Duplicate Posts

STL_Shooter78

Why isn't the platform set up to automatically flag suspicious duplicate posts like this?

DustiO

@STL_Shooter78 I have looked through your account and am unable to find either of these? We do have something in place when there are duplicates, but I can't find either of these. Can you share a little more context about when/where you received these duplicate leads?

DustiO

Oh wait, I just saw in the screenshot that these are Opportunities and not direct leads. You can choose to respond to whichever one works for you and you are only charged if the customer responds. They may have had a reason for reaching out to pros in both zip codes.

STL_Shooter78

Dusti,

These are video editing jobs. There wouldn't be a logical reason why Karthik would need to hire editors in FL and AZ. He left travel preferences saying "it can be done over the phone or internet" so that proves that he don't really need an editor in a specific location.

But, let's say we find out Karthik made a mistake on the travel preferences and it's some very rare situation where he is shooting 2 events and he needs a "local" editor to edit his footage during and right after the event so he can turn the video into his client right away. And he doesn't have the budget to fly his editor in from where is based out of to the two locations.

Where is this information in the post? No details in the job description. No phone number. If we ignore the fact that there is something fishy about these posts because they are duplicates, how is Thumbtack justifying that this lead is worth any amount of money?

I get emails every single day for "Video Editing" jobs and then in the description the job poster says they want something shot and edited. Why is this happening? Is Thumbtack aware? Why isn't there a system in place to make sure the job poster understands that "video editing" means just "editing existing video footage they already have". Does Thumbtack care about helping those people find Pros for their jobs?

I've been on Thumbtack for 6 years, have spent about $25K and it's always the same old same old responses with these issues. "We'll send it over the the team", "the team will look into it".

I put up with the fishy crap and the other BS because it still makes sense dollars in and dollars out to be on the platform. But there are many many Pros who have left Thumbtack because the "team" refuses to do anything to solve some of the most glaring problems with the platform:

1. Many leads appear to be fake. This could easily be solved by requiring multi-sentence descriptions. 2. You don't follow your own written rules when it comes to issuing refunds. 3. The options on the lead forms are not tailored by actual Pros who work in that specific industry. This could easily be fixed with a couple polls and/or zoom calls from a select few Pros who have input for each major industry you feature.

DustiO

@STL_Shooter78 I totally get this, and I am sorry for the frustration. While it may not seem like it, feedback is constantly being considered and addressed. When you have hundreds of categories it's difficult to get every single one right — and we do have to prioritize when and what feedback gets addressed. I am sure I have already said this, but please do keep sharing the feedback, because it does get logged. In the meantime, at least this was an Opportunity and not a direct lead.

I can share that some solutions are being tested for better customer vetting (and better customer education), and we also have our newly announced Pro Advisory Board — a group of 13 pros from across that country who are meeting with us regularly to share their lived experience using Thumbtack to grow their businesses and their insights on how we can make Thumbtack better. I know the process is slow going and it may not seem like anyone is listening, but we are...

I look forward to sharing some exciting updates based on pro feedback in the near future. But, please keep coming to the Community, I really value your input and contributions. It means a lot to have a pro of your tenure taking time to thoughtfully post and share feedback.