The New Dedicated Number Feature Is Hurting Communication—Please Restore the Previous System

I am writing to express my serious dissatisfaction with Thumbtack’s new dedicated phone-number system. This change has made communication more complicated, less direct, and less efficient for professionals who depend on Thumbtack to connect with customers and operate their businesses.

The previous system was simpler and more practical. Customers and professionals could communicate directly without an unnecessary additional number creating confusion. The new dedicated-number system adds another layer between professionals and their customers, making it more difficult to recognize incoming calls, return missed calls, maintain accurate contact information, and keep customer communication properly organized.

For service professionals, dependable communication is essential. We are often working on job sites, driving between appointments, coordinating with vendors, and managing several customers at once. We need a communication system that is direct, familiar, and reliable. We should not have to determine which temporary or unfamiliar number belongs to a particular customer while trying to run our businesses.

This new system also creates the potential for customers to become confused. Customers expect a straightforward way to contact the professional they hired. When unfamiliar or substituted numbers are introduced into the conversation, customers may hesitate to answer, have difficulty reconnecting, or assume the professional is being unresponsive. That can damage the professional’s reputation even when the communication problem is caused by Thumbtack’s system.

Professionals already pay significant amounts for leads, including leads that do not always result in a conversation or completed job. Thumbtack should be making it easier for us to communicate with those customers—not adding more friction after we have already paid for the opportunity. Reliable and direct communication should be one of the most basic parts of the service.

Making the dedicated-number system optional is not the solution I am requesting. I am asking Thumbtack to remove this system completely and restore the previous communication system for everyone. The old system was more direct, easier to manage, and better suited to the way service professionals conduct business.

I am respectfully but firmly asking Thumbtack to:

1. Discontinue the dedicated-number system completely.
2. Restore the previous communication system.
3. Allow professionals and customers to communicate directly using their established phone numbers.
4. Consult active professionals before introducing future changes that affect communication, customer relationships, and paid leads.
5. Provide clear advance notice before making major changes that directly affect how professionals operate their businesses.

Thumbtack professionals are paying customers and business owners—not test users. Changes that affect our ability to communicate with potential clients should be carefully evaluated and tested with meaningful input from the professionals who rely on the platform for revenue.

The dedicated-number system is not an improvement. It creates unnecessary confusion, interferes with direct customer communication, and increases the risk of losing opportunities that professionals have already paid to receive.

Please listen to the professionals who use this platform every day. Remove the dedicated-number system and put the old system back in place.