New pricing

Bretdouglas

Hey Thumbtack family. I know as we start to finish out 2023 there's been a lot of changes within thumbtack as we know it

With the rollout of instant booking and a supposed steep price increase I was a little concerned.

Like always I seem to be more of a pessimistic person when it comes to business. The changes due to instant booking and pricing were not as severe as I once dreaded. We must remember that we're in a symbian relationship. The Thumbtack is making money just like we are making money. For us to have success Thumbtack must also have success.

I am grateful that as we slowly get into these changes that instant booking is not as bad as it may first seem. There are many ways to change the system to work for you. If you need some advice and a little help please reach out to any of the top pros or anybody on the top pro advisory board.

I am Bret Douglas. I've been a top pro ever since being on this platform with almost 500 hires and I am also a member of the top pro advisory board.

If I can help you. Please reach out 386 500 8217

Warm regards.

Bret

DustiO

Thank you for always being willing to help and offer advice! We are lucky to have you here in this Community, and on the Pro Advisory Board!

Bretdouglas

Thank you. Your leadership and always being there for all the pros is a huge blessing

GenovaElectricAZ

My company has been a Thumbtack Pro user for years and this year (2023) in particular has been ridiculous. The instant booking has been a massive inconvenience for my business— 1) I’m paying Thumbtack for customers EXTRA $$$ for scheduling appointments by checking off services they think might be something to check out or may be something they’re considering for future additions/changes, while all they want is a estimate for a fan or a switch replacement. That’s just one of the better scenarios, not including $120 booking fee I paid for some guy booking me (Electrician— not A/C Heater Tech) at 1:00 AM on a Saturday for Saturday 7:00 AM appointment to install and program a thermostat, but getting a refund from Thumbtack is nearly impossible at all times for any given situation. I’m at this point losing more money with Thumbtack’s crazy rates for just Leads alone now you add the instant booking and Thumbtack’s Lead generation excuse to not take any responsibility and refund obvious mistakes made with their booking system and of course the “Leads” take no responsibility whatsoever either, I’m the only accountable one for all scenarios here. It doesn’t work, it’s bad business practice to expect Pros to just suck it up and eat the losses. I have lost time for instant booking me therefore blocking my calendar, providing false information (name and address of appointment), non responsiveness to messages and calls, and of course I’m trying to maintain professionalism and send Techs to address provided to us for the appointment and paying for fuel, mileage and time to complete requested appointment and the guy who answers the door says there is no one by that name living in the neighborhood that he knows of and no one from his residence needs nor called for an electrician… Numbers of fake/scam leads are insane. Just one of the instances which cost me more money than I made with 2 leads following that. And then I get a Direct Lead to call and schedule an appointment with, so I messaged the person and didn’t get a response, of course within 5 minutes I called the number and it turns out I was calling ‘The CRYPT KEEPER” (not sure if any of you remember the Tales from the Crypt show, but this person sure seems rather in character)… I thought maybe I misdialed and I called again, same thing—rang through to VM of the Crypt Keeper…. The whole thing with that was insane, but I thought well, Halloween just went by, must be a joke and didn’t get around to fixing it, but then the inquiry to install very specific type of outlets to support welders and other serious machine/tools and it being almost Christmas (we are way past Halloween…) I called again and called from a friends phone and got the very same Crypt Keeper obsessed VM recording… I made reports to Thumbtack and got big fat NO REFUND again, but in addition their e-mail states the Lead was legit, upheld to Thumbtack policy and safety requirements. I have been 100 % infuriated by their response to this ridiculous, potentially hazardous Lead incident, there is nothing anyone could possibly say to justify this mishandling of a situation by Thumbtack, and try telling me how I can make Thumbtack work for me if I work with it.

GenovaElectricAZ

Here Pros of Thumbtack, maybe you can have some fun with the “CRYPT KEEPER”…there’s the Thumbtack Lead info and phone number for us Thumbtack Pros to pay and use our time…

Bretdouglas

I am sorry that you're going through these tough times. As a pro we always want though it's best for other pros. The only thing I can say is that I have limited the hours that I'm available for instant book. For me it made sense to just put a 12-hour day for their minimum limit on Friday and close out all my other days of the week. That way I can almost guarantee that all I do is leads on Friday and any other appointments I have on that day and I have a committed 4-day work schedule. It might not work for everyone but it sure has given me some success I've only had a couple of instant bookings on Fridays and I've sold both of those jobs. It seems that each person has to find what works for them if they're going to have success on the platform. Keep working at it keep changing the hours or doing different things may be the way to find success. God bless and I wish you well in your endeavors and I pray that you find that sweet spot to make Thumbtack work for you. I still believe it's the number one lead generating platform and I will continue to use it for my small business and pray that you find success too warm regards Brett from Florida

GenovaElectricAZ

Bretdouglas, thank you for your reply and your attempt to help. Biggest part of my issue is these Fake/Scam/Psycho Leads only reaching out as some stupid game or whatever the reason is except for actually needing service or help, and Thumbtack refusing to refund me or us even though it’s an absolute 10000000000% nothing but a joke I am unwillingly being charged for. I already provided feedback with some form of suggestions regarding the issue of only Pros being held accountable in any and all situations, and it’s not going to work… responsibility needs to be shared or Thumbtack will run out of Pros because they’re eventually going to bankrupt us… what terrifies me is my employees may have been exposed to serious harm if we didn’t attempt to first communicate by phone (and figured out this was some game, and quite possibly a dangerous one) and instead just communicated by messaging, but luckily we isolated that ridiculous lead before it could get to any serious issue.This is by far a situation Thumbtack should have taken very seriously and having grown this much it would be a breeze for Thumbtack to take this example and implement some way of avoiding these situations… especially since they’re keeping my money for the leads in question. I am very seriously bothered, frustrated and angry with Thumbtack for their lack of responsibility in all of this and that needs to change before someone gets seriously hurt.

Bretdouglas

I will.do.my part to see if anything can be done. I promise to ask after the holidays about this. Can you message me through text your info. 3865008217. God bless sir. Let's see if any resolution can be made. No.one wants pros or employees hurt. Have a great holidays