Instant Book Q&A Video

DustiO
DustiO Administrator, Moderator Posts: 1,886
edited January 10 in Thumbtack Resources

We put together a series of videos that cover commonly asked questions about Instant Book, how to get the most out of it, including tips from top Thumbtack pros, as well as feedback we've been hearing and how we're addressing it.

What is a booking?

How does Instant Book work & tips for success.

Instant Book tips from pros.

Feedback we've heard and are addressing.

For Instant Book feedback, please send to support@thumbtack.com and drop your further questions here in the comments.

Comments

  • After watching the video and seeing the options for Instant book it is clear that Professional organizers should be a service call or on site estimate. She says that instant book appointments are for jobs that the price is pretty clear upfront. This is not the case for professional organizers. We need to talk with the client first to understand the job (not just what they wrote in the booking). We need to estimate how many hours and how many organizers are needed.

  • 1) Instant Book does.not.work for services that have to be scoped out prior to a visit. Example: there are multiple services and tests that may or may not be involved with inspecting a specific property, all of which come with an additional fee (pool, spa, radon, termite, oil tank sweep, mold testing, Level 2 chimney, etc.). Right now a Thumbtack customer only sees the home inspection fee. They get shocked and become unresponsive when they find out radon testing is extra, that a termite inspection is extra, or even if the fee changes because it's a three-family and not a single family.

    2) Instant Book does.not.work for companies that need to plan their routes as part of the scheduling process. My state is long and narrow. Instant Book is worthless to me, because it takes my route planning - something that I have 20 years of success in managing - and throws it out the window.

    3) Instant Book does.not.work for companies that offer services that have 3 or 4 calendar slots per day. There is no way to block off more than one block of time per day in Thumbtack. If I'm booked at 9 am, and at 3 pm, there is no way to show the 11-2pm block of time is available.

    4) Instant Book does.not.work for companies that offer services that are scope-dependent, that can require just an hour to complete, or need six hours to complete. It just doesn't work.

    Can't wait for the $0 On Site Estimate training video, by the way. I have a lot of feedback for you on that one, all que'd up and ready.

  • DustiO
    DustiO Administrator, Moderator Posts: 1,886

    As stated in the post and the last video, please also be sure to send this feedback to support@thumbtack.com so that it gets logged/tracked under your account. We're working on a mechanism within the Community that will do that (like a suggestion box / feedback specific feature), but in the meantime I want to make sure these points are also being sent in. Thanks to both of you @structuralguy65 and @JMusselman

  • Matt
    Matt Posts: 168

    @DustiO Absolutely, I have emailed many times, I know its hard for them to respond or acknowledge that they received the email, but even an automated email saying (thank you, we have received your email) would be nice to think its at least going somewhere. Right now it feels like you are the only one who cares.

  • This content has been removed.
  • These videos only go to show that Thumbtack is keeping instant booking on and don’t care that they are hurting us the pros. I can not understand how chasing away pros is good for their business in the long run.

  • Instant Book does.not.work for services that have to be scoped out prior to a visit. We are stagers and cannot be charged for someone doing an instant booking, and then get on and reach out so that we can give them a price. They cannot actually book with us because they do not know the costs and we have not seen the property.

    2) Instant Book does.not.work for companies that need to plan their routes as part of the scheduling process.

    And you need to remove the word cheap on the site. We are not cheap but you got cheap people reaching out.

    Can't wait for the $0 On Site Estimate training video, by the way. I have a lot of feedback for you on that one, all que'd up and ready.