Bombshell when trying out the Thumbtack User Interface

DerHilfer_LLC
DerHilfer_LLC Posts: 118
in Share Your Projects

Forgive the click-bait headline. It's worth the read.

I did a little experiment this morning. I set up a User account and went hunting for snipe. You'd be amazed I found it. When I messaged my business, as I expected, Thumbtack pushes really hard to "pick another pro". I have the entire process screen recorded, but rather than trying to narrate the video, I'm posting a few stills.

Right out of the gate, Thumbtack encourages the User to message two pros even though you can only see one. I don't know what happens if you click that button.

2025_09_07_07.16.00_2-pros.jpg

I'm not about to get another business owner frivolous charges, so I only picked myself. BTW, I have more reviews and a higher star rating and have completed more jobs than Araujo, but they're ranked higher because they pay more for leads. I should probably document that another time as to how to manipulate your listing, but IMHO it's financially detrimental, so this other company can waste their money.

2025_09_07_07.19.53_message.jpg

To their credit, they did make me verify my phone number via text or call. I never got the text message, but I did get a phone call verification code. This is a native VZW number, like most people have, not a virtual number.

2025_09_07_07.19.53a.jpg

So I hit "Done".

2025_09_07_07.19.53b.jpg

And then I hit "Not Now". Be sure to look at the very bottom of this next image.

2025_09_07_07.19.53c.jpg

This loop continues. Basically, the User is now trapped. I'm not about to cost that other business money for this experiment. So I set the phone down, and wrote post.

For giggles, I picked the phone up again a full 20 minutes later, still on the same screen, still trapped in the same loop.

And this confirms my suspicion that Thumbtack essentially forces Users to keep picking pros, which causes Users to submit requests to more Pros than they would otherwise.

Comments

  • DerHilfer_LLC
    DerHilfer_LLC Posts: 118

    Also clicking my phone's "back" button does nothing.

    Looking at my Pro account I couldn't find it in my messages. I didn't receive an email. However, if I search for the first name, my inquiry shows up as "Not Hired". When I click the job, I get "This lead is no longer available.

    You weren’t charged because this customer contacted you after you hit your budget."

    So at least this experiment didn't cost me anything only by a dumb coincidence.

    Now I wonder how many Users are mad at my business because they selected my business and I never responded since Thumbtack hid the over-budget inquiry?

  • Unknown
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  • DerHilfer_LLC
    DerHilfer_LLC Posts: 118
    edited September 7

    The "You're more likely to find an available pro if you pick a few more" is also concerning. Basically, Thumbtack is making us sound inept at business and/or unavailable. No, I'm very much available if I've got Thumbtack turned on. Not today, but certainly can quote your project tomorrow and I've got a great track record of making sure that I have at least a four-hour block available within the next five business days. That's been the case since April 2024.

    And I plan to keep it that way. As we get busier, I hire more people. I was too busy to answer the phone during the work day, so I hired someone to answer the phones and return voice mail (because sometimes callers still end up going to VM.) When I take on bigger jobs, I hire skilled professionals to assist or sometimes do the job entirely. Again, this way there's always availability in the next few days.

    Our two-year anniversary is coming up November. Most small businesses where the owner is the primary labor and is also the primary full-time employee collapse within six months. It's insulting to make us sound inept and call us "Pros" at the same time.

  • DustiO
    DustiO Administrator, Moderator Posts: 2,327

    @DerHilfer_LLC I would definitely recommend sending the last screenshot to support@thumbtack.com as that looks like a bug. FWIW I use Thumbtack as a customer alllll the time and I never reach out to more than one pro, and have never seen that error when I click "not now".

  • DerHilfer_LLC
    DerHilfer_LLC Posts: 118

    @DustiO To be perfectly honest, if someone contacted me on Thumbtack and I later discovered she was a Thumbtack employee, I'd be very upset. You specifically see people complain daily about how expensive and how it's so very hard to make effective and when I've finally got it dialed in, somebody somewhere in Thumbtack makes a change so it's just a waste of money again.

    Friends who own businesses and colleagues (most people would call them competitors, but we're just taking slices from the same pie as we grow, it grows. We really are friends in real life and love to see others succeed) are well aware of my frustration with Thumbtack. Many of them have also tried it and would call it a "scam" in a heart beat. They have asked me why if it's so frustrating, would I continue to use it?

    Well, out of 100,425 reasons to use lead generation services in 22 months, Thumbtack can claim 38,419 of those reasons. That's pretty hard to walk away from. It's like the abusive rich, good looking, smart, well read, Bugatti driving, country club member boyfriend of lead generation.
    I just wish Thumbtack wouldn't beat me so much.

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