and it sat there for days. We have a 3 year old and I was wasting my time trying to track down this guy when I should have been playing with my child. Are you looking for a professional? Are you looking for curtesy? Look elsewhere. This guy gave me stomach pains. Not to mention my expensive wallpaper was ripped the first installation but I didn't notice right away. Don't hire J. A. Wallcovering in Los Angeles.

Have been a TOP PRO member for 4 years. Recently they have made some changes supposedly to help professionals and all they have done is figure another way to scam money from the business owners. Basically you pay for all inquires that come through the site whether they become a job or not. In the beginning they would send out five quotes to a client and then they could choose from there. Now it is ten and they sent out a note last week that there is no set price to send a quote, they will decide how much they will charge when the customer contacts you so anywhere from $5- $200 per job.

Professionals have to foot the bill even if people are just shopping and not really serious or if its kids playing games, and being a member for a long period i see names and requests that appear often and always ask for the same thing but never buy or hire anyone from the site.

I have heard rumors of them sending out false requests but I dont know for sure. The only thing i know for sure is that they will tell you one thing then take you money and say something else. I have been in business for over thirty years and one thing I have learned is that people talk and if enough people talk they will soon clean up or close up...

Just want everyone out there who needs concrete installed, give Manny with Quality Concrete a call. Manny & his crew did a FANTASTIC job pouring 500 sq ft of concrete around my pool & 60 sq ft in my garage. I promise Manny will give you a GREAT price & his workmanship will be worth more then you pay him. I had 4 estimates & I'm so glad that I went with Manny, I will not even look else where if I need more concrete. Awesome job Manny, & THANKS AGAIN. MANNY RODRIGUEZ with QUALITY CONCRETE call them *******780

I come at it from the professional service provider side. I used thumbtack for a year or so and in that time the policies have DRAMATICALLY changed. It used to be that if a "client" didnt respond within 48 hours, you would get a refund on the fee you paid for that lead. Now you don't worse yet is that they have multiplied the cost of leads to about 10X! It is insane!

The worst part... are you ready for this?: is that now, if you read their terms an conditions, they monitor your email and text messages for "quality" - now i am not just talking about emails you send via their app - i am talking about YOUR EMAIL and YOUR PHONE. Basically they are invading your privacy and you must allow them to do it if you want to use their "service"

Terrible experience - tons of wasted money.

STAY AWAY!

I started using Thumbtack as a professional in August 2017, shortly after I'd started my own business as a freelance and contract writer and editor.

Initially, this was a great place to start out my business. The transparency was great, and I could easily see what I would be spending any time I put in a bid. Because I was cautious and bid carefully, I tended to land half the jobs I bid on, or better. It was a good balance.

The compatibility of Thumbtack with my business (and many small businesses like mine) ended abruptly in June. The new model pitched that we would be paying for leads, not bids, so we'd only pay if we were contacted. Since different leads had different value, the prices could vary. The algorithm for determining value was never clear, and the prices were exorbitant. Most of my jobs run 1-3 hours, and most of my clients aren't likely to bring repeat business (because my most frequent service has to do with higher education personal statements), but I could expect to pay an hour's worth of work for a lead that could easily be someone just price shopping (which the new system hasn't eliminated, despite that being pitched as a primary goal).

The changes to Thumbtack have apparently impacted the customer end as well, because the jobs I used to see posted aren't coming up anymore. I was initially told that these jobs must not exist anymore (like they somehow went extinct), but I've found plenty of them with networking and Fiverr, so it's more likely that my clients have ditched the system.

I would NOT recommend any pro use Thumbtack to generate leads.

I was very very satisfied with " Inner sanctum Movers" They got the job done in a timely manner, The grew were very respectfully, I thought I would need Two Storages, but was told, to hold out, they would make it work and They came through that was a Tremendous Saving for me! Planning on calling INNERSANCTUM MOVERS... In the near future once I move into my New Home. GREAT Service!

I've used thumbtack for several years, in the beginning, leads were affordable, and based on the type of photography the client was looking for. Over the years, thumbtack has changed their pricing structure, sometimes multiple times in a 6 month period. You also used to be able to submit a question to the potential client for further clarification before placing a bid. This was a great feature to weed out people just fishing. It's now extremely expensive to purchase leads (7 credits at $1.66 each) for a wedding no matter the budget ($400 through to $3000). And there is no way to clarify or ask for more verifications before purchasing the lead. I've also found that leads come in quite heavily during the day during the week, and it's rather quiet on the week-ends. However, the week-end clients are much more responsive than the week day ones. If thumbtack could be more aggressive with the potential clients to filter out the 'tire kickers' it would be a great service. As it stands - us pros are the ones paying Thumbtack to stay in business. I feel like we are the real client and the system is definitely not set up in our favor.

Well let me tell my story with thumbtack, I had been using them for about a year and half, had great reviews, I can honestly say I've never encountered a problem with any of my clients prior to Ms Nancy, I was trying to help her out by letting her pay when she sold her flip house, which she never planned on paying in the first place, I hired an attorney and we are legal battles now, in the meantime I try signing into thumbtack and none of passwords worked, nor did my wife's, so I finally get in touch with thumbtack and they refuse to talk to me about anything, just tell me someone called and made a report against me, they refused to listen to my side, said they couldn't discuss anything with me... the end! They have yet to do so! This lady made a false complaint with the ms board of contractors against my dad, whom she has never met, she made a lot of false allegations against me and my fathers company who's never had a complaint made our whole entire life, and has been in business for 40+ years! She has ran this scam before I came along, prior contractors have had to sue her to get their money! I think it was very unprofessional the way they handled my situation, and I have a lot more work with home advisor, and they have treated me and my dad fairly, I feel they are more professional and know how to handle situations like this versus Thumbtack who would never listened, or let me tell my side of the story! I feel they have discriminated against me from the beginning, she hasn't paid them a dime, I did ever week!

Paying nearly $7 for each property management lead is rather expensive, especially when it's obvious that some of the requests for proposals are fake or from competitors shopping the competition, but I was able to land my firm a new client thanks to Thumbtack. This client did not make contact in any of the other standard lead generation platforms, so I'm glad I had an account with Thumbtack. The only caveat I have is that there is no way to tell who is sending the request, and you are not provided any contact information to a real person directly after paying for the lead. That means you can spend a lot of money on unverifiable leads, and that makes me somewhat uncomfortable. If I had not signed a new client in the time frame that I did, I would probably have stopped using Thumbtack, simply because of the uncertainty of authenticity. I also wish that they would add property management to the list of services that a user can browse.

Jonathan A. Matthews, Broker/Realtor, CPM Candidate
*******@RDUBROKER
*******@rdubroker.com

I hired a so called "pro", Charles "Charlie" Lavoie of CJ Office and Home Repair for what was a small project. He upsold me on repairs I didn't need, damaged some electrical that was working fine before he messed with it, started small parts of each project, then after only coming to the house that 1 time he asked for more money. When I asked him to complete at least half of the work for half of the money he didn't respond. 2 days later he texted saying he was in the hospital and would continue work 2 days later. In 1 week he had did less than a day of work on my projects, that initially was a small $300 job. He then reported to Thumbtack that he completed work and I did not pay him (this was a lie). Thumbtack disabled my account without hearing one word from me regarding the matter (I was out of town when Charlie told them I didn't pay him). I sent pictures of the incomplete work, proof of $300 payment the day before he reported that I didn't pay him, and screenshots of his text messages. Thumbtack then reactivated my account without so much as an apology saying they would review Charles's status with Thumbtack. This lying contractor is still active on their site. There was another review where he took money and never returned. Charles claims to be a man of God, and that he takes his work personally. He is a liar, do not hire him or use Thumbtack for contractors. How can Thumbtack, in good conscience, provide a platform for contractors that they've seen proof of lying and stealing from customers?

The so-called pros are anything but.
No shows, no calls. Do not send bids when they say. Worst experience.
Thanks to Covid, businesses like this use it as a excuse to have NO CUSTOMER SERVICE AT ALL. THEY EVEN LIE ABOUT IT.

I was told I had 4 free leads if I advertised my Buisness with them. I was them charged over 300$ in a week for extremely small jobs that I couldn't get to because of the weather. They charged me 75$ FOR ME TO RE-LIGHT A WATEE HEATER! Meaning I make 0 profit. Then I ask customer service what the heck and Mr YAS (that's his name) says I shouldn't have set my limits as high as I did hahahah! I've been in this business for 16 years buddy. I'm furious.

If you see a "pro" with their phone number be very wary of using that professional. First of all, it's against Thumbtack policy to do include a phone number on any pro's picture. You're supposed to contact the pro through either the Thumbtack website, or through their app. Don't fall prey to shady professionals. If you contact them directly, like I did, you have no recourse to leave a review of their shoddy work on the Thumbtack website, allowing the pro the opportunity to continue deceptive practices and cheat Thumbtack out of their fees as well, and leaving you the paying customer no recourse to warn others. Thumbtack DOES NOT screen their picture postings of their professionals, so you'll be amazed at how many of them post pictures with phone numbers so you are "duped" into a direct contact scenario. DON'T FALL FOR IT. Thumback DOES NOT HAVE YOUR BACK HERE! Here's a picture of the painting job I paid over $ 2,000 for, plus the contractor has threatend to lien my house.

Hello to all,

I'm actually a service provider who utilizes "Thumbtack" for the majority of my business. I would like to point out that there are always scammers out there trying to take advantage of people, and this is true on both sides of the fence. I've bid on jobs only to show up and find 5 times the amount of work described in the request, I've also had a customer scam me out of close to $1800 on a minor home improvement issue.

However, after all that being said, I have no one to blame but myself. I didn't get ANYTHING in writing, it was all verbal/hand-shake...

1.) Contracts are but ONE way to avoid scammers
2.) ALWAYS check to see if they are Licensed, Bonded and Insured!
3.) Take a look at the companies profile, read it... How many grammatical errors are there? How many people have hired them? How many reviews? Are the reviews good or bad? What is the ratio of Hired/Reviewed? Does the profile have photos? Does the company have a website? Does the website have photos?

These are just steps one might take to make sure that who you hire are who they claim to be.

Thank you very much for your time!

THANK YOU THUMBTACK FOR CONNECTING ME WITH DON FROM AQUA LIMO! DON HELPED ME MAKE MY DAUGHTER'S 21st BIRTHDAY A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE WITH HIS PROFESSIONALISM AND EXCEPTIONALLY NICE PARTY BUS! DON WAS VERY EASY TO WORK WITH. OUT OF THE SEVERAL BUSES I LOOKED AT, DON'S BUS WAS THE ABSOLUTE NICEST AND THE BEST PRICED. LOOK NO FURTHER FOR A PARTY BUS... CALL DON WITH AQUA LIMO! FIVE STARS!

How can you Blind Bid a Major Contracting Project. Signed up, Paid the Money to help grow the Business. Received Leads. Minimal information (Most was Bad or Incorrect) Submitted Blind Bids. Person would open the Bid to review. You were charged MONEY without a contact or conversation with the potential customer. Thumbtack is SELLING LEADS. This is a LEAD SELLING COMPANY. You WILL SPEND MONEY. Thumbtack will also SELL your Contact Information. My phone and emails have been non stop with Telemarketers. SAVE YOUR MONEY. Thumbtack, Home Advisor or Angie's List NOT WORTH THE TIME OR MONEY>

In theory, their business model sounds good. You sign up your business. Clients looking for your service will put in a request for a bid. You receive that request and it's up to you if you want to bid on that job.

There are several big issues with Thumbtack's business model though. First, YOU have to pay THEM for the privilege of bidding. Well, it's a service, after all and they should get paid. My problem is that you are paying them whether you get the bid or not. Unfortunately all too often you just simply never hear back about your bid. No, "thank you very much but I chose someone else," message. Nothing. There is no flat bid rate either. I haven't figured their algorithm for pricing, but it's steep.

My biggest point of contention is that you are asked to bid on jobs with ridiculously vague and uninformative descriptions. "Client needs a [job] for [$XXX]" and a few generic lines half describing what they need. No business person in their right mind would ever quote a job without a full description outlining what they are required to do. And there is no way to get that information since everything is funneled through their idiotic system.

Word of mouth and pavement pounding are way more effective than this 'service'.

I have been trying to make a payment on my account since 03/15/18. I owe $22.97. I have made 3 payments prior to this charge.
I have called my bank and the specialist there told me there is no block on the account and that Thumbtack has been charging me $0.00
I have been trying to speak to someone there about how much they are charging per customer reached, and no one will provide that information. There are no set prices for their service. They can literally charge what every they want and won't break it down for you.
Now, since they can't figure out how to charge me properly, they have blocked my access to my customers and to send quotes.
I have tried the customer service chat room, calling (on hold for over 30 min each time), emailing, and now texting. The people I interact will don't seem to understand English and have a copy-paste response to everything. This month I have already spent $40 for a $100 customer. So far that's 40% of my profits.
Save your time, your money, and most importantly, your sanity.