Paying twice for the same lead

[IntimatelyYours]

I've noticed a few customers are requesting quotes more than once.  I sent them a quote the first time, and didn't hear from them.  Then they request another quote, and I hesitate to respond a second time because I've already paid for that lead and I don't want to pay twice for the same lead. Do you keep track of this?

[Meckell]

@IntimatelyYours if you've already paid for that customer and they request another quote within seven days of the first one, you will not be charged twice. If you ever do get charged twice and it's in that seven-day window, let us know and we'll get you taken care of! 

[IntimatelyYours]

Why does it have to be within the 7 day window?  What difference does it make if they are still asking for the same service? I think it should be a 30-day window.

[needsmorecoffee]

I see this all the time. Sometimes, no one will respond to the first request, even though at least one person was charged for it via promote, because these days, a client has to contact at least one person in order to even get their request posted.
And then you'll see the same request come through again sometimes within hours. There is no policing or rule against doing this as far as I know. there are certainly no safeguards built into the system to ensure people don't do this.. And it benefits Thumbtack to allow a person to post the same request as many times as he or she wishes, since every request whether it's for the same thing or not, results in revenue for Tt. So I don't see that changing anytime soon. Occasionally I will email them to let them know, but I suspect all they do is delete one of the requests and they never refund the one pro who did actually get contacted through promote.

You really do have to fight tooth and nail to get a refund, even in situations where it should be automatic, such as what you have described in your post. And even then, you are likely to get a 'this doesn't fall under our list of refund situations' response. It's just one of the reasons I rarely use thumbtack anymore, and why I refused to go to promote.

[Carol]

I have one client that had difficulty with a request on Thumbtack and because he was unfamiliar with it, he put a request in twice for the same wedding on 11/2/19.  I contested it and Thumbtack denied my request because my client used two different names/initials...one for himself and one for his wife.  They were for the same date and time and I couldn't possibly have been charged for doing the same wedding twice, but Thumbtack charged me for both even though I contested it.  They did not look at the posting for the weddings that showed they were for the same time and place. Thumbtack did not do enough research to make sure that this individual was the same person for the same event. They did not read my conversation with the client asking them if they had put the request in twice.