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I'm quite concerned about the value of Thumbtack. They are letting people into homes without any references.

I had someone from the site that I contracted to complete a masonry fireplace. He came in with a worker, assured me he had all licenses/insurances, told me of his experience, and started work for what he said would take 2-3 days, however, 7 days later still had not managed to pull the old fireplace out. He finally walked off the job, having left me with supplies which I fronted the money for - but which are not the correct supplies needed, as per another mason. He left my front room a shamble, with rock, dust, and rubble all over the room - possibly damaging my carpet.

Do you know why? He said he was leaving because he didn't think I trusted him - why? Because I asked him for a copy of his liability insurance and his workers' compensation insurance. He said I didn't need a permit for the job because it was an existing fireplace.

I contacted the building inspector to verify, as per another contractor's suggestions. I told him I was going to have the work inspected, as I should, for safety sake, especially with a fireplace. He told me his worker was covered under his insurance; he wasn't and even just obtained the personal liability insurance for himself when I asked for it. However, he also did not have worker's compensation insurance.

The liability to me could have been disastrous, if he or his worker had gotten hurt, or if my entire wall had fallen due to his work, the courts would have found me negligent for not having this info from him.

Don't they run background checks or have any guidelines in place before they allow anyone who registers/pays them to sign up to provide services to unsuspecting people?

Quite frankly, I feel very vulnerable about what he knows about my house and self, especially since he left in such an unexpected way - even to the surprise of the other contractors. I will never myself use or advise anyone else to use their site.

Reason of review: Poor customer service.

Location: Honeoye Falls, New York

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Guest

Yes I had the same thing happen to me and now have to take the contractor to court because he refused to give me back my deposit

Guest

I agree,

not only do they not require a background check, or verify references, someone who can not pass a background check, and lacks licenses, can obtain a Gold Profile.

I am not sure what a gold profile means, but it certain does not mean reliable, licensed, or passed a background check.

I suspect it is something the person buys.

I further suspect that the reason I only got one bid, and from someone a bit flaky (felon and irresponsible) was that priority to see my request was given to this Gold profile member.

Hoa Kxh

This is very concerning to us. We have a Marketplace Integrity team that helps with issues between customers and professionals.

Please reach out to us at 800-343-1710; we'd like to help resolve this situation.

- Sarah

Guest

Thumbtack does not require any of their "skilled" tradesmen to have licenses or insurance. When they leave a comment regarding your issues they will dance around the topic and do everything to avoid it.

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