Thumbtack Numbers Policy: Give Us Back Real Phone Numbers

BattleBorn26
BattleBorn26 Posts: 2 ✭
edited June 4 in Community News

To the Thumbtack Product Team and Corporate decision-makers, Let’s stop pretending this proxy number system is an "upgrade" or a "feature." It is completely backwards, and it is actively crippling your core demographic, the service professionals who literally pay your corporate salaries. We are tired of the boilerplate corporate responses in the forums telling us that you are "submitting our feedback to the team."

The feedback is already crystal clear, unanimous, and completely aligned: This system is fundamentally broken and it needs to be rolled back immediately. The Reality on the Ground

  • Zero Trust, Zero Conversion: When we call or text a paid lead through your proxy system, it shows up as a random, spammy-looking number on the customer's phone. They ignore us because they think it's a robocall.
  • Paying for Ghost Leads: You charge us massive, inflated lead fees upfront, but then strip away our basic ability to form a direct human connection and close the deal.
  • The Refund Trap: You tell us we can get an automatic refund if a customer ghosts everyone for 72 hours, but if we drop our actual business line in the chat to rescue the communication, your AI text-scanners flag it and strip our refund eligibility anyway. You have turned lead management into an intentional cat-and-mouse game.

The Challenge to Corporate

Your staff keeps repeating the corporate script that this change was implemented to "help pros communicate." If that is an actual fact, publish the internal articles, case studies, and hard data proving it. 

Show us the statistics that prove customer response rates went up after you masked their numbers. Because right now, every actual contractor on the ground is experiencing the exact opposite: tanking response rates, wasted marketing spend, and dead-end leads. We don't want any more support tickets opened, and we don't want any more passive-aggressive feedback logging.

We want a direct answer from leadership and an explicit action plan outlining when direct numbers will be restored. Treat us like the paying business partners we are, not an open wallet to be corporate-tested on.


@DustiO

Comments

  • DustiO
    DustiO Administrator, Moderator Posts: 2,585 admin

    Thank you for taking the time to share your perspective. I can tell this has been a frustrating experience, and I appreciate you being direct about your concerns.

    I also want to address one point specifically: when Thumbtack employees say we're sharing feedback with the team, that isn't a scripted response or a way to dismiss concerns. Feedback like yours is shared directly and quickly with the teams responsible for these experiences, and the points you've raised here are exactly the kind of detailed feedback that helps inform product discussions.

    I also think it's important to note that the teams building these experiences have been working closely with pros throughout the process. Pro feedback has been an important part of how these products have been developed and evaluated, and conversations like this continue to be an important input as the feature evolves.

    What I can share is that the decision to introduce Thumbtack Numbers was informed by data and feedback from both customers and pros. We've seen improvements in customer responsiveness, which is one of the reasons the feature has continued to be invested in. I've also personally spoken with pros who have had positive experiences with Thumbtack Numbers and are excited about the opportunities they create.

    At the same time, that doesn't invalidate the experience you're describing. Your perspective is important, and understanding where the experience isn't working as intended is exactly why feedback like this is valuable.

    If you have specific examples, metrics, or customer interactions that illustrate the challenges you're seeing, I'd genuinely love to see them. Feel free to send me a DM. Detailed examples are often much more actionable than general sentiment, and I will make sure they get in front of the right people.

    What I can commit to is ensuring your concerns are understood and represented accurately. The message I'm hearing is that you believe the current experience is making it more difficult to connect with customers and successfully convert leads into jobs, and that you'd like greater transparency around the reasoning and outcomes behind these changes.

    I'll also see if there's anything additional I can share here. We're planning to host an AMA with a Product Manager in a few weeks, after Thumbtack Numbers has launched everywhere and pros have had more time to use the feature. My hope is that it will be an opportunity to answer questions, discuss feedback, and provide additional context. In the meantime, please continue sharing your thoughts here or with Support.

    I understand that you may be looking for more concrete answers than I can provide today. However, I do want to assure you that this feedback is being read, discussed, and shared with the people who are directly responsible for these decisions.

    Thank you again for taking the time to write this out and explain your experience in detail.

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  • DreamClean
    DreamClean Posts: 5 ✭
    edited June 11

    First post after years as a Pro. This was poorly conceived. Well said, @BattleBorn26

    To the Admin/Moderator, you have "personally spoken with pros who have had positive experiences with Thumbtack Numbers and are excited about the opportunities they create"? Care to elaborate on what opportunities for Pros (other than refunds)? I am genuinely shocked that any Pro using Thumbtack would support this concept. I'll take the >30% refund rate for nonresponses, but Thumbtack didn't have to obscure customer data from Pros to do that.

    I wish you all had reached out to more Pros first. You do not have the maket dominance of Amazon (which obscures customer data from retailers that sell on their Marketplace). But it seems that is Thumbtack's aspiration.

    I'm not comfortable routing all messages for the life of the customer relationship through Thumbtack. They already flow through Jobber and Twilio, and now Thumbtack's proxy number and forwarded to the customer? As a result, we'll play by your rules for the refund period. I expect this is going to cost Thumbtack as you can no longer automatically deny refunds for the high percentage of non-responsive "leads".

    Then we'll explain to new customers that Thumbtack obscures their number from us so they can track and monitor our communication, and we'll ask for their number so we can text them directly. Thumbtack won't gain any long-term data or stickiness, at least from us. But you've started conversations between Pros and their customers about how Thumbtack is just another evil tech company.

    Not to mention technical issues. Lag times. Customers saving numbers in contacts. 10DLC registration/compliance. CRM integration. It was a problem that you don't collect/share the property address so we can quickly refine a quote and check availability. Now we have to ask for the address and phone number.

    Or maybe Thumbtack intends to become the end-to-end FSM/CRM platform. That will be difficult, but makes sense from a long-term strategy perspective.

    In the meantime, we'll continue shifting our customer acquisition spend to other platforms.

  • BattleBorn26
    BattleBorn26 Posts: 2 ✭

    Quick update on Thumbtack numbers: my conversion ratio before implementing Thumbtack was one out of every four leads, which I could accept as long as there were some serious prospects in the pipeline. This is the first week since implementation, and I have a friend who also uses the platform in the Dallas market, which was set up a few months ago. He warned me about the changes, but I thought it wouldn’t be that bad because Thumbtack typically serves its core customer base (us professionals) well. However, after this first week, my conversion rate has plummeted. I spent $500, received 12 leads, and only one resulted in a small project. Most inquiries are not serious, and most people don’t respond. I just want to note that this is the first wave of users leaving the platform. This situation is absolutely unacceptable, and I won't tolerate it while you all are breaking the back of a small business customer base. I will be leaving the platform until further updates that support us at set in place. Also want to note I still have yet to see any case studies or documentation of this change actually supporting us.

  • Noah_Holt
    Noah_Holt Posts: 6 ✭

    100% why I came here I’ve been with them 6 years I’ve signed up for it’s of new. Programs . Had the front desk option paying them $1000 a month to answer messages. Then they went to auto book. I canceled they realized it didn’t work and got rid of it so I came back to try.

  • Noah_Holt
    Noah_Holt Posts: 6 ✭

    their policy says we pay for leads because it’s a contact for life . But they use a phone number we only get through their app. Then if they choose another option all the contact info disappears . I would love to go back to what it used to be and paying them good money and building clients.

  • Noah_Holt
    Noah_Holt Posts: 6 ✭

    can’t imagine how a customer fells getting 3 or 4 automated text from the same 800 number.

  • ArvinC
    ArvinC Administrator, Moderator Posts: 217 admin

    @Noah_Holt , Thanks for taking the time to share this. I can understand why this change feels frustrating, especially after being on Thumbtack for so many years and experiencing several different programs along the way.

    I did want to clarify one point about Thumbtack Numbers. The phone numbers don't expire, so you can continue communicating with your customers over time. If it makes sense for your business and your customer, you're also welcome to exchange your personal contact information directly.

    The only thing to be aware of is that refund reviews are based on the communication that took place through the Thumbtack Number, so keeping the conversation there can be helpful during that period.

    I also wanted to mention that calls placed through Thumbtack Numbers come from a local area code rather than an 800 number. For text messages, customers can also see which business is reaching out, so your messages remain identifiable rather than appearing as generic texts.

    I know that doesn't change how you're feeling about the overall experience, and I appreciate you explaining where you think it's creating friction. Feedback like yours helps the team better understand what's working and what still needs improvement, and I'll make sure your perspective is shared.

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  • Noah_Holt
    Noah_Holt Posts: 6 ✭

    @ArvinC like others said this is something that other companies have attempted to do and it did not work out for them just like many of the other programs you guys launched that did not work . And again you’re missing the point I know that you’re saying that technically the numbers don’t expire but when you were creating within your that is not 100% transparent, I would like to have the customer‘s actual phone number since charging us for them. . Also, it’s interesting that you say the customers are told who is contacting them because almost every customer the first thing they ask is what company we are with.

  • Noah_Holt
    Noah_Holt Posts: 6 ✭

    read your own policy . The numbers only work with a number verified by thumbtack. So if I stop working with thumbtack those numbers won’t

  • ArvinC
    ArvinC Administrator, Moderator Posts: 217 admin

    @Noah_Holt Thanks for pointing that out , Noah. You're correct that Thumbtack Numbers are tied to a phone number that's verified with an active Thumbtack account. If you stop using Thumbtack, those proxy numbers would no longer be available.

    You're also welcome to exchange your personal contact information directly with a customer whenever it makes sense for your business. Many pros choose to do that as they build an ongoing relationship.

    One thing to keep in mind is that if conversations move off the Thumbtack Number, Thumbtack may not be able to review or verify those interactions if they're needed for support or lead-related reviews. Keeping communication through the Thumbtack Number can be helpful in those situations because it gives our team visibility into the conversation if assistance is needed.

    I also hear the broader point you're making. It sounds like your concern isn't just about the proxy number itself, but about wanting direct access to your customer's contact information from the beginning, especially since you're investing in acquiring that lead. I appreciate you continuing to share your perspective, and I'll make sure that feedback is passed along to the team.

  • Noah_Holt
    Noah_Holt Posts: 6 ✭

    it’s just all of your post here other Internet forums I’ve not seen one business that likes the way things have been changed yet. You continue to think that benefits us. .
    I can tell you with certainty this is something you are to reverse its going to happen eventually, so the sooner the better. You’re selling leads and everyone understands it but the way it is being done now you’re basically selling us a subscription. . I haven’t seen one business agree with it and why would anyone? Having proper contact information for customers is extremely valuable so now you have created a separate point of contact.

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