Leads, unreponsive customer,

Gary_GMPMContracting

I started 3 months ago, 1st couple of months went well, and My closing ratio was over 50% I have 18 reviews all 5 stars but last month I sent most of the leads and was not able to close one way or another.

Mainly

1. Unresponsive Customer - I get a direct lead, I call no answer, I text no response for multiple attempts, ( I asked for a refund as I have no way to verify if the lead is valid or not, Thumbtack disapproved my request)
2. Customer Change mind: After spending time, and going through the process, they drop the plan to do work. ( Customer cancels the lead but Refund is not provided)
3. False information ( Customer claims she is not in my state and she never requested but her phone number and name is valid) No Refund

I have tried multiple ways and argued with thumbtack support via email and phone but they keep saying they don't have a refund policy for Unresponsive customer or people changing their minds.

Also have a question, Does anyone know if they send direct leads they send to other pros same leads and how many pros?

This should be the cost of doing business for thumbtack just like we still pay for customers who communicate with us and choose other pros for one reason or another.

Is there a way to get a refund it added up to a few hundred dollars

any help will be greatly appreciated

DustiO

Hi @Gary_GMPMContracting thanks for stopping by and posting!

To answer your questions:

1. Thumbtack doesn't "send" leads to anyone. Customers reach out directly to the pros they choose. If they don't respond it may be that they have decided not to do the project, or have reached out to another pro and decided to go with them.
2. If you have a screenshot of a customer stating that they never made the request, I would send that screenshot to support and follow up on a denied refund. I don't know if the request will be approved, but it is worth a try.
3. Thumbtack is working on customer education and customer commitment so I am confident you will see some improvement moving forward. However, there will always be the human element of customers just ghosting/canceling/changing their mind unfortunately.
4. @ShaquealThomas has had some great experience with customers coming back later on and hiring him and has good advice for handling unresponsive customers.

If you want to chat with other pros you can always join our bi-weekly CommuniTEA meetings over Zoom. Check those and our webinars out here — hope to see you!

Mrfixit

I have been on thumbtack for 7 years and they have gotten significantly worse. They used to refund unresponsive leads or leads that don’t read your responses but now they just take my money and don’t refund anything. Even if it’s canceled right away. I have been a top pro for years and when I call they patronize me at first then say sorry there’s nothing they can do. It absolutely ridiculous. They act like they don’t send multiple leads but on their check out for the customer it puts multiple other props swaying people to reach out to other pros. In turn bringing in more money to thumbtack. I’m fed up with it

Gary_GMPMContracting

I have sent multiple emails to support@thumbtack.com to address my concern for not showing my services, my ranking is way down and for past 30 days (Ever since I called to complaint about issue with Leads) I have not received single leads.

I did "Handyman Service" In my area on public site and made as screen video and sent them.

Everyting I would email them withn 1min I'm getting response with AI generated suggection, without addressing my concern, the response comes from do-not-reply@thumbtack.com so everytime I have to create new email to so called AI/support team.

They are keep sending me artical how to rank higher and highlight is to be competative ( In other word raise lead price)

there are pros wit 0,1,3,4,8 reviews ranks much higher the I'm having 18 perfect 5* reviews.

This is not fair to all the hard working pros who indirectly taking care of Thumbtack customers with 5* service. and they have to pay more for unresponsive leads, customer change their mind all togeather.

I'm not sure others have same experiance but if you do would like to know more on how you address the matter as support team is not effective.

Shavonne

So I see that I am not the only one experiencing unresponsive customers. Its like I get a bunch of window shoppers and its very frustrating. Since the customer isn't paying to select a pro Thumbtack shouldn’t allow them the opportunity to pick more than one pro. Thumbtack is earning money from several pros from one lead. We get stuck having to tap dance and harass these people to close a job which is not fair, especially since Thumbtack has already gotten paid multiple times, while we’re just simply throwing our marketing budget in the air and Thumbtack is catching it.

Sherlock

I am having a horrible time with Thumbtack. I'm a top pro and am beginning to get screwed by Thumbtack not refunding bogus instant bookings that cost over $100 each. The customer never responds to a phone call, text message, or message on Thumbtack. They are no show for the service they booked and then Thumbtack has the nerve to say it doesn't qualify for a refund. That is 100% unethical, corrupt, greed. We hold up our end of the bargain being responsive and doing 5 star work EVERY SINGLE TIME, and Thumbtack is demonstrating that it is not interested in long term relationshops with excellent service pros. Just a place to get started and then move on to real lead acquisition on Google and via grassroots marketing.

Too bad, I would have loved to stay with Thumbtack for decades. I hope they enjoy pocketing something they didn't earn. I couldn't imagine being or working for a company that does this to people. Zero integrity.

juliebalto

BTW: In July 2021 the company raised $275 million at a $3.2 billion valuation led by the Qatar Investment Authority.

juliebalto

I am tired of not closing a lead because the customer is unresponsive, I just had one who picked only me, never responded and of course they wouldn't refund it which isn't a refund but just a credit. They used to be better about all of this but since the pandemic they have because very "pro" unfriendly. I thought I saw somewhere there was a class action lawsuit against Thumbtack.

DustiO

@juliebalto I'm sorry that you have had this experience, as a former business owner and Thumbtack pro, I know how frustrating it can be when customers do not respond. We had a great discussion about this at a recent CommuniTEA session and the group of pros had some really amazing tips for how they have been able to get customers to respond. Here are all of the tips they shared:

• Refresh your profile intro once a month using chatgpt, to mix it up and test what resonates more with customers (from @1_gold_hands, a handyman who has grown to 7 locations using Thumbtack)
• Reach out via the Thumbtack messenger, and then text and call - different pros suggested different timing that works for them like text immediately, call after 1 hr or 2 hrs, etc (several pros suggested this one)
• Leave the message on a positive note and follow up with "nurture campaigns" - reaching out to customers every 30 days/60 days/etc with a refresher message (both @ShaquealThomas and @SOUNIQUE007 use this tactic and have multiple customers hire them at later dates)
• Try a contest/sweepstakes - tell them even if they have used another pro and don’t need your services they can gift it to someone else! But put a deadline on it to add some urgency
  • Another pro mentioned in yesterday's session that he recently started doing this and it worked! He texted and said something along these lines, "I don't want to bother you with a phone call, but I'd like to offer you $25 off of my service if you get back to me within 48 hours." and the customer did!
• Leave on a positive note, leave all of your contact info if they come back later (from @ShaquealThomas)
• Message people during off time like evenings and weekends, when they will have time to respond to the message right when they see the notification, vs if they are at work) (from @AR2i, who has had a lot of success using this tactic)
• Send them a note with all of the services you offer, in case they have already figured out that job, they can return later to hire you for other things (also from @1_gold_hands)

These are just some ideas, feel free to join us for our next session if you want to chat with some great pros. Hopefully some of this will help! Also wanted to note if you ever suspect there is a scam/spam lead to please report that lead. Thank you!