Paid Leads: Customers Schedule Appointments and Then Disappear

AlexALMN · September 21

I’d like to share an issue I’ve experienced several times with paid leads.
A customer contacts me, we exchange messages, and agree on a specific date and time for me to come out. I reserve that time for the customer. In some cases, the customer later asks to reschedule, I agree and reserve another time — and then the customer completely stops responding.
In these situations, I lose more than the money I paid for the lead. I also lose valuable working time because I kept that appointment available and may have missed the opportunity to accept another job.
I understand that a customer simply not responding to an initial message is part of doing business. But I believe the situation is different when a customer has already communicated with a Pro and confirmed or rescheduled an appointment.
I would like Thumbtack to consider a policy that allows a lead refund or credit when a customer confirms an appointment and then becomes completely unresponsive.
It would also be helpful to have a simple way for Pros to report these cases and provide the Thumbtack message history as evidence.
I have several real examples in my account where this has happened.
Have other Pros experienced the same problem? How do you think Thumbtack could better protect Pros in these situations?

ArvinC · September 21

Hi @AlexALMN , thanks for laying this out so clearly. I understand why this feels different from a typical no-response. You've actually reserved time for the customer, sometimes more than once, and that can affect your ability to schedule other work.

Under the current refund policy, a customer becoming unresponsive after they've already engaged with you, including after discussing or scheduling an appointment, generally isn't covered by the automatic unresponsive-customer refund protection. That protection applies when a customer doesn't engage with any Pro within the applicable timeframe after submitting their request.

That said, I hear the distinction you're making. Your feedback isn't simply about a customer not responding. It's about what happens after a customer has committed to time on a Pro's schedule and then stops communicating. I'll make sure that specific context is included when we're surfacing feedback around the lead and refund experience.

Since you mentioned having several examples in your account, I'd also encourage you to submit those directly through your account. Having specific leads associated with the feedback can provide helpful context when these experiences are reviewed.

And I'm interested to hear from other Pros who have experienced something similar and how they've handled confirmed appointments that later turn into no-shows or no-responses.

EricGilletteDOTcom · September 22

I've experienced this too - but this typically happens when a customer selects more than one Pro and then "races" the Pros against one another. The customer stopped responding because another Pro who got to their location faster, took care of the situation and the customer has ZERO incentive to contact you to cancel the appointment or respond at all. Thumbtack encourages this behavior by encouraging the customer to contact SEVERAL Pros at the same time and if they "race" Pros against each other? No concerns, because they can do it with impunity unfortunately. Thumbtack doesn't discourage the practice or penalize the customer for the practice in any way shape, or form. So it'll continue until Thumbtack does something about it - unfortunately, I suspect they won't because the customer choosing several Pros allows Thumbtack to charge a fee to each Pro - EVEN if it doesn't result in business for the other Pros.

MyCleanCharlotteMaid · November 4

This is definitely a challenge for service businesses because a confirmed appointment represents more than just a time on the calendar.

For cleaning services, scheduling a job involves coordinating team availability, travel time, supplies, equipment, and the amount of labor needed based on the home's size and condition.

When a customer confirms an appointment and then disappears or cancels at the last minute, the business may lose an opportunity to schedule another customer during that time.

I think clear appointment confirmation and cancellation policies can help reduce these situations. Sending a reminder before the scheduled service and requiring customers to confirm important details can also make a difference.

For larger jobs like deep cleaning, move-out cleaning, and post-construction cleaning, a reasonable deposit or reservation policy may help protect the time being reserved.

At the same time, I think Thumbtack could help by providing better appointment confirmation tools and clearer customer communication.

The goal is not to make booking difficult. It is to ensure that both the customer and the pro are committed to the appointment.

Clear expectations and reliable communication help everyone avoid wasted time and unnecessary frustration.

Paid Leads: Customers Schedule Appointments and Then Disappear

Comments

Resources