Thumbtack
Reviews and Complaints

Here is proof why Thumbtack is an unethical fraudster company.

Please see attachment as proof!

THUMBTACK SCAM!. THUMBTACK SWINDLERS!

There is a project that a lady contacted me about - painting one room.Not only did Thumbtack charge me personally outrageously - $50 for the lead, but Thumbtack charged 3 other guys $50 dollars as well.

That is $200 for giving 4 guys THE SAME LEAD!!!When the job itself is only worth about $200!!!

That means Thumbtack is charging and making 100% of what the price of the job itself is worth!

That is called, PRICE GOUGING, which is illegal, and the Attorney General should be contacted because of this IMMEDIATELY.

AND THEY TOOK $480 FROM ME WITH NO REFUND! I AM NEW TO THEIR SYSTEM AND I HAVEN'T DONE ANY JOB AND THEREFORE MADE NOTHING FROM THIS STUPID APP!

What begs the question is how many other people are being swindled by these fraudsters?

I hope they all repent of this unethical behavior!

I was contacted by a pro who informed me he does not speak English. Instead communicates by text.

He had an attitude because I thanked him and declined, told him I require English speaking. He text me again with, 'It's a pity.' His text was unnecessary and unprofessional. I am a single female and need to be able to speak to any pro doing work in my home. This is the 3rd pro from Thumbtack that did not speak English.

One pro did not tell me and just showed up at my house. We could not communicate so I did not allow him in.

It's fine if they don't speak English but when I decline the service there should be no issue. I will not use Thumbtack again

Im leaving Thumbtack after a disappointing experience that I wouldnt wish on any vendor trying to build their business. Unfortunately, Thumbtack seems to prioritize profit over vendor support.

I was repeatedly charged for what I believe were fake leads and inquiries that never materialized into genuine client interest.

Thumbtacks approach felt more like a money grab than a genuine business-building partnership.

Instead of fostering success for their vendors, theyve created an environment where vendors bear the financial risk, paying for leads that too often lack credibility. For anyone looking to grow their business sustainably, Id recommend exploring platforms that respect and value the efforts of the professionals who bring their marketplace to life.

Thumbtack, its time to do better for the businesses that trust you with their hard-earned money.

I am a small business looking for some lead generation companies,. To increase our workload..

Now,. I must honestly say I don't really remember calling this place , but after they had my phone number,(which they may have gotten off the Internet).. MY PHONE WOULD NOT STOP RINGING. I was called so much, I finally answered to see what they had to offer,.

And it sounded ok, but I was not ready to sign with them , fast forward, I finally got tired of seeing their number ringing my phone. So I signed up with them, and they explained that I would be paying for leads as customers called for my services... The first job they send me, was for a service that we do not offer, but I was charged anyway,..I picked up the phone and TRIED to get in touch with my representative that said she, Amy Williams will be like my success coach at thumbtack. Well, she never answered a call, or text from me ever again,..

as I write this, I am still waiting for her to get back to me. I got a sporadic text on presidents day, from Amy telling me that she was busy in a meeting on friday, and usually works 10+hours a day at thumbtack, and if I need her help I can text her. So, I texted her 3 more times, with no reply from Amy. Later that day I got a text from someone on Amy's text,,saying that they are not Amy,but they were telling me that today is presidents day, and it is not legal for her to be calling me on a federal holiday.?!?!..

I knew that she has no clue what she is talking about. So I see that this was a scam. Iv gotten a few more "leads" in through their app, but this was for people shopping for prices for my service.. when I signed up, they said I will be the only service provider to get these leads(at a price ).

But they sell the same lead to 6 other people at the same price,.. so, instead of making $50 for a service lead,.. they make over $300 for the same lead that wont net the contractor $500,.. total scam.

What pissed me off the most is when I called, and, called, and called about the first charge, for services I did not offer,.. they said to call for a refund, but when you call for that refund, they end up telling me , the program you signed up for IS NON REFUNDABLE!!, they tell you in their pitch, that if there is a issue, you can call and get a refund on a specific charge you may have gotten in your acct. .. ive added a screenshot of an email from amy stating that if i need any help within the first 2 weeks,.

To teach out... Lol..

it's almost 2 weeks and I'm sure she is still at her meeting from the Friday BEFORE presidents day.. (btw, I'm still waiting)

I hired a worker from Thumbtack to fix my lazy Susan doors. He took it to his shop to paint them.

There were two small holes to fill and maybe a half hours' worth of work. We gave him 100.00 as a deposit on a 350 bid. He would not return to finish the project. He kept making excuses.

Finally, his contract expired, and I fired the man. He has held the doors hostage since then demanding 350.00. I spoke to Thumbtack, who said I could pick up the doors for 50.00, This man called here ranting, raving, and screaming when he was fired. I'm an older woman, I am not going near that lunatic.

For 350 he'll bring back the doors, I'm not paying that amount. He took off with my doors which is theft. He was paid a deposit 100 to cover his time to paint and fill two small holes in the doors.

It seems to me that Thumbtack is condoning theft of personal property in this instance. Do NOT do business with them.

I've used Thumbtack for 9 years! Of course, as a newer company at the time, their prices were very reasonable per lead.

As the years went on, they got more expensive, but honestly, Thumbtack was a better option for me when it came to leads for my cleaning company, so I never complained. But these last 2 years have been awful. They completely changed everything. First, they introduced this auto book feature which allows the customer to book your services.

You don't have the option to opt out of this customer booking feature, costing up to upwards of $150. I don't know who sets the prices, but by the time I paid my employees for the job, I actually lost money because of the lead price. Yes, they have cheaper costing leads, but only if the customer decides to contact several professionals, which you don't have control over. If you decide you don't want the customers to auto book your services, then you will just be taken off the platform.

It feels like it's all about the money now. Another issue I had is that if a customer submits multiple requests as long as it's been 1 month since their last request, they will charge you again. We used to get refunded on these leads in the past. Why should I be made to pay for the same customer again when it's clear that they are shopping around, and I have already provided that customer with an estimate?

One time I had a customer that could not find our number submit a cleaning request in order to find me. She put in the notes, 'I'm sorry I couldn't find your number.' I was charged $100. It was a fight to get reimbursed which made me furious. I had this client for over a year which I could prove, and she clearly stated that she lost our number.

I shouldn't have to fight to get refunded for that. That's just bad business. I'm no longer going to use their platform because I have tried over and over to voice pain points as a professional on this platform, and it has fallen on deaf ears.

They are only interested in what benefits them. The money.

I highly recommend that you DO NOT USE THUMBTACK:

Our company started using Thumbtack back in 2021, and in the beginning, we received legitimate leads at reasonable rates. However, they have since introduced changes such as Instant Book, which is another way for them to extract more money from you at a price that is at least three times higher than the normal lead cost.

This Instant Book feature is actually mandatory, leaving us with no choice but to open up booking schedules for at least 12 hours a week. I discovered the only way to disable it is by turning off your Targeting Preferences setting, which also means you won't get any leads.

Today, I attempted to get a refund after a customer used Instant Book after submitting a regular lead, and then canceled over the phone after disagreeing with our quote, even after we gave him a discount. The customer had to select us based on multiple factors for the Instant Book, which includes our service fee. Importantly, the customer had submitted a regular lead before opting for an Instant Book but thankfully, Thumbtack didn't charge for the regular lead, so we weren't charged twice.

I submitted a refund request (Instant Book amount of $45.28) because the customer canceled Instant Book over the phone. But within one minute, we received a refund rejection email. The speed of this rejection indicates that they are not scrutinizing the reasons behind a refund request. I called Thumbtack customer service and explained the situation.

The agent put me on hold for approximately 3-4 minutes to discuss with the account advisor whether we qualified for a refund. After the discussion with the advisor, she said we didn't qualify for a refund because the customer had 'confirmed' the booking date, and to receive a refund, the customer had to cancel within 15 minutes of booking with us. This policy seems absurd! The purpose of Instant Book is that we are 'guaranteed' the service with the customer, which is why we pay 3-4 times more than a regular lead.

The customer service agent agreed with this perspective, but their policy does not permit the refund because we didn't cancel within that 15-minute timeframe. By cancellation, I mean that the customer has to be the one to cancel the booking. So, regardless of the circumstances, we have no control over the cancellation, and unless we persuade the customer to cancel, they might not feel obliged to do it since they aren't the ones paying for the Instant Book lead. I also noticed that my setting for the Maximum lead and booking prices was supposed to be capped at $40, yet I was charged $45.28, which I explained to the Thumbtack customer service agent.

She acknowledged this but still denied the refund.

Now, based on these contractual violations, Thumbtack still took my money, claiming they are correct, based on their 'refund policy'. This experience makes me feel that this company does not care about its customers, i.e., Thumbtack Pros. Instead, they come off as just another greedy business that wants your money and provides substandard customer service.

One additional point is that, at least 60% of the leads we get, customers are not answering their phones. This leads me to believe that many customers might be fake.

Whenever I request a refund for these types of unanswered leads, it gets rejected. Thumbtack's rationale behind the rejection is that once we respond to the customer, it's considered non-refundable, even though the customer doesn't reply at all.