Thumbtack lost its integrity
I agree 100% that they have gone bad and now that they have this "instant match" system it is even worse! If you don't allow them to shop clients for you and pay extra for quotes, you won't receive them.
We did a test with other trainers and set all our settings the same. EXCEPT we didn't activate the "instant match" And the ONLY ONE that got quotes for the correct parameters was the "ACTIVATED" instant match account.... RIP OFF AND NOT ETHICAL... Sad that this company has lost its integrity.
So our company will use another source. PLEASE STAY AWAY if you don't want to be ripped off!
Reason of review: Poor customer service.
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Please avoid publishing any personal information and promotional content
Targeting option is a total scam. They charge for very flimsy lead and charge more that the job is worth! Should be Thumb Thieves
Thanks for the information
How can you recommend a contractor who is terrible? Joe Hedgepeth landscaping is showing a rating of 5. He is the worst contractor in the business.
Every time TT makes a change it is more difficult for me to find the right client. I loved the way it used to be.
Can not understand why can not there be a more balance solution for this business. I will start looking for new options.
I literally stopped using them after two weeks. TT has some of the most cheap *** customers.
You literally have to walk into a bid war, sometimes with over 10 companies. Of coarse they go with the cheapest quote. You have a 10% chance of getting the lead and you are paying around $12 to $30 each time. Let's say you get 10 leads and one of them books you.
They charge $10 per lead. You just spent $100 for 1 lead and it may be a lead that lands you $250. You may even have to pay your worker(s), let's say $50 bucks. That equals $100 bucks and in my line of business that's horrible!
TT is only good for businesses with no overhead and no bills to pay.
More like a self employed 19 year old that lives in his mothers tool shed in her backyard with a kitten named Muffin. Cheap customers!
You send quotes to a client and never know if they read them, no information on the quote you sent as to whether they actually booked someone or if they are still looking. How do you follow up on a quote you sent if you donโt know any of this?
Sending out an absolute ton of quotes and get no responses. My business has declined so much from what I used to get on Thumbtack since they change to their new system. I agree with a previous commenter who said that we used to be able to customize our quotes to each client so that they knew that we actually saw all the information they were requesting and were able to pass on specific information to them addressing their request. Now you donโt even get to do that.
Why take the time to send out quotes if you have no control over them and donโt even know whether you should bother following up or not??? I have made multiple phone calls to Thumbtack to talk about the problems that I am having and I get the same response every single timeโฆ โWe will pass your suggestion onโ. Of course, nothing ever gets changed and passing on my suggestion seems to do nothing. I belong to three other lead sites and at least they tell me when a client has viewed my quote so I know to follow up.
Why is Thumbtack more worried about their clients who come on looking for pros and do not pay ANYTHING than they are taking care of their pros which is where they actually make their money???? Crazy!
After reading all the Thumbtack reviews posted here by Contractors, I now feel like I'm not loosing my mind. Thumbtack used to be really good a few years ago.
They had a limit of (5) bids per job request and the fees for quoting were very reasonable. We (contractors) were encouraged to keep our profiles as nice and shiny as possible, which is what I did. The name of the game was to reply as fast as you can to get your bid in before the (5) bid limitation. It was great because you knew the price and the limit, which was kind of like an insurance for Contractors knowing their odds to get the job.
If the customer didn't respond we would get a refund. It was simple and straight forward. Now, fast forward to today. Thumbtack has..
1. Tripled the bidding cost for contractors. 2. Removed the limits of how many bids could be placed by the contractor, and switched it to the customer being able to contact an unlimited amount of contractors.
3. Contractors don't pay if the customer doesn't respond or says "no thanks"... but they can reply saying "It's hot outside" and then we are charged for the lead. 4.
Now, Thumbtack has this "promotion" tactic where contractors are basically "paying to play". Meaning if you set your budget upfront, they will put you out in front of other contractors. 5. After a period of time, if you have all your job settings on pause rather than promote, then the leads slow down to a trickle.
6. Why aren't customers informed in big bold print, or even better, have to click a box that they have been informed that each contractor they reach out to is charged $xyz for the lead if the contractor responds? Of course the contractor wants to respond because they want the job 90% of the time. 7.
I've seen situations where a customer contacted (12) contractors for a cabinet job, and (10) of them responded at a cost of $45 each! That's $450 to Thumbtack for only (1) contractor getting the job for a job that would have only been worth $800 in labor! The reason for all the changes by Thumbtack is this....the Pros of the past had great profiles and would respond very fast to leads and win most of the jobs which prevented newcomers to Thumbtack to get the jobs. This prevented the pool of contractors from growing and thus limited Thumbtacks earnings.
So, Thumbtack tripled the prices, open the floodgates to how many contractors can bid on a job, or be contacted by the customer, and then opened the door for the "pay to play" strategy which allows the newcomers to get out in front of the older more reputable Pros that spent years building up their profile and rankings! It's a real shame that Thumbtack couldn't just be happy with the profits via a simple and straightforward system that didn't gouge the Contractors. They are in all 50 States, meaning they had to have been making really good money...but they got greedy by realizing they could change up the strategy and the newcomers wouldn't know any difference as the old Pros eventually threw in the towel and left. Thumbtack doesn't give a rip because their "pool" of contractors is constantly being filled by new blood coming in and willing to pay triple the $ as in the past for jobs that still pay the same as a few years ago.
Greed is not good other than for the one that its benefitting.
Will they change it back do to all the negative comments they have recieved from contractors over the past couple years? Nope!
As a customer who used to love Thumbtack I have to agree with you. It's a complete and utter scam, I get the most useless "matches" that are not even relevant. I am staying away from them like the pest now.
Couldn't agree more with every one of your points
I used Thumbtack as a comedian for the last three years and did as well with them as other booking sites. Having gotten my name out there the other sites are now my primary source of standup gigs and I have removed my credit card from the TT system due to the, ahem, "slightly" increased fees.
Full disclosure, I am a Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt and have been a turnaround manager for most of my career. I have managed failing companies and startups, so I have experience in this area. 1. All the moderators who give the mindless circular responses to the changes refer to the service seekers as the "customer".
The pros pay ALL of the money that goes to TT, so the pros are the customers. 2. I actually read a moderator's reply that the new system provided more value because now we don't pay for quotes, we only pay for responses. (Yes, he actually wrote that....in plain English, and I would bet with all the honest sincerity his, ahem, business "experience" has taught him up to this moment).
First, we don't want to pay for responses, we want to pay for quotes. And second, basic economics (I would say Econ 101, but it's actually basic to high school level these days) would tell you that the company doesn't define value. Value is defined by the customer. The company can state what they would like a change top be in terms of value, but they don't define value perception.
The customer does. But come to think of it, since they have lost site of who the customer is that might explain a lot. I felt immense embarrassment for the moderator who typed the value comment. I would hope that he is part time and still in school and have a chance to understand value perception.
There's still time! So, they have lost site of who their customers are (hint: it's the ones paying the bills) and they don't understand the concept pf value and value perception and where it comes from. Got it. The turnaround manager and Six Sigma Greenbelt in me has seen this movie before and thinks it's just a LOT of inexperienced younger professionals who don't fully grasp what it takes to run a business.
But the standup comedian in me has a different theory. Maybe, after years and years of running his scam, that infamous {{Redcated}} scraped up enough money to buy Thumbtack.
It's getting harder and harder to believe that anyone could be as myopic as they seem to be if it's the first answer. It's sad when a hostile taker by the {{Redacted}} scammer makes more common sense as an explanation than just raw inexperience intertwined with greed, hubris and deer-in-the-headlights real world bvusiness and markets.
I'm disgusted at what Thumbtack has turned into. I've been a Pro with them for the past 4 years and up til a few months ago everything went down hill.
Prices tripled, instant match or quote is crap and that budget page is a wreck. Thumbtack was so simple to use as a pro and prices were fair. Now Thumbtack is down there with Angie's list and home advisor, no good.
It was a good run but Thumbtack is no more. Used to recommend it to many, now I'm warning them to stay away.
I agree. I was doing pretty well before โ instant matchโ now I rarely get any leads yet pay ask much or more than I used to??? Not happy with the company at all!
That's EXACTLY how I feel. More money I have to pay now for some dumb twit to reply "We're just shopping around" and never hear from them again.
My jobs through TT dropped 90% since their change. CHANGE IT BACK!
Contractors who signed up with Thumbtack did so with the understanding they would be competing against no more than 4 other contractors. Over the years, a contractor on Thumbtack builds up their reputation through their reviews.
Instant Match changes all that.
I believe these changes have broken the original agreement that brought contractors to sign up. There are two options: 1) Create a Thumbtack Contractors Guild to unify contractors and 2) File a class action lawsuit.
Iโm in! To completely change the entire process and premise is wrong and they arenโt listening to their pros.
*** they took away the ability to call customer service on the phone!
They donโt want to hear from us but they sure as *** will take our money! Email me if you want Iโm at Catlett Construction in Virginia
1 (86*) ***-****
100% agree with the comments in this thread - ever since Thumbtack changed their quoting system (i.e. instant match) it removes all the control away from the pro.
I used to be able to customize each quote I was sending so that potential leads received a personal response, not just a canned template.
On top of that, I tried instant match, and was charged 4x what it would have normally cost me to send a lead using the old "credit" model, and it was due to the potential client asking a silly question (not actually being interested in the lead).There was much more control on both the spending and the customer interaction side, which has all gone away now. Considering just leaving as a pro and finding leads elsewhere.
I really liked thumbtack and built my business with it. But now all of a sudden there are no customers to quote for.
I have never seen that. EVER.
I didnt go with Home Advisor because they're dishonest. Sadly now it seems they are going a similar route :(
Really disappointed with this app. Theyโve taken every bit of control away from the pro.
When you activate instant match you have no idea how much money will be allocated to each quote. You could set your weekly spending parameters to 30 bucks a week and have it all go to one window shopping customer.
Thumbtack claims they have a system to for pricing each quote. I can say with absolute certainty that they donโt.
Thumbtack is scamming local businesses by this instant match system. They were scamming them before the instant match system.
When a business gets a lead that they received 3 months prior shows how unprofessional and criminal this company really is.
Now they want to cash in on the instant match system before they go bankrupt. I recommend all businesses close their accounts before Thumbtack drains your hard earned dollars.