Lack of job information provided by "employers"

[SH]

Unfortunately I've found most job opportunities offered through Thumbtack to be a waste of time, specifically because Thumbtack doesn't demand a job description from the potential employer, just a rather mild "request". I've found that about 75% of these folks don't offer the least bit of information, leaving me to guess as to whether I should gamble and reply to their request or not. For the most part I don't waste my time. And now that Thumbtack has greatly increased their fees (from roughly $8 a year ago to now $18) there's really no incentive whatsoever to reply as it usually means no new work and I'm $18 broker.

Perhaps this works for less individualized occupations, but for something as unique as an artistic point of view (fo example, even something as basic as a photorealistic approach to a humorous caricature style), it's absolutely critical to demand more information of the "employer".

[ClassAct]

Thumbtack is an Agent. Agents do not receive commissions for an introduction, only when they sdcure a contract-agreement to perform for a fee.  You want to charge a commission-fee for an introduction . This is much  too preliminary and I willhavbe to drop out if this continues. 

[curtgolden]

Oh good lord. You've taken a perfectly useful community-based system  and completely decimated it. First with the most regressive and idiotic pricing/billing scheme ever concocted. And now this nonsense? Whose palm do I need to grease to get my name up at the top of the list of Pros you have decided (in your infinite wisdom, because you know so much about guitar lessons and the Seattle environment) "match" the needs of the customer? Welcome to Google.

Ridiculous. And more importantly, doing neither the customers nor the pros any good.

[LisaW]

I agree with so many other posters on two of the major points running through this discussion. 1) I need more control over who I pay to quote. I may or may not want to quote depending on the customer's needs and location, and to my mind, Thumbtack can't address this level of discretion. 2) I got MUCH more interest/business before the days of Instant Quote. Now, it's almost nothing. I feel like there's potential with Thumbtack, but I find myself wondering more and more if I should just leave.

[Sid]

Hey guys,

So I do like the idea of showing up in the search results but I don’t Like getting charged as soon as someone contacts me. I have noticed a bunch of suspicious contacts in the past that never replied to me after I got charged and answered their questions. I say after I replied to a persons question and if they respond then I should get charged. Also I would like to have a way for us pros to review a customer as well. There are some customers I have come in contact with through thumbtack that are not not a good fit and I would like to warn other pros about them.

[DallasMike]

I am a music instructor and teach private lessons in my studio in Dallas. I  do not travel to students and so I can't "adjust my travel preferences" to limit where I am looking for customers. I have recently gotten requests from New Jersey and other states. I know these people are not going to drive to my studio, but I get these requests anyway. There is a checkbox for how many miles they want to travel for lessons. Can't we automate the process so that I do not get requests from further away than they are willing to travel? I berlieve you have my address and with computers, that should be a relatvely easy fix, especially if it can be done for pros who actually do travel. I have addressed this a multitude of time with ThunbTack. Please fix this.

[32marlinspecial]

this is what i do windows siding kitchens and bathrooms. i dont get though leads i get remodeling house cleaning chimney cleaning. l dont know what is wrong

[Kameron]

@32marlinspecial I want to make sure we send you the right requests. If you go to the services section of your profile and scroll to the bottom, you'll see advanced settings where "Suggest jobs related to my services and Match me with jobs outside my preferences" were on. I went ahead and turned those off, so now you should get contacted for jobs that more closely match your preferences.

[ToonGuy]

I am a caricaturist who has used Thumbtack for over four years. But with all these changes that have been going on in the last year or so, I'm on the verge of quitting.

I'm especially unhappy about being auto-added for leads and being charged for them, one reason being that half of the leads I get are from semi-literate people looking for a costumed character and confuse it with the word "caricature."

Rather than trying to squeeze even MORE money out of loyal vendors, why don't you implement some sort of screening process to limit we vendors' exposure to timewasters, scammers, and tire-kickers?

[Mdempsey]

Hi.  I  realize some changes are happening on the end-user side however I don't know if anything changes for us as the pros.  When I first signed up for Thumbtack about a year ago, I could customize my quotes.  Now when I send a quote it's just what I have in my profile and a price.  This doesn't customize the experience for the end-user and it doesn't allow me to give more details.  I would think if someone asked for a pro they would have looked at my profile so it seems that they wouldn't need that sent to them again.

This new system seems to offer some promise and I'm excited about getting leads from Thumbtack again. I haven't gotten a lead in over a month and was starting to worry and/or consider not using it.  I also use Lessons.com and I get more leads from them lately.  Thumbtack and Lessons.com are my only source of lead generation right now as I build my business.

Thanks for listening

Michelle