@Zac wrote: This is disturbing...  "As part of this process, Thumbtack and its service provider will receive in real time and store data about your text message, including the date and time of the text message, your phone number, and the content of the text message." I have many past thumbtack clients that have become friends. We have discussed family and personal matters in detail via text. I think this is the most disturbing thing I have learned about Thumbtack.  I don't think anyone signed up for this type of privacy invasion.   Yeah, that's.  They need to put a time limit on it, stop it when the job is done.   What they really need to do is NOT track the content of the message.   ... View more

I think it makes a lot more sense for someone with a  wedding videography company to set their travel setting much farther out.   I guess my real question is like yours... why not let everyone set their own.   That's how it used to be.  I'm not sure where this 50-mile radius came from, but I've always been able to not only set my own radius but pick and choose which zip codes I wanted to work in.  That is until they took the option away to penalize me for not using Promote.   ... View more

150 MILES!?!  Please tell me that was a typo.   You really think a Pro is going to travel 2.5-3 hours away to say, install a dishwasher, then travel 2.5-3 hrs back?   I'm pretty sure there are people a LOT closer who can do it for a LOT cheaper than anyone would who has 5-6 hours of travel involved.   NO, of course not I nor any other Pro is going to even give that job a second thought.   So why even send us those requests when you know no one that far away, in his right mind, would ever take that job?   ... View more

Wow, this is really getting out of hand.   I started getting job requests from way outside my travel preferences and asked a chat agent why this was happening.   I was told setting travel preferences was now only available when you use Promote.   So they are now hijacking that holding it hostage until we sign up for Promote.   Nice, TT.  And they just did it without telling me.   What's next?  What else are you going to take away?  Are you just going to keep whittling away at our options and abilities until we are forced to sign up for Promote or leave the platform?  It sure seems like that's what's happening. Please have the guts and respect for us to give us the common courtesy of simply telling us this is where it's headed.   ... View more

To be fair, we can't expect TT to allow customers to see our phone numbers or website which have our phone numbers until we've paid for the lead.  That would allow us to circumvent the system and get the leads without paying the fee.   The debate over the prices we pay for leads is a valid one and I'm one to point out that the new system stinks and is too expensive.   But I don't have any problem with TT withholding our contact info until they get paid their fee.   It's the same as how we can't see a potential client's phone number until we pay.  Many pros would simply call the client directly and skip the TT process.   ... View more

I was looking through my jobs list and there was one that showed "14 pros contacted."  The lead costs $63.75.   That means TT makes almost $900 and only one pro gets the job.     ... View more

That's not what I was told by the tech support person I was chatting with.   It seems we're not the only ones confused by the new system.   Thank you for the correct info.   ... View more

I was a Top Pro my first 3 years on Thumbtack, but then they changed their fees.  And by changed, I mean raised... a LOT-- doubled, tripled, and more.  This meant that I stopped replying to many service requests because it just wasn't worth the risk.  I'm not going to spend $20-25 for the "chance" at getting a job that might pay $200.  Yet, Thumbtack allows 4 or 5 Pros to quote the job, so if the client replies to all 5, Thumbtack pockets $100-125, even if the client doesn't hire anybody.  That's quite a racket.   They have priced themselves out of my feasibility range.  I simply can't gamble that kind of money on jobs that don't pay that much.  Even if I end up getting hired 20% of the time, Thumbtack is pocketing 1/4-1/3 of the money I make on the jobs I actually get hired for. The result is that Thumbtack is losing a great Pro and doing their clients a disservice.  Just look at my reviews.  ... View more