Instant Booking

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Comments

  • @auds912 its crazy to think there a time for cancel booking that's why i automatically request a deposit for any instant booking in case the client cancel the booking. if they want a refund now i will send them to thumbtack customer services and not having to deal with it.

  • Tarkus
    Tarkus Posts: 8

    A lot of complaints about instant bookings. Just curious how many pros have hidden there account. I have. My prediction: within 2 months Thumbtack will either do away with the mandatory thing or be out of business. I'll wait it out a see. Thumbtack worked great for me in the past but it's not the only way to generate business.

  • The plan is to keep it hidden and look for another referral option because TT is now trash. You are running this like a casino in the fact that the house wins no matter what. The pro's lose each and every time. You say that it will equal more jobs, BS. TT customers are always looking to have things done on the cheap. I have had many online discussions and once I tell them the price (which is listed for them to see), they ghost me. Apparently $125 for a service call is too much to find out what problem they have.

    Of even better, the customer accepts the job request, I get on site, do the job and then they try to negotiate the already agreed upon price. This is not "lets make a deal".

  • So do I get a refund in this situation or they gon take my money welll here you go another $20 plus go to waste

    This client was looking for quote and was force to instant book me see the screenshot

  • @DustiO

    do you have any ideas why the client is force to instant book instead of regular. From a client standpoint


  • DustiO
    DustiO Administrator, Moderator Posts: 1,872
    edited October 2023

    @chilogm1 customers are not forced to book - they can click to reach out to the pro directly if they do not want to book a time (those would be just like the usual direct leads as always). Thanks for sharing this screenshot, I am sure it will be helpful to the team to see that the customer in this case was confused.

    @Denn Thank you for this really detailed/category specific feedback, really appreciate it!

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  • What a shame, Thumbtack. Years of investment in a 5-star rating and you throw this junk on us. Fire whoever made this decision revert to the old arrangement or your company's going down. My account is hidden for the next month, after that I'm out. Just wow

  • DustiO
    DustiO Administrator, Moderator Posts: 1,872

    @Judy please review our Community Code of Conduct if you see that a post has been hidden or removed.

  • TomTom
    TomTom Posts: 21

    Hi

    Yes, I too have avoided instant book as long as I could. I tried it a few months back but got hit with a break-even lead cost. I backed out of it immediately. Now that its part of the system, I'm trying to live with it. Sometimes its okay but today I got charged $39 for a lead to hang a single mirror (15 mins work). With one hour travel cost and materials, I would be better off returning to my old job and closing my thumbtack account.

    I'm okay with Instant book, but the lead prices have got to make sense.

    Tom

  • Matt
    Matt Posts: 167

    I just got the email/notification that I am being forced into instant book, the biggest issue is, I RARELY do in person estimates as I travel all over the state. How was this even a required thing? Why can’t we opt out of this feature? I am so frustrated this has become such a needless hassle for us Pro’s. I might be hiding my business for the rest of the year when they require it. Such a shame.

  • CasaBella
    CasaBella Posts: 5
    edited October 2023

    Show us some screenshots of your instant booked leads along with lead costs and what you charged for the jobs.

  • Denn
    Denn Posts: 7
    edited October 2023


  • Eryn
    Eryn Posts: 9

    I’d like to address a recent situation with the 15-minute refund policy in the forced instant booking system. I responded immediately to an instant booking request, reaching out via text and phone( all within 2-4 min) , but received no response from the client and no indication that they opened the message. This leaves us uncertain about the booking, and with the 15 min policy in place, it can be a challenge for all of our businesses. I believe there should be more flexibility in such cases, as it doesn’t provide a fair and workable solution for businesses like ours. If a client doesn’t reply at all, we should get refunded regardless of the time.

    For instant book to even have a chance of working, clients need to be required to pay a deposit before submitting a booking.

  • just got the new update about instant booking. they literally changing everything from regular to instant book. by the end of the year we won't see opportunities anymre it will be instantbook and if client don't want to hire you they just going to open another request for the same project which mean s another chage for someone else to pay.

  • Matt
    Matt Posts: 167

    @DustiO I called up customer service about "Required instant bookings" and the rep said that I could turn it off if I didn't want to use it, is that true for my industry?

  • DustiO
    DustiO Administrator, Moderator Posts: 1,872

    @Matt Your category is eligible for bookable onsite estimates, but you can turn that off. Did they show you how to do that?

  • Matt
    Matt Posts: 167

    @DustiO Yep! I know how to enable/disable the feature. Is it going to be turned on automatically on November 6th?