What's Going ON??

Moaux

As I read, on different platforms as well as this one, that charging for leads that go nowhere & are never qualified for any type of credit or reimbursement seems to be the norm. Not understanding how they take money for 'leads', many seem off or fishy, you report & they, very kindly & super nicely, tell you they're sorry & keep your money.

IS THIS A SCAM⁉️⁉️ SHOULD THIS SITE BE REPORTED??

Matt

The site works well when it works, not at all a scam but they can for sure improve how they interact with Pro’s and features a lot more.

Diana

I've been using TT for a few years and I used it alot, but within the last 6-8 months I haven't had any luck at all. They have gotten greedy and taking advantage of the contractors. It's pretty sad really I looked the other day at my charges for leads in the past and it definitely shows me the trend of greed. Also I have posted a few different posts and now I can't find them so I'm assuming that I must've breached the code of conduct because I can't find any of them but 1. Not trying to be unprofessional or out of conduct. Just trying to see if any other contractors have experienced the same things that I am.

If you figure out the magic to the new leads without going completely broke and working literally for free or in the red, I'd like to know so please keep me in the loop.

And yes they always have some bogus story of why your lead was legit and you should just let them have your money. At some point my business is running out of money... just to let you know I used TT A LOT and used to love it and utilized it for years.

I'm just very disappointed.

DustiO

@Diana if they were related to Instant Book the chances are really good that I merged them into the Instant Book thread, as I am sharing that thread daily with teams and want to keep all the feedback in one place. Would love to have you join our CommuniTEA sessions to chat with other pros and Thumbtack. See more info in the events tab here in the community! But in the meantime, thanks for sharing your feedback here.

Visionwc

What TT has being doing with instant bookings is absolutely criminal. I’ve tried for 2 weeks to get in contact with a real human with zero luck. It’s a service I’ve never agreed to and is NOT more convenient for my business. This is not my only source of income so my schedule changes drastically from week to week, way to much to keep up with blocking off times. TT is pushing its clients into instant bookings rather than just being a direct lead so they can justify gouging 30-50% of my “potential” earnings. It’s a total fraud. I’ve had instant bookings that were just people saying they were only there for an estimate. I loved thumbtack when it was just direct leads with the OPTION to use instant bookings. I had my price per lead slider all the way up because I can justify 10% of my income being a booking fee. But now that same slider affects them charging 3-5x as much for instant bookings? This is absolute madness and I am beyond frustrated..

structuralguy65

@Visionwc @Diana @Moaux

Angi Leads got in trouble over something similar and ended up losing to the FTC. They're now under a 10-year consent order, and had to fund a $10 million victim fund.

Key1

There was a time TT would refund leads if the client sent a request but never responded or read your message. I've just started back on the platform and now it has changed. I've called clients and have been told they never tried to submit to me, I also had this issue with an instant booking. A client instant booked me, I called to verify and she stated she was just browsing and didn't mean to book me, then she deleted the project and canceled the TT and I was still charged a 90 fee for the lead. In the past two weeks I had 5 leads and never spoke to the clients and three of the clients never read my messages and I responded in two minutes. It's frustrating feels like I'm being robbed.

Key1

@DustiO I'm also receiving leads for the days I am closed or booked! I was told if the client says they will allow pros to suggest other dates the lead charge stands! I've had those same clients tell me oh I need you to come on the day I asked for! I was never refunded for these.

DustiO

@Key1 unfortunately I am not able to help with refunds here in the Community. But, I would recommend sending screenshots of any conversations where the customers says they are not available at any other times and see if you can appeal that refund decision. I know that other pros have had luck with this - @ShaquealThomas @junkminers11 , I think you said you have done this and/or you have some other tips for refunds?

Jeff_jtv2020

Thumbtack does not care about the pros all they care about is the money. Instant book is nothing but a cash grab that is crazy overpriced leads. I’ve talked to pro support about this till I’m blue in the face and all I get i from the thumbtack robots is same paragraph script they taught to say adjust max lead prices. We all need to remove our businesses from this platform until they stop price gouging lead prices and remove instant book feature.