Unfair Lead Charge & Lack of Support (Where is Management?)

SME

@DustiO I wanted to share a frustrating experience I’ve had with Thumbtack’s refund dispute process, in the hopes of getting some transparency and accountability. As pros, we rely on fair billing and legitimate leads, but my recent interaction with Thumbtack has left me questioning commitment to ensuring this.

The Issue: A "Lead" That Was Never a Lead—I was charged $65.35 for what Thumbtack calls an "opportunity"—except this was never an opportunity for my business.

A potential client mistakenly responded to my response to her "opportunity", thinking they were speaking with another pro. Their message literally said:

"Thanks for sending the 3 options. We will get back to you soon."

Except—I never sent them any options. We never connected. The client was clearly responding to another pro, yet I was still charged for this nonexistent lead.

The Dispute Process: A Complete Runaround—I disputed the charge, providing clear evidence that the lead was a mistaken response to the wrong person—something completely outside of my control. After multiple follow-ups and days without a response, Thumbtack denied my dispute multiple times, with no valid reason.

• I requested escalation to a supervisor mutliple times—ignored.
• I waited over 5 business days—no meaningful response.
• I was told the decision is final and won’t be revisited.
• I was only responded to by the same person on the "refunds team" and was never given a valid reason for their unwillingness, inability, or reason for not conneting me with a supervisor.

Why This Matters to All Pros—If Thumbtack can charge us for leads that don’t exist and then refuse to address legitimate disputes, where does that leave us? We’re paying for opportunities that don’t even happen, and when we try to get resolution, we’re met with generic copy-paste responses and zero accountability.

This isn’t about not getting hired—it’s about being charged for a lead that was never mine to begin with. Please, do better.

At the very least, reviewing a dispute fairly and providing actual reasoning should be part of your process. Instead, I’ve been dismissed, ignored, and told to visit your Help Center for “resources.” What I need is basic fairness in billing—and to be able to connect with a supervisor when it is warranted!

Yesterday, I was unable to reach customer support (in an attempt to connect with a supervisor) from 1:30pm until I finally stopped trying at 4pm PST, since the phone message—with the phone message stating you are in a company-wide training for the "next hour" and the chat assistant indicating that "Thumbtack Specialists are currently unavailable due to system maintenance."

I’d love to hear from other pros—have you had a similar experience? How did you handle it? If we’re all getting charged for misdirected or incorrect leads, it’s a serious problem that needs to be addressed.

I am happy to provide further supporting documents, as needed. I would like to speak with someone regarding this decision, that is at a supervisor and decision making level.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to your response.

DustiO

So sorry to hear about your frustration. Just reading through the message I as a customer would have interpreted your 3 bullets outlining how you will help as "options" for what you could do for me - could it be that the customer was referring to that?

SME

@DustiO Thanks for your response.

The "options" you mentioned would not apply to a river cruise, nor would they be relevant to how I would assist this customer—they are all-inclusive and not standalone options.

I’m certain Thumbtack has the ability to see which Pro the customer originally engaged with regarding her cruise, which is the most frustrating part. Looking into that—assuming honesty and transparency in Thumbtack’s process—would likely resolve the issue.

Additionally, since the customer (or “lead,” as Thumbtack terms it) mistakenly contacted me, I’m happy to call her now to confirm this. I only received her phone number because she mistakenly responded to me with the wrong message. If it would help, I can have her put this in writing. I don’t want to embarrass Thumbtack, but the customer should understand the implications of this situation and how your services actually work.

Also, could you please advise how to escalate this matter to a supervisor? I have asked Mark from the dispute team twice for this information, and I’m now requesting it again here. I would appreciate your guidance.

Looking forward to your response.

SME

@DustiO Can you please advise how to escalate this matter to a supervisor? I have asked Mark from the dispute team twice for this information, and I’m now requesting it again, a third time, on this chain. I would appreciate your guidance.

DustiO

I am unfortunately not able to help with escalations. I would echo what I said above - I don't believe this would qualify for a refund, even if escalated. You'll need to go through the support channels, however, to escalate any further. Sorry I can't help out with that!

I think you asked about this, but it may help your case if you were able to get it in writing from the customer that they reached out to the wrong pro, if you believe that is what happened. However, like I said above, to me it seems they could have definitely been referring to the three items that you listed in your initial message. Though you may not perceive that as three "options", it felt like that to me when reading it as someone who doesn't know anything about travel arrangements… May be worth reaching back out to the customer, though!